A Shimmering Guest

 

There was always someone behind me. Following me from morning till night. But, whenever I turned round to look, he was gone. He was always quicker than me. Our home was his home. And, he and I got on very well.

My mother, too, felt his presence. He was always watching her cooking. Standing behind her. Maybe, he was laughing at her. My mother's cooking was never any good.

And, then, one night it happened. I have never forgotten it. I was at home all alone and in bed. It was about 2 in the morning. The middle of the small hours. Suddenly, I woke up. There was something very strong in my room. Standing at the bottom of my bed was a soft shimmering form. I sat up. I looked. This shimmering form had the guise of a monk. It was sparkling and looking at me. A very deep very black void was where his face should have been. I felt amazingly good. At last, I had seen him. Our ghost. For a couple of seconds, I said nothing. I then said hello. I waited. Enchanted. The ghost lingered a while. Then, very slowly he faded away. He was gone. I stayed awake for a very long time. Thinking. Wondering if the ghost would ever come again. I hoped so. I liked him.

But, I never saw the ghost again. He never came back. But, he was always present in our thinking. Then, one day, my aunty came calling. A nice occasion. And, over dinner, she told us her story. About 3 years before on a previous visit, My aunty was standing in our front garden. All of a sudden, a very strong feeling made her look up. There was the ghost. In my bedroom window. A shimmering form. A monk. My aunty had seen him as well. She, too, had been enchanted.

Ghosts are real. My aunty saw him, I saw him, and my mother definately felt him. Seeing my ghost did make a difference. I now know that ghosts do exist. I have seen. I can believe. That which was following me, as it turned out, was very much more than a feeling. My ghost from a long time before.

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Lucy Abel - A Bus and a Test

 Click here for English Warm-ups - A good fun translation exercise.

It was the middle of winter a long time ago. The world was covered in snow and the world was at war. Lucy Abel who was 11 and her little sister of 8 had been evacuated from their home in Vienna to the far north of Austria.  The Waldviertel. A very big forested region.  And  life  in the Waldviertel was fine. Enough to eat and far away from the bombs. But, there was only one thing. The school bus.

The school bus left early each day. Every morning at a quarter past six. Far too early. But, there was a later bus at a quarter past seven. And so, one morning, Lucy Abel decided to  go to school on the quarter past seven bus. A very good idea. It was, after all, the middle of winter and the snow was very, very deep.

Lucy went to the bus stop at just after seven. And, then came the bus. It was right on time. And, then came the shock. Lucy, the driver explained, was only allowed to take the official school bus. The one that had already left. Lucy went as white as the snow. She thought of her maths exam. It was to start at 11 o' clock. Lucy started walking. School was14 kilometres away. Lucy only had 4 very short hours, Lucy walked fast to keep warm. And, Lucy arrived just in time for the test.

Lucy relaxed. But, not for long. The air-raid siren went off. Enemy bombers were coming. There was no time to spare. Speed was essential. The children gathered their belongings and ran into the forest.  There they waited for a very long time.

Then came the all-clear. Nearly three hours had passed. The children and teachers went back to the school.  But, now, sadly or happily, no time for the test. The exam was postponed. The children were   given a slice of warm bread and a bowl of hot soup. Then, home on the bus they all went.

Rules are rules, and in Austria rules really are rules. From that day on, Lucy always got up for the official school bus, and never again did she have to walk through the forest to school. And, ironically, the enemy bombers never came back again. But, this isn't the end of this story. The maths exam was held the next day. And, Lucy Abel passed with an  A.  The best mark of all.

It was winter a long time ago when Lucy Abel walked through the forest to school. A war time adventure she's never forgotten.

Very Hard Quiz

Where does the President of Austria work?

Who invented dynamite?

Was Bill Clinton president of the United States or prime minister of Australia?

Is Amsterdam the capital of Bulgaria or Spain?

In which African country is Harari?

Who is the president of Russia?

Who is the British prime minister?

How long does it take to fly from Vienna to London?

If it is Sunday in Vienna, which day is it in England?

What are the Russians doing at the moment?

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