Mar's story
AN
UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER
It has been a year since I won
the trip which changed my life in many different ways and I can still remember
very clearly that colourful summer.
I was sixteen the day I
received that unexpected phone call telling me that I had won a trip to London
for fifteen days as a result of my participation in a competition. I couldn’t
believe it when the presenter talked to me and told me that I was the winner,
it was such a fantastic news, the kind of experience you never forget.
On the 27th June, I was in the
airport waiting for John, the man who was going to take charge of me. Once I
said goodbye to my parents, I got on the plane ready to visit a wonderful city.
As I lived in Ireland, I didn’t spend too much time travelling. Moreover, my
17th birthday was going to take place in London, so John told me he was
preparing a surprise I would love forever.
When we finally arrived at Gatwick, it was seven p.m. and we took a taxi
to our hotel, next to Kensington Gardens. We ended the day going to the typical
restaurant where we were served fish and chips.
The next
day we went to Camden Town. Camden Town, which words should I use to describe
that marvellous place? Everywhere was full of shops! But there was one that
caught my attention. You could find whatever you need to do anything you
wanted. There were endless books, trips to anywhere in the world and so forth.
It was like a film, and I bought a sort of chocolate which never finished. In
that moment I swear I was the happiest girl alive. Nevertheless, that happiness
suddenly stopped. I was so absorbed that I didn’t realize John had disappeared.
I started feeling rather anxious, but I decided to look for him. I had walked
like two hours approximately when I lost the hope and sat on a bench as I was
too exhausted and worried because I knew that if I didn’t find John, I would be
in trouble, so I began to cry. However, since that “unfortunate” accident, my
trip changed radically. A boy with a skateboard heard me crying and he got
closer to me. I have to say that when he asked me what had happened, I raised
my head and in that very moment I completely fell in love with him. He was so
cute standing there with his dark hair and coffee eyes. His name was Peter and
he lived in that neighbourhood, so he helped me find John. We walked through a
lot of streets talking about nonsensical things; he always made me laugh with a
joke or whatever he said and sometimes he stared at me every time I laughed. He
was a rather witty boy and we had such a fantastic time looking for John. Once
I found him, we said goodbye, but Peter asked me my telephone number as he
wanted to see me again and, of course, I gave it to him. The next day, he
called me. He suggested me going for a walk in Hyde Park and I agreed. We were
walking for about an hour when I saw in the distance a huge hot air balloon.
When we got closer, Peter told me that he had been talking to John and that he
had said to him that my birthday was very close, so he decided to prepare me a
surprise. I couldn’t believe it, it was amazing seeing that balloon waiting for
us, ready to travel over London. The bad thing was that the sky was full of
clouds and it was going to be a bit difficult to see the landscape, but it
didn’t matter at all. Being in a balloon flying over London alone with Peter was
the best moment in my life. The trip was wonderful and when it finished, Peter
had planned another surprise for me: a romantic dinner in an incredible
restaurant next to Greenwich. He chose that place because he wanted to lie down
on the grass with me to see the stars. And that was what we did. After having
dinner, Peter guided me to a hidden garden where there was nobody and we lay on
the warm green grass. We talked for about three hours
about everything and I realised that I was falling in love with him more and
more. There was a moment in which he hold my hand and told me I was an unique
girl. Thanks to the fact that it was midnight and there were no streetlights,
he couldn’t see my red face. I didn’t know what to say and we stayed in silence
for ten minutes. Then we stood and as it was very late, we said goodbye and
arranged to meet tomorrow in the evening because he wanted to show me
something. When I arrived at the hotel, John suddenly came and told me that in
two days we were leaving London. In that instant my heart sank. I had been so
absent-minded with Peter that I had totally forgotten that my trip to London
ended in two days.
The following day I met Peter and he told me not to worry about that
because we could keep in touch easily. Then, he took me to the London Eye. He
had hired a cabin only for us and that was my last surprise. Never had I been
so excited, but I couldn’t say a word because if I had spoken, I am sure I
would have cried, so everything I did was to smile. When we were at the top,
Peter looked at me and without saying any word, he hugged me. I saw that he was
a bit sad and, although I imagined what was happening, I asked him what the
matter was. He told me that since the day he met me, he had realised I was the
perfect girl for him and that he had fallen in love with me, and as I was going
to come back home very soon, he was going to miss me a lot. I couldn’t put up
with crying and when I was about to speak, Peter kissed me. That was the first
time in my life I didn’t know what to do, so I kissed him again. Peter began
smiling and so did I, as we both knew everything was going to be perfect since
that moment.
The
day I had to leave London finally arrived and Peter came with me to the
airport. I didn’t want him to come because I knew it would be harder to say
goodbye, but he refused. We hugged and kissed each other and I got on the plane
with tears in my eyes. When the plane took off, I felt completely miserable,
but I started thinking about the person I had met and won, about the trip, an
especial trip which changed my life, about this adventure, this summer, a
wonderful and unforgettable summer.
Ana's story
An unforgettable summer
It took me almost three months to assimilate what had happened last summer.
Summer began like every summer, after the last class, we ran out the high school, I think we had never ever ran like that before, but it was our last year in school, we were never going to see the teachers again, or if we did, they couldn't send us to the detention room, how many hours in that room, we made lots of friends in that room, not all of them were good, I mean, it was a detention room, what can you ask for?
But that day I was so happy, I can say I was the happiest, because that summer I was going to a three-week-trip with my friends, next year we'd go to different colleges and we were not going to meet as much as we used to. We were going to Europe for the first time, we weren't worried, because we guessed that everybody spoke English, well we were wrong.
We spent a few days in Italy, what a beautiful place, I think Venice was amazing, more amazing even than Venice, LA. Florence was awesome, I had the best Ice cream ever!.
After Italy we went to Germany, Berlin mainly, we didn't have so much time, then our plane landed in France, I loved everything from Paris, from the food, to the monuments and museums. Our last stop was in Spain, this friend from hig school, Christine, her parents were Spaniards, They offered us their home for sleeping but we had already rented and appartment in Madrid city, We enjoyed a lot, we were to parties, we went to Andalucía, to its beaches, they were wonderful.
In one place, I can't remember where, we met a lot of people, some of them came with us back to the US, one was Chris' boyfriend, the other one, a friend of him. They were charming, they spoke perfect English, so we understood them propertly.
After this awesome trip, I went to my grandmother's house, in South Carolina, I had not many friends there, but there was WIFI so I chatted with all my friends.
That isn't weird at all, the weird thing came after, when I went back home, one day, we were going to the cinema, with the Spanish friends we made, when this guy, I can't remember his name, but we called him Clark because he was exactly like Superman, same hair, same glasses, and Superman pajamas, I think we didn't call him for his name because it was a weird-Spanish name, impossible to pronunce.
So after the cinema, everybody left, except from Clark and I, I was waiting for the bus, and Clark was waiting with me. We talked about lots of things, I thought I knew him, but I didn't, at all.
Finally, we had a date, I wasn't really into him, but everybody had a couple, and I felt lonely. This date was on Tuesday, I think -in summer I barely remember the week days-. The day before, I stayed all day long at home, thinking about what was I going to wear. I chose a shirt, over a white T-shirt, with Venice landscape printed on it, and a pair os ripped shorts, with my pair of Chuck Taylor, I love those shoes, I painted them with my BFF two summers ago, we painted with things that came to our minds, they are unique, just like we were.
Our date was in a Park, Rosemary's park if I remember it well. We had dated at four o'clock, I am always on time, I was waiting for him like two hours, then, almost crying I left, How can guys be so rude? I had even fallen in love!!.
When I told my friends, they told me that he was a jerk, and they were right, but I went to a party, trying to forget. I did.
Weeks later, Clark wasn't in my mind anymore, Clark who?
Suddenly, We got an AMBER alert, last one was months ago, and it was a mistake, so this time we didn't notice it. some days after the AMBER alert, in the news, he showed up, it was Clark, he was kidnapped, and worst of all, the day of our date, OMG, I couldn't believe it, we were freaking out, was he in danger? Blooding? Dead? We cried a lot, we looked for information, we called his family, they didn't know. We couldn't do anynothing else, just wait. We waited for days, in front of the TV, next to the radio, buying newspapers, but nothing, nobody knew who he was, or where he was.
One evening, I got a call, it was Clark, Oh God, he was alived, I was with my friends, we were closer now. I put the speaker, and... instead of Clark's voice, it was an old man's voice, it was deep, creepy. He told us that my number was the last number Clark had called, and we were the only ones who could saved him, they were in some kind of desert, he didn't tell where. He told us that we couldn't tell the police about this phone call, we should give him 3 hundred thousand dollars, or he will kill him, -we don't have that money!- we said, the creepy man said that Clark wasn't useful anymore, and if we wanted him back, we had to give the man 1.5 thousand dollars and food in a suitcase, food from every country in Europe. Did this man know that we had been in Europe, how did he know it? But we didn't know every country in the European Union, we searched it on the internet, where could we find all that food?, we had a week, and for each day more than that week, he would give Clark less water each time, so we had one week and a half, more or less, we had to hurry up.
Each of one had two countries, we bought the ingredients, we made Spanish omelete, Italian pizza, German Sausages, Swiss Chocolate cake, British Tea, Sweden Salmon... and at the same time, we joined our pocket money from that month, we got like two hundred and forty dollars, We had one thousand twenty six hundred dollars left, we made cupcakes too, Chris and her boyfriend sold all of them, But we still had one thousand dollars left, we sold things on the internet, and some of us started a job in some Diners, In six days we had the food, but we had to wait four days more for the Diners' salary,
We got it, one week and three days later, we got all the money, we prepared all the food in two suitcases and we called the kidnapper, He told us the adress, and sent us a picture of Clark, he was unconscious, but he breathed, we were going to made it, we were going to save our friend, press had already forgotten about Clark, they said he might be dead, we couldn't tell anybody about this deal we had for saving Clark's life.
The day we called the kidnapper we dated him for the exchange, he told us that Clark was not going to come with him, he was going to check that everything was okay and the next morning he will call us and send him on a taxi back to the city.
That night was the longest night we had never been awake, we finally slept by turns, because we didn't know at what time was he going to call, we didn't know how was going Clark to arrive, not even if he was going to arrive, what if everything was a trap? We were not sure at all, maybe we had lost our friend and all that money forever, better not to think about it.
5 a.m. My turn, I was awake, the phone rang, I was so scared, It was him, Clark's number, but it wasn't Clark's voice, I was getting used to It.
-Are you there?-
-Yes sir. Is he fine?-
-Well, he is alive, that's what you wanted, wasn't it?-
-Yes sir-
-He is about to get into the taxi, in about three hours he is there, 42, Big Bridge street right?-
-Yes sir, we'll be there, sir-
-Hope so, the food was great, by the way-
-Thanks sir-
-Take water, he has been without water for two days-
-What?! Okay sir-
-Hope to never hear your voice again lady-
-Hope that too sir-
7.30 a.m. Big Bridge street.
We were so scared. Was he Okay?, Was he even in the taxi? Just half an hour more, we were not talking, we hadn't words, not even breath.
7.55 a.m. Big Bridge street.
He was going to arrive in any moment, was he? We had started to talk, but we were speechless. Just like we had been the last two days. We were dying with every car that passed in front of us, We had drunk most of the water, but we had another bottle, it wasn't very cold, it was summer, but if he is that thirsty he wouldn't care about the water's temperature.
8:02 Bridge street
OMG, He wasn't here, was everything a joke?, was anybody making fun of us?, but the most important, was Clark alive? We were so worried, we relaxed thinking of any traffic jam, maybe there are lots of cars in the road from the desert, we were expecting the worst, so we stopped thinking about it. Just sat down and relaxed, we had been watching cars for almost three hours. Luke brought coffee, He was Clark's first american friend, Luke speaks a little bit of Spanish so they talked about Spain a lot. Now he was as worried as we were.
8:06 a.m.
Finally the taxi arrived, six minutes after eight o'clock, when we opened the back seat door, we saw him, he had a lot of scars in his neck, his shirt was ripped and dirty, We hoped it wasn't bood, but it looked a lot like blood. The taxi driver didn't get off the taxi, when we took Clark and we laid him on the floor, the taxi left. We were alone with this injured Clark, When he woke up, we were over him watching if he could breath, giving him water, He woke up suddenly, he shouted some words in Spanish that nobody (except Luke) got, then he talked in English “Guys, are you okay?” he said, we laughed, we asked him if he was okay, he told us all the story, This guy, the kidnapper took him when he was coming to our date, I almost cried, it wasn't the time, so I saved my tears for later.
We fed him, we called his parents, the police and an ambulance, he had been shot, He was bleeding.
When we went to the hospital, he felt great, he was so thankful, I cried, I couldn't stand much more.
It has been a month, Everything is fine, we are fine, Clark and I finally went on that date, we are so happy. We are about to begin college, we are together in class, I don't want to lose him again. This is my Unforgettable summer, I am never going to forget it. Beside everything I want to go back to Europe. After college. We are thinking, that next summer we are going to stay here, maybe organized a BBQ and have lunch all together, European food. Why not? Our future is still unwritten, and I am looking forward to writing it with all my friends.
Lucía's story
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