Our short stories: Year 1

To end our unit of study on short stories, we wrote some of our own inspired by an image. Take a look at our best work from the students in Year 1:

A Linguistic Friendship

by Davide Carmannini, Lorenzo Chiadroni, and Lorenzo Seghi Recli 

An Italian boy named Andrea, a French boy named Philippe, and a Spanish boy named Angel attend a language high school in their respective countries, where each guy studies the mother tongues of the other two, as well as English. Their schools belong to a single institute, with locations all over Europe, which has decided that final year classes will take a three-week trip to England, and every student will stay in a hotel room, along with two other guys, who must come from the countries where the languages studied by the students are spoken. However, due to a pandemic the trip is cancelled, but each boy knows the names of the roommates who had been assigned to him. So Angel decided to search for Andrea and Philippe on a social network platform, from which he got their phone numbers, and he created a messaging group. The three boys started sending messages, and they did this throughout the initial quarantine period. 

During spring, Andrea, Philippe, and Angel had to remain home, so they started sharing each other’s personal curiosities. Summer arrived, and the three boys tried to organize a holiday in England, which, unfortunately, had to be cancelled again because Philippe contracted the virus that caused the pandemic. The boys spent summer and autumn without seeing each other. But, during the Christmas holiday, they were free from commitments, and they could finally meet. So Andrea, Philippe, and Angel decided to do a brief one-week holiday in Manchester, in England, where they rented a house. The three friends left on the 23rd of December (or December 23rd): Andrea left from Rome, Philippe from Paris, and Angel from Madrid. They all arrived at their destination the following day, on Christmas Eve, and the friends finally met at the house they rented. They spent together Christmas and Boxing Day, but then they started tidying up the house. While Andrea was dusting the television, he moved it and under it he saw a 2021 calendar that caught his eye. He immediately began to think about what wishes he had for the new year and he asked his friends what they would like to do in 2021. So they began to share their wishes and hopes for the new year. They decided that each one of them will give a short speech about their expectations for 2021, since 2020 hasn’t been very pleasant for anyone. 

Angel begins, and he says: "I hope that in this new year we can return to the stadiums, so that we can see football matches, and especially El Clásico, one of the most important events in Spain, between Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona, the two main teams in the country. Being from Madrid, I support the Blancos, of whom I'm a great fan. I also hope that the pandemic will end as soon as possible, so that we can meet again and for longer, possibly in each of our nations." 

Then it was Philippe’s turn, and he says: “OK Angel, I accept your suggestion. I will take you to visit the Eiffel Tower. I hope that we will meet in Paris next time, without being afraid of getting infected. I also hope that I can continue to cultivate my passion for animals and nature by going on a safari, and visiting zoos and natural reserves. I would like to go to some Italian cities and eat local food. I would also like to visit monuments with you, Andrea, while you will be my guide.”

When Philippe had finished talking, Andrea started speaking: “That would be great. However, my work, as a tourist guide for foreigners, unfortunately, has been stopped due to the pandemic. I can’t work now because many people who come from foreign countries are not allowed to visit due to the current travel restrictions. I hope, like you do, to be able to move around freely. I would also like to visit your countries better. In fact, I would like to visit Seville and Valencia in Spain, and Marseille and Lyon in France. However, since now we are here in England, I think we can begin to visit Manchester and its cathedral. Moreover, since it is Angel’s birthday, who is a big football fan, we should also go to the National Football Museum.”

All three of them were happy with the reflections made, and after finishing cleaning and tidying up the house they went to visit Manchester.