Italo Calvino's The Baron in the Trees

This book is a very interesting one, because it is not too similar to most of other novels. It is written differently, as if it had been written long time ago, and it also tells of Italy in the times of Napoleon, so the story is actually of some long time ago. Italy was very different at that time from what it is today, especially in the social aspect. The most important part of life in Italy was the titles and the money you had. Your importance was measured in titles, for example if you were a duke or a baron then you were more important, and if you weren't then your sons would not be allowed to marry half the women in the country just because of that. Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo is the baron of Ombrosa's son, which makes Cosimo himself a young baron. His father is a really proud man and so, Cosimo is expected to behave in a way that will make his family more respected so that they will be given more importance. Thus, Cosimo has to eat, dress, walk and talk as a noble and if he does not meet the expectations, he will only bring shame to his family. Tired of living that fake life, the young baron decides to hide at the top of the trees and promises his proud father that he will never come downto the ground again.The surprising thing is that apparently Cosimo keeps his promise. After realizing that life in the top of trees give him an extraordinary freedom compared to the one he had in his house, Cosimo finds himself happy at last. Cosimo's decision is very interesting, and it would be nice to experience life at the top of the trees for some time even if just a few days. It makes me want to try it. However, in the world nowadays it is much more difficult to get around by trees, since there are so little of them left. What I like the most about Cosimo is his ability to create all sorts of things at the top of a tree without touching the ground. He is even capable of hunting without touching the ground. This ability to think and create is incredible for a boy his age since Cosimo is only twelve years old. Although at the beginning he requires some aid from his brother Biagio, at the end he is capable of surviving by himself with nobody's help except the one of his dog, who stays with the boy all the time, even though they are never in physical contact since the boy refuses to touch ground. The baron in the trees give youan idea of a new way of life that could work without ceasing to be civilized or stepping backwards in evolution. I cannot imagine myself in the Italy where Cosimo lived, because it seems to me as a golden cage, in which you are not allowed to do anything you want without the rules imposed by the rich Italian elite. Still, you are considered rich and live with hundreds of luxuries such as Cosimo's father did.

Creative Writing (story) part 11

“Ok, wait for me here” said Phil. “I must find out where the nearest police station is”
“Sure” said Blake, and then he turned at Alex and smiled. Suddenly he remembered about his lost wallet and phone. “Oh shoot! I won’t be able to travel without my documents.”
“Blake I think you should look for a phone” said Alex.
Blake laughed. “No way! I can’t wait to arrive at home as a surprise!”
“Oh…umm, yeah that sounds cool. Blake, where will I go when we arrive at Bogotá?” asked Alex.
“Well you’ll stay at my place of course.” Said Blake.
“At your place?” said Alex surprised. “Will your parents allow that?”
Blake smiled again. “Well, after missing me for all this time I’m sure they’ll be a hell of a lot nicer now. My parents are great; you’ll love ‘em.”
Alex hugged him again.
“I can’t believe how lucky I was to meet you. Never did I dream to travel to Bogotá.”
Blake leaned and kissed Alex on her cheek. She was surprised and so was he. They never imagined that was the start of a love that would last as long as both of them were alive. That they would be together until unfortunate events would break them apart. It was the start of a lifetime’s adventure.

Phil came running with a couple of policemen.
“Oh my God it actually is Blake Nogales!” said one of the policemen.
“Let’s call Bogotá! We got to inform this thing right now!”
Blake stood up quickly. “No, don’t call please; I don’t want my family to find out until I’m actually there.” He said.
The two men exchanged looks and discussed for a while.
“Fine boy but then we have to send you there right now. Let’s see, there is a small plane just next to the police station. We’ll send you there right now with a couple of colleagues.” Said one of them. The other man stared at Alex for a few seconds.
“Excuse me young lady, are you by any chance Emilio Mejia’s daughter?” he asked afterwards.
Alexandra faked a smile. “Yeah, I am.” She said.
The man leaned forward and hugged her. “I am so sorry girl. Can we do anything for you?” he said to Alex’s surprise.
Blake interrupted. “Actually there is sir; I would like to take this girl with me back to Bogotá”
“You are only seventeen according to the information we’ve been given. It wouldn’t be legal for you to just take Alexandra Mejia, unless of course she wishes to go too, and your parents give you permission.” Replied the officer.
Blake sighed. “What if you allow me to take her with me, then if my parents say no I will pay for the ticket back here? Anyways she has nowhere to stay.”The officers exchanged looks once again.
“She still has to agree to this young man.” Said one of them.
Alex stood up too. “Of course I agree! It would be the greatest thing you could do for me right now!” she said.
One of the officers sighed and then smiled. “Fine then, c’mon”
The officers escorted Blake, Alex, and Phil to the police station and into a small, old aircraft. Phil then hugged both of them.
“Well boy, I was really pleased to meet you. I wish I could go with you but I’m considered a surrendered criminal.” He said.
“Phil thanks for everything. If you ever need help from me don’t think twice before asking.” Said Blake, and he gave Phil his phone number written on a small piece of paper. “Will you be okay?” asked Blake.
“Of course, I promise I will go visit you sometime boy.”
Phil then hugged Alex and kissed her on her forehead.
“Girl you’ve been one of the nicest persons I’ve ever met. You really got a very nice guy there you know?” he said pointing at Blake, causing him to blush.
“Thank you so much” said Alex as she kissed Phil on his cheek.
Both of them waved Phil and the policemen good-bye and climbed inside the aircraft then, heading to Bogotá.

Creative Writing (story) part 10

With nightfall, Blake always thought about running away. He knew the thought was completely ridiculous, but he couldn’t help his mind from always allowing the thought to rush in. That night however, he allowed the thought to stay a while longer, and for a split second he thought that would be the night when he would get out of there. This was only for a split second though, because he couldn’t see how he would even bend the steel bars, let alone the thick walls. Frustrated he leaned against one of the walls and closed his eyes.
“It’s impossible”, he whispered to himself. Then he allowed a tear to slip out, which was something he hated. Hating the situation and himself for allowing the thought of escape to seem possible for a second he lied down on the small, dusty mattress and it was then when the idea seemed possible for more than a split second…The mattress.
It was small, flexible and strong. He stood up and tried to lift the dusty thing to measure its weight. It was light enough for him to maneuver easily. The distance between each of the prison bars was not enough for him to walk through, but it was enough to slip the mattress through them. Blake pulled off one of his shoes’ laces and punched a whole through the mattress with a piece of broken dish which he smashed against the floor as quietly as he could. He tied the string to one of the mattress’s ends through the small opening and slipped the end with the string through the cell’s bars. Next, he pulled the string and the end of the mattress came back to him through another opening. Thus, he was left holding the mattress around one of the bars. He thought he would be able to bend the bar that way. It was not easy for the mattress to break and as he smiled gratefully at the idea of the mattress he pulled slowly and immediately felt the bar bending with his own weight.
“Yeah!” he whispered allowing once again a tear to slip out, but he knew this tear was not a sad one. It was the first happy tear he remembered in his whole life. Ignoring the fact of the guards outside, he slipped past the bar and kneeled outside breathing deeply and slowly as he stared for the first time in weeks at the starry blue sky. He laughed, not loudly but he laughed and cried. More happy tears.
Then he remembered her…Alexandra. She was still there, asleep in the cell. He then heard someone moving behind him and he dropped to the floor. Slowly he turned around to try to see who was there but then he felt someone step on his hand.
“What the…” the voice said.
Blake froze and waited for the man to realize it was him. There was no hope now…the sudden realization of his lost dream infuriated him more than ever and he jumped to his feet trying to punch the guy who had frustrated his escape. The man stopped his fist and suddenly said:
“It’s ok; I’m on your side”
“Huh?” Blake said tilting his head sideways doubtfully.
“I might as well go back to Bogotá with you than stay in this hell” said the man in response to Blake’s gesture. “It will make it much easier for you to escape with my help boy. You were smart to try it tonight though; most of them are in a meeting.
“How can I trust you?” Blake asked trying to sound defying instead of scared.
“Well boy, if I was here to take you back to your cell I would’ve already done it, don’t you think?” said the man smiling.
To his own surprise, Blake smiled back.
“I want to get someone else out too though, her name’s Alexandra.”
The man smiled, “Ha! The pretty girl, sure c’mon”.
Blake ran behind the man silently. He was more scared than ever but he was smiling. He knew things would turn out fine.
“By the way, my name’s Phillip” said the man.
“Cool, I’m Blake”
The man laughed as he ran and said “I know, I kidnapped you”
Blake laughed back and kept running until they came to the building.
“It’s the one right in front of yours” said Phillip.
“Yeah I know, I’ve been chatting with her sometimes, but I was so amazed at my escape that for a second I completely forgot about everyone else, including the guards. I really want her to go with me though. Do you have the key?”
“Of course” said Phillip as he withdrew the keychain from his pocket.
“Alex!” whispered Blake
The girl sat up in a second and gasped.
“Oh God Blake you scared me” she said, and then she realized Blake was outside. “How the heck did you get out of your cell?” she said staring suspiciously at Phillip.
“This guy helped me, his name is Phillip. I’m taking you with me Alex; you’re coming with me to Bogotá.”
Alex chuckled and jumped into his arms. She cried on his shoulder and it was not until Phillip urged them to hurry up that the long hug stopped.
All three of them ran quietly through the jungle, laughing. They came to an old, rusted car and Phillip hopped in and turned it on.
“I can’t believe we did it!” said Phillip looking amazed at the two younger ones.
Then the car got started and they drove as quickly as they could.
Around six hours later, they came to a small town and Phillip, Alex, and Blake knew that they were free at last.

Creative Writing (story) part 9

One night, a new prisoner came and they placed her in the cell just in front of Blake’s. She was sobbing quietly as they pushed her inside. When the prisoners left she leaned against a wall and cried with her head between her legs. Blake couldn’t help staring at her. She was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever met, and he was certain that she was not older than him. It was sad to have to watch her because he was reminded of what he felt the day he was captured. Late at night, Blake could still hear her sobbing quietly and he wondered if maybe she knew why either of them had been captured.
“Umm…hey” he said.
The girl lifted her head but stared sideways, she didn’t want to look at him, or perhaps she was afraid of doing so.
“What?” she said simply as she attempted to clean her cheeks of her tears.
“My name’s Blake, What is yours?” said Blake realizing that it was a weird question to ask in such a moment.
“Alexandra” she said as simply as before.
“Do you only speak in one-word sentences Alexandra?” Blake asked
The girl chuckled and for a small moment she smiled and looked at Blake. Blake then noticed the girl’s blue eyes and she seemed even more beautiful.
“Sorry” she said. “I’m not fully aware of what happened yet”
“Well then that makes two of us” said Blake sighing. “The only difference is that I’ve been here for…Umm… I’m not really sure how much time, and you’ve been here for a few hours.”
“You don’t know why they kidnapped you?” Alex asked.
“No…Umm…Not really” he answered looking puzzled as he realized just now how much it bothered him not to know what he was doing there. “Do you?”
“Well kind of, yeah. My parents were killed because these people needed their land. It was all my family owned so my father said no…and he was shot. So was my mo…” but before she could finish her sentence, she exploded in tears. “…I just don’t get it, why did they have to take everything from us?” she said sobbing. “Why didn’t they kill me too?”
“Hey don’t ever say that. If there’s something I know it is that you must never give up. What would your parents say if they saw you pleading to die?” Blake said pleading in his mind that he had not made Alexandra feel even worse.
“You know…” said Alex. “I really wish I could hug you right now”
“So do I, you’re the only friend I’ve got here.” Said Blake.
“Are your parents farmers too?” Alex asked.
“Umm…not really” said Blake imagining his parents as farmers.
“I thought so…You’re blonde, and your name doesn’t sound like around here.” Said Alex.
“What does it have to do with anything that I’m blonde?” Blake asked smiling.
“I’ve never seen a blonde guy except the ones in the movies”. She said. “Sorry if it bothers you”.
“Not at all” he said. “I’m from Bogotá”
“Bogotá!” Alex said loudly. “Wow! I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“I promise I will take you sometime”
“Thanks!” she said gratefully.
“We should better go to sleep now” said Blake
“You’re right”, said Alex. “You have no idea of how much you’ve helped me Blake.”
“No problem Alex, You’ve helped me a lot too, having company is incredibly better than being alone.”
They turned around and went to sleep. Blake thought for around an hour of the chat with Alexandra. He had never made a friend in such a little time.
Nights kept like that every day, they would always talk for a while before going to sleep. Every time, they became closer and closer and every time Blake realized how nice Alexandra was.

Robert Cooper technique story part 2

When I finished my sundae I went upstairs to the bowling court to look for friends, since I knew that most people used to hang around in the bowling court area. Actually, I found some friends so I just stayed with them bowling for a while. We stayed there till about 7:00 p.m, and then we decided to go to the park and just sit there and chat for a while. In the park there was a bunch of little kids on a birthday party or something. They were having fun even though it was late for kids that age. Then, all of a sudden there was an explosive noise and then I don’t remember anything. When I woke up I was lying on the floor under a pile of broken concrete and objects of all types, covered by dust. One of my friends was lying beside me. I wasn’t sure if he was breathing or not so I tried to bring him along but he was too heavy. There was fire and dust all around. I knew I had to get out of there before anything else happened. If there were any gas leaks, there could be more explosions, and the building was destroyed, so it could collapse in any second. There were people shouting all around. I was on the last floor and the stairs had fallen off apparently, so people were climbing downstairs. A man helped me down and asked me my name. He then shouted my name and immediately I heard my dad shout it back. He came running towards me to hug me and then he cried. I was shocked, so I guess I should’ve cried too but I had no idea what the hell was going on, and the image was pretty scary too. There were wounded people everywhere and even a few dead people around. I just sat and put my head between my legs, not caring about how I looked or where my friends were. I just ignored reality for a while.

I was practicing a new dance when I heard some familiar melody on the TV. When I turned my gaze I saw the “Breaking news” sign. Now I don’t know why, but I had a weird feeling on my guts and I just stopped dancing. Then, the reporter said it: “Attention please, a huge explosion has been reported in the northern part of Bogotá in the El Nogal club.” All the girls shrieked and the teacher clapped her hands to her mouth. Immediately I punched the numbers on my father’s phone but he didn’t pick it up. Then I called my brother but he didn’t pick it up either. I was hysterically crying by then. I called my mother and she picked up.
“Hey dear, what is it?” she said.
“Mom, haven’t you heard the news?” I cried. “I think they put a bomb in the club!”She hung up and lasted about 3 minutes from home to the ballet. I jumped on the car and then we rushed to the club. The scene was devastating. There were hundreds of wounded people and tens of dead people. I could see some friends around and I rushed to hug them. One of my friends had lost her dad. She cried so much. I was so worried about my brother and my father so I had to tell her to talk to me later. Then, I saw them both sitting down. They looked horrible, all covered with dust and their clothes were torn apart. Still, we were so happy to find them we hugged their guts off, and we all cried hugging each other for a while. It was something none of us will ever forget

Robert Cooper technique story part 1

School was over at last. It was a Friday, so I was really happy. My mother picked me and my sister at school and then drove us home. I was very happy, because the week had been intense and had seemed as long as a month. I hadn’t made any special plans that Friday, but still I was happy because all I wanted to do was rest. My sister had her ballet lessons though, so my mother had to drive her to the ballet school, and I asked her to drop me at the club. It was already 6:00 p.m. I had no idea that day would be so different from the perfect Friday I imagined. My dad said he would stay at the club with me since he had finished his work early and had nothing better to do. As soon as my mother dropped us on the club, I rushed upstairs to the dining room and sat on an empty table as I took some books out of my backpack. I wanted to finish reading the book that I had to finish for Monday. I called a waiter and asked him to bring me a chocolate sundae and I just kept on reading. By then, it was already 6:30 p.m.

I was so excited! It was Friday, I had ballet classes, and that meant I was going to see my friends. We got to the ballet school and I changed quickly into the ballet uniform. I loved those classes, two of my best friends took the classes with me and the institute itself was very pretty. It was a huge room with mirrors on two of the four walls. There were about four TV screens on top of these mirrors and of course the bars for the ballet. My mother told me she would pick me up after she picked up my brother and my father, so I just chatted with my friends for the time before the class started, which was only a few minutes. In the TVs, the news were going on and we could see the usual stuff…politicians murdered, innocent people murdered, people being kidnapped…Colombia was undergoing a crisis because of terrorists. Still, these tragedies never got to us. It usually happened in the country or in the jungle. Never in Bogotá, and when it did happen in Bogotá it happened in downtown Bogotá, and we lived in the north. We just stopped staring at the TV and waited for the teacher.

The Future

I have always wondered what future awaits us. It is weird right now, trying to think about being in college, working, married and with kids, or even being old, like my grandfather is now. Right now, our everyday life includes school, friends, and family. It is fun, but I remember myself saying when I was little: “I hope I was done with school and I was already an adult, that way I could do whatever I wanted to do.” Now I truly understand that life as a grown-up doesn’t work that way. We won’t be able to do as we please because we will have stuff to do. Right now, if we don’t hand in a project we have to make a huge effort in order to not flunk the class, but we can just remediate the class later on and it’s not that big of a deal. As adults, not handing in some work can end up in permanent suffering for you and for your family. You could be fired and end up in a very bad situation. In high school, life already got tenser. If we don’t do well enough here, we could end up being rejected from the universities that we really want to go to. That could cause our careers to fail and would mark a difference in our life. I know college will be even tenser than high school, and once we are out there in the real world, the real thing, we cannot make the childish mistakes that we are allowed here at school. I hate it when it hits me that my parents won’t be there forever but I know it is true, and I hate to imagine the days of their deaths. It is also frustrating not to know if we will or won’t end up getting married, and how will my wife be like. Will I have any kids? Will I be able to raise them as a proper father? What will my job be like? Will I be successful? Are my friends right now going to be there in the future or will they be living somewhere else, barely remembering my name while I hang out with my best friends who could be today nothing more than a random boy that I see walking on the street? It is hard to think about this stuff, and even imagine your friends as grown-ups and trying to imagine how their wives would be like, or their kids. It is sort of scary even, but we don’t know a thing about the future. It is so random and at the same time it depends so much on us. To obtain our dream futures we have to do some certain stuff, but we don’t know what stuff we have to do, actually nobody knows…Our future depends on us, and at the same time we can do very little to change it until we are there.

Traveling

Investing on the future is the most appropriate way to spend money. Investing can have several effects, most of which are good. Most people worry about college or education in general as their first priority, but once you’ve finished college, all there is left is to work in order to sustain your family, and to enjoy life. What better way to enjoy life than traveling? Spending on family vacations and getting to know new places is as important as education. It is not smart to go to the same place over and over again because even though it may seem fun and enjoyable, you never get to know new places, and that is what is really important about traveling. A memory cannot be stolen or taken from you, and almost always, a nice journey will make an ever-lasting memory. If the journey is not enjoyable, it is still experience, and experience consists of memories. The point of life is not to gather as much as you can get because once you are about to die, you don’t think about how much stuff do you have, you think about the things you did in life, like your family and all the time you shared with them. Even though a five-star hotel may seem as a fun alternative, it is expensive and you don’t really get to know wherever you were because you stay in the hotel during the day. Europe, for example, is a very diverse continent. All of its countries are different from each other and in all of them you find a tiny piece of history. The diversity throughout the European countries is not similar at all to that of a five-star hotel. You can see different cultures and different people. Consider going backpacking with your family or friends throughout Europe. It will certainly bring you much more memories than staying at a nice pool drinking cocktails for two weeks straight. Avoid going to the same country too many times or for too long, because it will get boring after a while, especially when you never visit or do any of the interesting stuff there is to do in such country. Try different vacationing ways. Don’t just travel by airplane, road trips can get you to know much more places than the one you are actually visiting. Stopping regularly during a road trip can double the memories that you receive from a trip. I remember one of my trips. It was a road trip from Mexico City to Cancun. We stopped in some of the most important Aztec historical places in the world, and we wouldn’t even had seen the temples if we had taken a plane. Try camping or fishing trips. These can be very fun and will make you forget about life in the city for a while. It a way to truly rest. You might think that education is way more important than traveling, and it might be, but traveling can earn you much more than you thought. After all, traveling is experience, and experience always comes in handy. It’s like learning, but different.

Creative writing (story) part 8

As things calmed down, and slowly people were resigned to wait maybe forever, Elena decided that she had to go back. The school year was close to an end and she knew that she couldn’t miss any more of it than what she already had. It was important for her to get into an appropriate college, or at least it was for her father. She knew it would be horrible though, it was not only going back to school, but to her friends and teachers and everybody at school. They would ask questions. Questions that she did not feel like answering. Some people thought Blake was dead, and she didn’t want to talk to them because they would make her feel as if he actually was dead which was something Elena refused to believe.
Anyways, the day finally came when she had to go back. She asked Nicolas to give her a ride because she didn’t want to go all by herself. The distance from the school gate to the hallway was long, and she was sure that she would encounter many people on the way. In the morning, she walked downstairs earlier than usual. She would wait for Nicolas downstairs instead of him waiting downstairs for her as usual. She sat with her head on her lap. She wasn’t crying but she was thinking. It was a nice morning. Cold, but nice. Nicolas pulled over around fifteen minutes after she came downstairs. He got off the car and smiled, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her to her feet.
“It’s time to go”, he said
Elena looked at him, smiled, and got on the car. The ride to school was nice, Nicolas tried to make Elena laugh and he accomplished it once. She was half-listening to him anyways so sometimes she just smiled without really knowing what he was talking about. She was staring blankly ahead all the time, and once Nicolas even stopped the car.
“Hey, are you sure you are ready for this?” he asked.
She continued staring blankly ahead for about three seconds. Then she turned to him, surprised.
“Huh? Oh yeah, sure don’t worry about me I must do this eventually.” She answered. “Keep going, otherwise we’ll going to be late”.
“Fine”, said Nicolas turning the car back on.
Finally they came to the school parking lot’s gate. As they parked, a group of five girls approached Elena. They were all some of her best friends, but one of them she had never seen. She was a medium-sized blonde girl. She did not seem shy, and the other girls quickly introduced her to Elena after they were done with their usual hugging.
“El, this is Sara, she’s new.” Said one of the girls. “Sara, this is Elena.”
Another girl then started talking.
“She was dying to meet you El, and she’s really nice.”
“Yeah, well I heard about what happened to your brother. I’m so sorry about it”, she said.
That was exactly what Elena didn’t want to hear, however she didn’t want to be rude and smiled.
“Thanks…” she said as she leaned forward to hug Sara.
“Oh, guess what” said Sara. “I got a schedule exactly like yours! We have every class together, how fun!”

Creative Writing (story) part 7

At Bogota, things were different. The commotion of the events had caused panic in the city. The airport was closed for small aircrafts and all of the schools had been closed down early because of the news. The police were still checking the school and tracking any clue that could be useful to see what had happened. Elena was at a police station with Nicolas and some other friends. She was completely hysterical. It was not common at all for something like this to happen in Bogota and although kidnapping was not that rare in Colombia, nothing like this had ever happened in the capital city. It was the first time that the kidnappers used an aircraft to transport their victims. The police was blaming the F.A.R.C, which was a terrorist group in Colombia who kidnapped, murdered, and illegally produced drugs to sell outside Colombia in places like the United States or some European countries. However the F.A.R.C had already declared themselves innocent because there was no reason to kidnap the son of Gabriel Nogales for them other than the money. The police knew that the F.A.R.C could be lying but it was a good excuse, Nogales was not involved in politics of any kind and this were the usual people who were kidnapped by the F.A.R.C. It was a very strange incident and the whole police department was very confused.
Mr. and Mrs. Nogales came to the police station immediately after receiving the horrible phone call. Maria Paula was devastated and was crying her eyes off. Gabriel would try to hide his fury and his sadness but a tear would leave his eyes occasionally and inside he was as devastated as his wife. They couldn’t understand why had it been Blake and not one of them because they didn’t even know the reason of Blake’s kidnapping. They supposed it was the money what the criminals wanted and they made a public offer at RCN; one of the most famous television channels in Colombia asking the kidnappers to please inform them what they wanted.
While the family suffered and the police was in panic, a girl in Bogota watched the news perplexed thinking about the boy who was now a prisoner at the jungle. She knew perfectly well who the kidnapper was and where the boy was being hidden but she was not going to say anything. She had orders not to and after all she was working for the kidnapper himself. The girl’s name was Sara. She was only eighteen years old but already she lived by herself in a big apartment in Bogota. Her fake documents said she was twenty-five and she was good at lying. Sara was expecting a call which would come in any minute now. She knew that now the Nogales boy had been kidnapped it was her turn to take part in the plan designed by the man she worked for.
Then, the phone finally ringed. She stood up from the couch and picked up the phone. The cold voice to which she was used to spoke.
“Hello Sara, are you watching the new yet?” said the man.
“What must I do now?” said Sara ignoring the cruel joke the man had just said.
“Sara my girl, I think time has come for you to come in the plan. Have you met Elena Nogales yet?”

Creative Writing (story) part 6.

Blake tried to stand up but he fell immediately. The fat man came to him and grabbed him by his hair pulling him strongly towards the door. At the door, the man removed the boy’s tidings and he carefully put some handcuffs on Blake’s hands. The handcuffs were old, but they would work fine enough. At the building’s entrance, a tall man was waiting for them. Each man grabbed the boy by one of the arms and dragged him away from the building towards the biggest log cabin. This cabin was different than the others. It was bigger and nicer and this one did not seem as if it had been built in a hurry like the others. The fat man knocked on the door and waited.
“Who is it?” spoke a cold voice from the inside.
“It’s Maurice” said the fat man “…And Arthur. We brought the boy.”
“Good, come in quickly.” Answered the cold voice.
The two men dragged Blake inside and Blake was able to look around. It was a big cabin decorated with nice furniture. It seemed as if he was back at the city, there was even an air-conditioner which made the climate suitable. There were electric light bulbs unlike the cells in the cement building and there was also an empty fireplace. However Blake was also able to see who the cold voice belonged to. He felt extremely cold when he looked at the man’s eyes and he forced his gaze away. The voice belonged to a tall bald man with a black beard. He was dressed in a fancy suit even though they were in the middle of the jungle. The bearded man was sitting behind a beautifully carved desk and was smiling as he looked at the miserable boy.
“Hello Blake, How are you doing?” spoke the man as he continued smiling maliciously at the boy.
“Are you feeling okay…or are you missing your comforts at your filthy family’s house?” said the man even colder than before. His voice was rough as if he had swallowed dust. Even though he looked like any other guy you could just feel he was evil.
Blake spoke almost whispering. It was the first time he spoke in a long time and he sounded as if he were about to burst in tears.
“Why am I here?” he said. Tears still escaped occasionally from his eyes and he felt really frustrated.
The man smiled and stood up. He walked up to Blake and whispered in his ear.
“Because I have plans for you, or to be exact, I have plans for your whole family.”
Blake looked at the man with terror and the man’s eyes made him even more frightened.
“What plans?” he asked with trembling voice. The man then went back behind his desk and as he sat down he spoke loudly.
“That is a matter that we will not discuss right now. In the meantime I will tell you something. You will stay here for a long time. Perhaps a year or so, and I will not harm you. I won’t give any news of you to your parents though and I will not even speak to them. They will suffer and so will you. You will not be murdered, at least for now but trust me when I tell you that you will certainly wish to be dead.” Said the man, and then he laughed loudly as he turned to Arthur and Maurice.
“I need the helicopter to take me back to Bogota now. I have to arrange the plans for Elena Nogales, in the meantime leave the boy in his cell and make sure he behaves. Take care of him. Should anything happen to him it will be your responsibility and you will suffer the consequences. Understood?”
“Yes sir” said both men together, and then the bald man left without another word.

Creative writing (story) part 5

There was total relief when the man said so, and then he kneeled down besides Blake and checked the boy's pockets. He found a cellphone and a wallet adn he took them away, then he sat and started talking with the pilot. The aircraft traveled for about 30 more minutes. It passed over San Jose del Guaviare and flew deep inside the jungle. Finally, they found the clear spot where they were supposed to land and started descending.The helicopter landed carefully between the trees without making much noise, and the men got off the aircraft quickly as if they were being chased by something or someone. They carried Blake without much care. He was still unconscious and would not wake up even with the loudest noise in the world or if they swung his body from side to side. The drug they had given him was a poison from one of the spiders in that same jungle. It would not hurt him, but he would remain unconscious for another three hours or so. They did not have much time since the trip to the camp lasted about two hours if they traveled fast.
The kidnappers walked for a short distance carrying the sleeping boy with them until they came to a couple of trucks which were waiting for them. They tossed Blake inside not caring much since he would not wake up yet, and they drove heading for the camp. Not a word was spoken in the whole time it took to get to the camp. They didn’t need to. Blake was not the first person they captured and they knew the procedure that they had to take with a new prisoner.
When they got to the camp they tied Blake's hands and feet and carried him to a medium-sized cement building in the middle of the camp. It was the only building made out of cement. The rest were simple wooden cabins built in a hurry. The building was not painted, or perhaps it had been painted at some time but the paint had scraped off. There was no glass on the windows, but there were some thick steel bars to prevent the prisoners from escaping out of the building. The door was made of steel as well and it was a bullet-proof door, which would make it even harder for the prisoners to escape. Besides that, there were no windows on the first floor. Only on the second floor since it would be easier to escape at ground level. It was extremely humid on the inside and the cells had nothing in them other than a dirty mattress where the prisoners could sleep on. The kidnappers put tape on Blake’s mouth and threw him violently in one of the cells on the second floor. The drug’s effect was passing already, and Blake woke up when he hit the floor. He felt unbearable pain on his whole body but he couldn’t move yet, and even though he felt like screaming, he was unable to do so, and he just stayed there lying on the floor waiting and screaming in his mind.
Slowly and painfully, the drug’s effect ended and Blake was able to move. He didn’t though, he didn’t feel like it, but he cried silently and felt more frustrated than ever. He hated crying, it made him feel like a coward. It was very hard to make him cry. He stayed there, on the floor until it was nighttime, and then a fat man opened the door of the cell.
“Come here boy.” Said the man expecting Blake to stand up even when his hands and feet were tied.

Creative writing (story) part 4

The kidnappers stared at him for about three seconds, which seemed to Blake as the longest three seconds in his life, and then one of them came to him, grabbed him by the back, tore his shirt off and stabbed him with the injection he was carrying in his pocket. Blake screamed and in seconds he was unable to move, shaking softly on the floor, completely paralized.
The kidnapper started screaming then loudly.
“Now we go to Elena, come on!”, he shouted, but in that same second, police cars could be heard in the distance, and another kidnapper said:
“No, there’s no time now, call the others!”, and the one who had Blake unconscious in his arms took out a phone and said: “We need you now, come on!”.
The kidnappers ran outside and suddenly, a black helicopter started approaching the school.

Elena heard the helicopter and screamed: “They’re taking Blake! NO!”, and this time not only she but nearly all the school ran outside to save their friend, but it was too late, Elena saw her unconscious brother being carried and thrown inside the aircraft, and she saw the helicopter fly away.
She could handle it no more and dropped to her knees crying and shaking. Half the school was hugging her trying to calm her down, and the others were watching silently the sinister helicopter.
“It´s gonna be alright El’”, whispered Nicolas, her boyfriend in her ear.
However, Elena knew she would never see her brother again.


Life in the jungle-chapter 2

The helicopter flew away quickly from the site of the crime. The sleeping boy was lying on the back seat while six men discussed what to do now. They had not followed orders correctly, the orders were to capture both Blake and Elena Nogales, but they only had time for Blake.
“Sooner or later we’ll have to tell him anyways!”, said one of the men.
“Then you call him!”, answered another one rudely.
“Fine, gimme the phone”, said the first man. He grabbed the phone from the other guy and dialed the number. A cold voice answered.
“What is it? Do you have the Nogales?” it speaked.
“Boss, we had no time to take the girl, but we do have the boy”, answered the kidnapper, his voice shaking.
“Consider yourself lucky, because I have a new plan for Elena Nogales, is the boy okay?” he said.
“Yes, he is still under the effects of the drug, he is still sleeping” said the kidnapper more calmly now that he had seen the boss’s pacific reaction to the bad news.
“Good, I want him here as soon as possible. Make sure he doesn’t wake up until he is here, and take whatever he has in his pockets from him”, said the cold voice, and then he hung up the phone.
The kidnapper put the phone away and turned to the other men:
“We’re not in trouble, he says it is good that we didn’t take Elena, he has other plans for the girl.”

Creative writing (story) part 3

The lady started sobbing in panic and sat down, she knew this was no joke, and she felt sorry for the Nogales, but she feared for her life. She started typing the names of the two siblings and told the masked men: “Blake is in room H12, and Elena is on H17”
Then one of the criminals hit her hard in the head with the side of his gun and the lady dropped unconscious, then all of the masked men ran upstairs looking for the rooms. Room H12 came first.


Blake was sitting on his desk gazing at the board while an old teacher babbled something about the French revolution. He was still remembering about the car that seemed to be following him on the way to school when a voice interrupted his thoughts.
“…Blake!”, said the voice of the teacher. “Tell us why were the French kings murdered please”.
“Mmmh?”, he said. “Sorry I wasn’t paying attention”, he apologized.
“Yes I noticed” said the teacher before continuing with the lecture. “Can anyone tell me the reason of the…”
BOOM! The door of the room was kicked open and four masked men came rushing in screaming: “Where is Blake Nogales? Hand him in!”
The whole class dropped to the floor and then one of the kidnappers shot the teacher straight in the head. The class was full of screams and sobs coming from the students hiding under the desks. The kidnappers kicked the desks and shelves aside and continued screaming: “Nogales come on! If you don’t hand in Blake Nogales we’ll take all of you!”

The other classes had heard the fiasco and the teachers had locked the doors and ordered the students to hide wherever they could. Many of them were making phonecalls to parents and to the police. Elena had heard the kidnappers screaming and had tried to run to her brother, but her friends made her stay and hid her better than anyone else. They knew that if they were taking Blake they would try to take Elena as well.

Blake was still under his desk scared for his life and for the life of his classmates. He looked sideways and saw his friend Daniel Grazianni looking at him shaking. Blake then realized that none of his classmates would hand him in, and he understood he would get all of them killed if he didn’t hand himself in. He made signals to his friend to tell him what he would do, and Daniel shook his head.
“Blake don’t do it! They’ll kill you!” whispered Daniel with his voice shaking.
“I’m no good to them dead, they want my parents’ money only”, answered Blake almost incapable of breathing with terror. Then, he stood up and said:
“I’m Blake Nogales”.

Creative writing (story) part 2

Finally he told Elena about it
“Hey El, is that car following us?”
“Huh?” she turned to his brother and then gazed at the other car. It did seem that it was following them because everytime they turned the car would turn in their same direction. However she did not worry.
“It must be someone from school as well”, she said.
“I hope so, but it has been following us for a long distance”, Blake said with a worried tone in his voice.

They were almost at school, and Blake drove so that the weird car wouldn’t follow them anymore. In the last minute, the other car turned differently, and they finnally got to school.
“See? It was just a coincidence”, said Elena as she grabbed her bag and got off the car.
“Sure, I was just kind of scared that’s all” said Blake as he also got off the car. He said that to his sister but the uneasy feeling about that morning was still there, stronger than ever.
Then they both walked together to the high school building, greeting friends as they met them in the way.

What they did not know was that the other car had in fact been following them, and it had turned only to make them less suspiscious. It had parked only a block away from the school and it had four men, all of them strong, and all of them carrying guns. They got off the car and walked silently to a hiding spot near the school gate. Then, one of them pointed a gun with a silencing device to one of the guards, and he shooted. The guard dropped dead and the other guard came running toward his dead colleague. Then, the criminal killed the other guard as well, and nobody heard the gun. The criminals now had a free way into the school.

The school was one of the biggest private schools in Bogotá. It had primary, elementary, middle school and high school buildings each of them farther or nearer to the gate. The primary building was the one located nearest of the gate, and the high school building was the one farthest away from the gate. The criminals walked normally and without disguises towards the high school building, and if they crossed with anybody on their way, they would just wave at them casually and keep walking.

When they got to the high school building they went in the bathroom and put on their black masks so as not to be recognized. Then, they prepared their guns so that they would make no noise, and finnally, they took out a bottle of a strange liquid, and filled two injections with it, which they put in their pockets. When everything was ready they went almost crawling to the high school office, and came in without the woman in charge noticing.
She was an old lady, and she was alone in the office when suddenly, the masked men came out from their hiding spot, pointed a gun straight at her face and said:
“If you scream you die, tell us where can we find Blake and Elena Nogales!”

Creative writing (story)

The city was dimly lit by the weak light of the early sun. The streets were inhabited, just a few cars would pass by ocasionally. The neighborhood of Chicó was one of the most beautiful ones of the city, and it was were some of the fanciest buildings were. The tallest one, the “Vistas” building, was specially quiet that morning, although inside all the families were getting ready fro their daily routines. This apartments were not cheap, still, there was not a single apartment available, and the top floor was owned by Gabriel Nogales, a very respected man in Bogotá. Nogales owned a fancy hotel brand. All of Colombia was crowded with his brand of hotels. He was married to Maria Paula Laporta, who helped her husband manage the family´s hotels. Maria Paula was a beautiful woman who helped whoever approached her in need. She was loved by nearly everyone who knew her, and she was happy with her family.

Nogales and his wife had two kids: Blake and Elena Nogales. Elena had inherited her mother´s grace, beauty, but most of all her kindness, and had multiplied it by five. She was kind with everybody around her and she would make a big deal if anybody had a problem until the problem was solved. Blake was different, more like his father, he was more calm and quiet, he was serious and noble, but still it was easy to make him happy. Elena was eighteen years old, and she was in her senior year, while Blake was seventeen years old, and he was a junior.

That gloomy morning, Elena woke up and gazed at the window. Even though it was not a very nice day, she was happy. It was hard to make Elena sad. She dressed and went down to the kitchen, where Blake and his father were eating and talking.
“Good morning”, she said with her usual radiant smile.
“Good morning sis’”, said Blake without looking at her. He had a weird feeling about this morning, but he didn’t know exactly why.
Her dad stood up and kissed her. “Would you want me to drive you to school today?”, he asked both of them.
“No thanks, I’d like to drive” said Blake, and Elena nodded in approval of her brother’s decision.
“Fine then, but be careful”; said Gabriel, and he walked out of the kitchen to make a job phonecall. He was not going to work that morning, he also had a weird feeling.

Blake and Elena finished their breakfast quickly and took the elevator from the penthouse to the garage. They took the porsche and started driving to school.
“It’s not a nice morning”, Blake said as he turned for a second to watch a car that seemed to be following them.
“No, but there’s nothing we should feel bad about, and I bet it will get nicer soon”, Elena answered while she amazed herself at the beauty of the city.
“Uh-huh”, said Blake without really listening at her sister. He was still turning uneasily
towards the car that seemed to be following them.