Zombie League

(listen)  

One hot summer morning, Juan, Leo, Antonio, and Diego, all 14 years old, took the train to a football camp in a small village in Spain.

They were very excited. They talked about football, snacks, and which one of them was the best striker.

After one hour, the train stopped at a tiny station. There were no taxis or buses, so they had to walk one kilometer to the village. They didn’t mind — they were athletes, after all.

When they arrived, something strange happened.

The streets were silent. No dogs, no children, no music. Then they saw the people. They realized that everyone in the village was a zombie!

“Uh… maybe this is a Halloween party?” Leo said nervously.

“No,” Juan whispered, “I don’t think Halloween is in July.”

Even the football trainer waiting at the field was a zombie! His eyes were gray, and he tried to say, “Welcome to camp!” but it sounded more like “Waaaauuugh!”

Suddenly, all the zombies started walking toward the boys.

“Run!” Antonio shouted.

But the zombies were very slow, and the boys were very fast.

Then Diego had an idea. “Hey! We came here to play football, right? Let’s play!”

They ran to the football pitch, and Diego kicked the ball hard. The zombies followed it slowly, groaning. The boys laughed and passed the ball between them, running circles around fifty zombies!

They played for an hour. Then they stopped for a water break and ate protein bars.

After another hour, the zombies started to wobble. After the third hour, they were tired and dehydrated. One by one, they fell down on the pitch.

When the last zombie hit the grass, Diego took out a whistle, blew it, and shouted, “Good practice, everyone!"

“Valencia Club de Fútbol 50 – Zombies 0.”

Juan looked at the fallen zombies. “These zombies don’t look very good. I don’t think they’ll be able to play tomorrow.”

"They need to learn about hydration." 

Leo sighed. “We should probably take the train back to Valencia.”

So, the four friends picked up their backpacks, walked back to the station, and laughed all the way.

“That was the weirdest football camp ever,” Antonio said.

Diego grinned. “Yeah… but we definitely won the match!”

 

Worst Nightmares and A Dream Come True

My Worst Nightmare

What are you the most afraid of? Are you afraid of monsters? Do ghosts scare you? Are you frightened by sharks and bears? What if a shark married a bear and they had children? Would you be afraid of their baby? I would be very afraid of a baby that was half shark and half bear. But my worst nightmare isn’t about monsters or bad animals.

My worst nightmare is always about one thing. I have the same bad dream night after night. I wake up every morning in a panic. Let me tell you about my nightmare.

I am walking in a dark house. There are no lights. I am alone in the dark house. I can hear scary sounds that come from empty rooms. Who is making the noises? Is there a monster in the house? Are there zombies walking around who will eat my brains? Maybe there is a vampire who wants to drink my blood walking around in my living room or a crazy serial killer with a big knife taking a shower in my bathroom?

In my dream I walk into my kitchen in the early morning. It is dark outside. Everyone is asleep…or is there someone else awake in my house? I’m not afraid of monsters or zombies or vampires but I am very afraid of one thing. What am I afraid of? I look in my cabinets. I look everywhere in my kitchen. After a few minutes I understand the horrible, terrible, and frightening truth. I don’t have any coffee. I ran out of coffee and forgot to buy more. I don’t have enough coffee for even a half a cup. When I have this nightmare I wake up screaming.

This is why I always have 5,000 kilos of coffee in my kitchen. My kitchen is almost completely full of big bags of coffee. There is no room to cook, there is no room for food, and there is no room to do anything in my kitchen except to make coffee. I don’t care because I sleep better when I have 5,000 kilos of coffee in my kitchen. I don’t have nightmares.

I don't want to talk about this anymore because just thinking about running out of coffee scares me.

What is your worst nightmare? 

While you think about that I'm going to go to the supermarket and buy more coffee.

A Dream Come True

(sueño hecho realidad)

I don’t believe in genies with magic lamps or fairy tales but sometimes I like to think about having one wish. I never think about having three wishes because that would be stupid. Only a greedy person would think about having three wishes. Who would wish for three wishes? Answer: A stupid, greedy person.  

If I could have only one wish I would ask for the dog in my building to stop barking. The dog lives in the apartment below my apartment. He barks all day long. He barks seven days a week, week after week, month after month. I wish he would shut up. I want him to shut his mouth and never bark again for the rest of his life.If that dog stopped barking that would be a dream come true for me.

“I never had a dream come true until the day that I met you.”

“Nunca se me había hecho realidad un sueño hasta que te conocí."

Reading

A New Computer

Kevin wanted to buy a new computer. Many years ago Kevin was going to buy a new computer but they were very expensive. Kevin thought that if he had a new computer he could download movies or send messages to his friends on Facebook. He went to el Corte Inglés and he looked at all of the new computers. There were desktop computers. Desktop computers are powerful and they aren’t very expensive. Desktop computers are less expensive than laptop computers. However, laptop computers are smaller and portable. If he bought a laptop computer Kevin could take the computer with him when he went on vacation. He could use the computer to do his work when he went on vacation. Kevin didn’t like working when he was on holiday but if he had a laptop computer he probably would work on vacation.

Kevin noticed that computers were cheaper and more powerful every year. The computer that Kevin looked at last year cost 600€. This year the same computer was only 500€. Kevin decided not to buy a new computer. He thought that he should wait until next year to buy a computer. Next year the computer would be cheaper. It didn’t make sense to buy a computer this year because next year the same computer would be less expensive. "What should I do?" Kevin thought.

Every year Kevin decided not to buy a new computer. He wanted to wait because the prices were always lower every year. Year after year Kevin waited. Kevin finally died without ever buying a new computer. He never did work when he was on vacation. When he was on vacation Kevin read books and played with his children. Kevin died a very happy man, a very happy man without a computer.

Too Much Stuff

Kate had too much stuff. She loved to go shopping. She bought lots of clothes. She bought a lot of furniture and rugs for her flat. After a few years her flat was full of stuff. It was full of clothes and furniture and other stuff she had bought. Soon every room in her flat was full and there was no room (space, place) in her flat for more stuff. Her flat was very crowded. She had to stop shopping because there was no place to put the new stuff. She loved to shop so she decided to rent a bigger flat. 

The new flat would be bigger and there would be more room for all of her stuff. She rented a bigger flat on the other side of the city. She rented (hired) a truck and put all of her stuff into the truck. She drove across the city to her new flat. She parked the truck in front of her new building. She went next door to a café to have a cup of coffee. 

When she returned the truck was not there, it was gone. Someone stole the truck with all of her stuff. Kate decided to move back to her old flat. She didn’t need a lot of room because she didn’t have any stuff. That day her best friend called and asked if Kate wanted to see a movie. Kate said that she couldn't go to the cinema because she had to go shopping for more stuff. 

Can I Borrow $1,000?

She was angry. She was angry with her brother. Her brother didn't help her. She needed to borrow $1,000. She had asked her brother to lend her $1,000. He said no. Her brother said he didn't have $1,000. Her brother was lying. Her brother had $10,000. He had ten times $1,000. Why did he lie to her? Why didn't he tell her the truth? Why didn't he lend her $1,000? She said, "I know you have $10,000. All I want is $1,000. I will pay you back next year. I will pay back the loan in one year. You will get your money back next year." He said no. He said people shouldn't borrow money. He said people shouldn't lend money. "But I'm not 'people'," she said. "I'm your sister!"

A Thin Man

Richard is a light eater. He doesn't eat much. He isn't a heavy eater. He eats a light breakfast, a light lunch, and a light dinner. Richard is not fat. He is thin. He will always be thin, because he is a light eater. He eats a bowl of cereal for breakfast. He eats a bowl of cereal with milk. He eats a sandwich for lunch. Sometimes it's a fish sandwich. He likes fish. He eats rice and vegetables for dinner. All he eats for dinner is rice and vegetables. He will never get fat.

Homer is a heavy eater. Homer eats a lot. He eats a whole pig every week. In one episode of The Simpsons Homer went to a seafood restaurant. The sign in the window of the restaurant said “All You Can Eat.” Homer can eat a lot. He ate three trays of shrimp and two plastic lobsters that were decorations. The owner told Homer that he was going to close the restaurant. Homer didn’t want to leave. The restaurant closed but Homer was still hungry. He went to KFC and bought a bucket of fried chicken. Homer is my hero. I want to be like Homer.