Brito Peret
Foreword
T
hroughout this year we have been reading multiple literary texts both in our Language and Literature lessons with Patricia Chujman and in our tutorial lessons with Cecilia Lasa. Among those texts, we have analysed many amazing short stories, trying to understand them more deeply. This analysis has inspired us to write some of our own short stories. In our tutorial meetings, we worked together, really hard, to achieve this. In each lesson we would pick a title from our Literature booklet and brainstorm ideas for a new story. The texts read in class worked as an insightful guide for us. We carefully thought of the vocabulary we would use, the sequence in which events would unfold, how to construct characters... We were able to write five short stories creating an atmosphere of fear and tension in each one of them. We discovered how to make each story unique, mysterious and catchy for the audience. We paid attention to every word chosen, that was why we worked with online dictionaries and thesauruses. We thought of which literary device would help us construct an idea more accurately. Every sentence counted. In some cases, we needed to retrieve some historical information, so we surfed the net for that or even checked our History notes. We do hope you enjoy reading all of them as we enjoyed writing them. María Brito Peret (also in charge of image design) Agustina Buljevich Antonia Flores Pirán Belén Gay Juan Cruz Gomez Roca (also in charge of image design) Belén Irazusta Virginia Loza Delfina Subirá Milagros Zubizarreta Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, October 15th
Double Identity
G贸mez Roca
S
he did not love anyone, but Rufus. Her true teenage love. Her rich and prejudiced family had forced her to commit to Henry, a man belonging to the high society of London. However, one cannot forget one’s true love that easily. That is why her life was a complete disaster, a miserable and unhappy disaster. ********************************************************************************** Katherine, as everyone called her, lived with Henry and her two children in an enormous house. Still, what she liked the most about her life was the chapel at the very back of her place. Henry had visited the chapel only once: his wedding day. Katherine had been a regular visitor since that day, the day she met Father Rufus. The day she resumed her feelings for her teenage love. Such frequency aroused suspicion in Henry. “Does she believe in God now, more than she did five years ago?” What can be so inviting in that old ruined chapel? Why does that gloomy atmosphere captivate her?” One evening, while Henry was hunting in the woods, Katherine went to the chapel as she used to do every day. But that day, she and her lover decided to go to the same spot as her husband had chosen. Little did they know that Father Rufus was going to find his death. Less than a mile away, Henry was prevented from focusing on his prey because he saw her wife’s favourite white dress vanishing in the air. He saw Katherine. He changed his prey, now his eyes were on his wife, but for his surprise she was not alone. A figure that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time made up the features of the male face he had seen on his wedding day. Henry remembered he was still hunting. A shot gun was heard.
********************************************************************************** That day was not the saddest day in Katherine’s life, but the most shocking one. While she was crying over the spotless face of Father Rufus, a similar face but with a scar on the left eyebrow made its slow entrance into to mourning room. That was when she remembered. Her memories finally hit her: in her childhood she used to run hand in hand
with the twin that had the scar on his face -her real true love- while the other one looked at them with envy.
Some words on the short story‌ This short story deals with the “doubleâ€?, which is an uncanny figure: the true love is both familiar and unfamiliar. The familiar element is seen through a girl in love with a man that she is supposed to know. The unfamiliar aspect is present because she does not recognise her real love up until he appears once the one she thinks she has loved dies. The protagonist is dealing with the tragedy of having been in love with the twin of her past boyfriend. This past boyfriend is supposed to be the one that dies at the end of the story, but he is not. Katherine has been dating both a familiar and unfamiliar person. Virginia Loza
The Lie
Brito Peret
-M
r Nicholas, then, do you consider yourself guilty or not? -Not guilty.
Those were the last words Mr Park read on the report written on January 2nd in the case for the murder of Susan Ford and Jack Nicholas. He had received this report a month ago and he himself couldn't determine yet whether Nicholas Junior was guilty or not for the murder of his own parents. This uncertainty made him have nightmares. As a specialist in human psychologist, he had been asked to study the truth in the defendant's testimony. This task, however, seemed to be beyond his comprehension. The day of the interview with Mr Nicholas finally arrived. Twenty years of experience did not prevent his hands from sweating. The bell rang. He was there. No sooner had his newly-arrived patient sat down than, unhesitant, he admitted to his crime. The next hour was completely devoted to his retelling how the bloody events unfolded the night when he killed his mother and father. An hour later, with the same sense of conviction and confidence with which he had arrived, Mr Nicholas left the room. When he was left alone, Mr Park started to read his notes. He had lied in court: he had murdered his own parents. No sign of regret. Long silence. Complicated childhood. His mother broke his crayon. Lack of love and care. More attention needed. Lack of education and family support. Alcoholic mother, hit him and almost killed him once. Long silence. Nervous and drug addict father. No money in the family. He had to work at an early age. Low self esteem. His mother broke his crayon. Long silence. His mother broke his crayon. Mr Park couldn't stop thinking about the crayons. He decided to look deeper into this, to explore such repetitive experience. So he took his old notes on Freud to analyse the case. When he opened the notebook, he caught a glimpse of a section on castration. He felt dizzy. He felt sick. Mr Parker saw everything. Nicholas had been mentally abused; the mother had broken the bond with his father, who had not contributed to making any healing possible. Nicholas had lost every sense of identification. That is why he could not carry out a free adult life. He was not to blame. His own parents were responsible for their own murder. And this was the truest lie ever.
Some words on the short story… I truly liked this short story. I liked that we used the image of the crayons that we read in “The Enemy”. In this text by V. S. Naipaul, we analysed how the crayons served as a metaphor for masculinity. I also found it interesting that we wrote a sequence of sentences that did not seem to have any connection with each other. The rationale behind this technique was to recover the stream of consciousness Mr Nicholas experienced when listened to by Mr Park. We can tell that the psychiatrist is revising his notes. Furthermore, at the end of the story we used a powerful oxymoron. Mr Nicholas’s mother had severed her child's bond with his father. And his father did not contribute to his emotional recovery. They had raised a child who grew up without knowing how to create any affective bond. That is why he resented his parents. So, in conclusion, the oxymoron reveals that the parents are responsible for having brought up Mr Nicholas the way they have and have caused, therefore, their own death. Milagros Zubizarreta
Evidence at Last
Brito Peret
A
mbitious: That is the word that best describes Nick and Josh. But facts have shown that their only true characteristic is stupidity. Because ambition here is mine. Ten years ago the case of “WALTS” fraud was brought to me. Two friends in charge of the firm separated from each other on account of one of the most typical capital sins: greed. Josh was accused of committing fraud: head of the accountancy department of the company, he was presumed responsible for the missing amount of $100 million. When he came to my office, his apple-polishing words were “You are the best lawyer in the city and that is why you are going to get me out of this one”. He seemed to have forgotten his own words. Two years after that event, there was evidence at last to blame Josh. He was condemned to paying the double of the money that he had been accused of stealing. But Josh took it to the next level. He played against me. He decided to press charges against me for malpractice. He started libeling against me in every chance he had: TV programmes, radios, newspapers, well-known buffets and magazines. He attempted to shatter my reputation and leave me bankrupt. But he did not remember that he had hired the “best lawyer in the city”. On November 15th, in a court room I was pronounced not guilty and Josh and Nick were condemned to twenty years of prison because of fraud. Never trust an apple polisher: when I saw him entering my office I knew that he intended to trick me. Josh and his friend had never fallen apart. On the contrary, they had joined forces to defeat me and took my money away from me. They acted together all the time. And not even together did they suspect that the trickers were going to be tricked. Evidence at last.
Some words on the short story… Through this short story, we intended to show that power is relative. We are taught that stability in life is one of its major assets. Hence, a struggle is unleashed where the love for power is much stronger than the power of love. The endless quest for power blinds us and does not let us measure the consequences of our acts. So much so, that sometimes we cannot see when it is about to strike back. Delfina Subirá
Deception
.
Gomez Roca
M
arcus was in front of the Wallmart shelf grabbing the most prestigious salmon in all the supermarket. As he was putting it in the trolley, some memories started to haunt him: only two weeks ago he was undergoing the same situation but along the next corridor, the one with the lowest prices. On October the 9th a letter unexpectedly arrived. He turned on the radio with Louis Armstrong’s “What a wonderful world” as background music. The first lines of the letters informed him that his shares in the stock market had increased abruptly. USA couldn’t be a more wonderful world. His first incursion in the stock market had been fed by his cousin in a family event. “If you want to succeed in life, you have to engage in bootlegging or to be a great investor”. He pondered that bootlegging was not an option because it would be too risky. However, the second option was definitely a way out of his mediocre and miserable life. How naive to think in this way in the 1920s. That night when he returned home from the supermarket, he decided not to eat that salmon he had bought. He would do it the following night after the long day of work that was in the store for him. But he did not know that the moment would never arrive. When he opened his eyes next morning reality hit him in the face. All the work he had done throughout his years were lost only in two damned weeks of ambition. “Wall Street Crush” were the only words he read all over the newspaper. Slowly, at night, he put a bit of well done salmon in his mouth but it did not taste as he had always dreamed of. That was the flavour of deception.
Some words on the short story… 1929 was a testing year for the USA, mostly for the magical and crowded city of New York, The city where dreams of becoming prosperous were believed to be attainable. In this story the topics of disappointments and unfulfilled dreams have been deeply worked on by projecting the story of a man that seems to be in the peak of the mountain while he does not see he will fall. Belén Irazusta
The Secret Meeting
Gomez Roca
“I
t is true… April is the cruelest month”. Who would have thought that her ferric disposition would break at such steely winds, at such penetrating drizzle... Inside, the fire was mounting with sparks. That was not enough, though, to warm up the cottage nor her frozen soul. Bariloche had not welcomed her, as if it had always known that she was an unbendable northerner. Leopold, she thought, would bring some vintage wine from a regional wine cellar. But it was her anger that would make her insensitive to the cold weather. Insensitive. “Have you been drinking again? Have you been drinking behind my back?” She was upset at him as soon as he entered through the wooden door and could smell his movements. Not only was he late but he also walked in the cottage in his muddy leather boots. Through his thick voice he expelled a sickening breath. This could not break her. “We've got to talk”, she said bluntly. He took off his khaki jacket and his dark green cap, displaying his snowy hair. He approached the bar table and poured himself some scotch. “Who have you shared the wine with? I thought you were supposed to share it with me, here in the place colder than my isles”. “I don't want to talk right now”, he answered. Instead, he leaned his head to kiss her, but she flinched. “They are already suspecting us”. “What do you mean? Business or pleasure?” “You know what I am talking about”. “Well, you know what they say… you can bend iron but you cannot break it. You should know this”. “Don’t push it. I’m warning you. You have been spying on me. I know you sent your men. I saw them”. She took some scotch for herself. She let it fall and it spilt. A pungent odour invaded the place. “Margaret, will you get away with murder, again?”. “Mr Galtieri. I always get away with murder”.
Some words on the short story… This story is about an imaginary secret love that existed between two political leaders of different countries. The relationship between them specularly reflects the relationship between their respective countries. Politics and love have more in common than is thought. What I like about this story is the sense of tension that it creates, which makes the reader mistake information: while readers think this is simple a love story expressed in a scene of jealousy, it turns out to be an argument between two political figures about waging war. In order to construct these characters we recollected some information about Margaret Thatcher and Leopoldo Galtieri. The former is said to have been the “Iron Lady”; and the latter, rumor has it, is said to have agreed to war while being drunk. Finally, through the expression “get away with murder” we have worked both at a literal and figurative level. On the one hand, that phrase means “to perform a wrong deed and to succeed in escaping punishment”. On the other hand, it refers to the actual act of murdering without receiving punishment. Juan Cruz Gomez Roca