No Name Town written & illustrated by
Cheryl Chen
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Words Checked: 2699 Words in Oxford 3000: 94%
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No Name Town Cheryl Chen
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Content About the Author…...5 Synopsis…………….6 Characters………….7 Chapter 1…………...8 Chapter 2……………11 Chapter 3….............14 Chapter 4……………20 Chapter 5……………32 Chapter 6…….………37 4
Chapter 7...................45
About the Author Cheryl Chen
Cheryl Chen was born in 1990 in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan. She is now the student from the English Department at Wenzao Ursuline College of Language. She likes English, also studies German in school, and she’s going to study design in the future.
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Synopsis Dell is the smart young man who wants to be a successful man in the future. One day he woke up early as usual, he didn’t feel sick but couldn’t remember his name. All the people around him, even his father didn’t recognize him. Finally, he found that he was in the place, “no name town”, which he had never seen. However, the people here all recognize him, although he didn’t know anyone of 6
them...............................................
Characters Dell Boss: An 18-year-old young man, and the main character of the story.
Rick Boss: Dell’s Dad, and the owner of “THE BOSS PIZZA HOUSE”.
Mac Porter: Dell’s best friend and classmate, who is from Poland.
The Mayor: The mayor of the “No Name Town”. 7
Chapter 1 Excellent son
“Dad, I’m home,” said Dell stepping into the house. “Hey, son! Come here and help me. We have so many guests today.” “Sorry, Dad. I have so many reports need to work on today. More than your guests! ” said Dell quickly running upstairs. “Hey, Boss, I’ve heard that your son 8
is going to Princeton University, “said one of the old guests of Boss. “Yes, he is. And he is always very busy,” said Rick Boss, the owner of the Boss Pizza House, disappointed. “Isn’t that good? I just envy you having such an excellent son!” “Well, I am not sure.”
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“I just envy you having such an excellent son!” “Well, I am not sure.” said Rick, the owner of the Boss Pizza House 10
Chapter 2 Daily Life
Dell is an 18-year-old young man, who is going to Princeton University and gets excellent grades in every subject. He is smart and studies hard to win many contests and has earned many scholarships. “Hey! Mac! What’s wrong with you today? You look so weird,” said Dell to his best friend and classmate. 11
“I feel worried.” “About what?” “About my tuition for next semester,” “I thought you had a part-time job, don’t you?” “Yes, I do. But that’s not enough. I need more money. You know I’m a foreign student. There are so many extra things I need to pay for.” “Oh, yes. That’s really a big problem,” said Dell, “Wait a minute! How about working in my Dad’s Pizza House? 12
I think he needs some help.” “Can I? But I don’t know anything about making pizza.” “That’s not a problem. You can just help my Dad doing delivery.” “Really? That’s a wonderful idea, thanks, buddy!”
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Chapter 3 Reasons
“Mac, could you deliver these pizzas to the Hans on the next block?” “Sure, and anything else?” “Well, just come back soon. Here needs your help,” said Rick with big smile. “Ok!” Mac is now working in the Boss Pizza House every day after school. He always 14
works hard and effectively. Rick knew about his situation and paid him well to encourage and help him. One day, Rick went out around closing time, and Mac was told to clean up the Pizza House. While he was cleaning, Dell came downstairs. “Hey, Mac! How’s it going?” asked Dell. “Tiring,” said Mac, “but it’s good to learn how to make pizza.” “Good for you, buddy,” said Dell, 15
“you must be a good helper for my dad.” “Well, he’s really a nice guy. I think he helps me a lot,” said Mac, “maybe you can teach me more.” “Me? No, no, no. I don’t know anything about pizza.” “What? That’s not true. Your Dad has been doing this for 20 years.” “I know, but not me.” “You never help or learn from him?” “Never.” “Never? But he is always busy and 16
hard-working. And I think he hopes the pizza house can stay opening,” said Mac with a confused looking on his face, “and he works hard to pay your tuition and ….” “Mac, listen. I do know he works hard and he raised me up by himself,” said Dell unhappily, “so I am now studying hard to get good grades and scholarships. And I want to work as high position at the best company and earn a lot of money. Then I can help him live comfortable the rest of his life. He wouldn’t have to work so hard 17
anymore and I will definitely take good care of him.” “What about the Pizza House?” “First, I am really, really not interested in making pizza. Second, if I can earn a lot of money, I can enlarge his pizza house. Then the Pizza House will not only stay open, but also become a franchise organization,” said Dell indignantly. “Oh, yes. Maybe you are right. I’m not arguing with you anyway. I’ve done 18
my work and I am leaving now,” said Mac. “All right,” said Dell as he went upstairs.
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Chapter 4 The Next Day
The alarm clock went off. Dell woke up, then washed his face, brushed his teeth and got ready for school as usual. He went downstairs to have breakfast, but there was no body and also no breakfast had been prepared for him. “Dad? Dad?� he tried to call, wondering where his father was. The pizza house usually opened at 10:30 a.m., 20
but Rick usually woke up early to prepare for the opening and also to make breakfast. “Hasn’t Dad come back?” said Dell to himself, “but he said he would be back at 2 a.m. this morning.” Dell started to feel worried. “Hey! Who are you, buddy? Why are you here and how did you come in? The pizza house hasn’t opened yet!” said Rick when he came out from the kitchen. “Dad, you’re here!” said Dell with 21
surprise. “Dad? Who’s your dad? Have you stolen anything? Get out of here!” said Rick. “Hey, Dad, what’s wrong with you? I am …….” said Dell confused. Suddenly, he couldn’t say his name. “If you don’t get out of my home now, I’ll call the police!” Rick shouted at him. “Wait, wait ….I am……” “I said, GET OUT OF HERE!” Rick yelled, grabbing Dell’s shirt and pushing 22
him out of the house. Dell is now standing on the street in front of The Boss Pizza House. “I am……” Dell still couldn’t say his name. He didn’t feel sick, but couldn’t remember his name. “Who am I?” he wondered, feeling weird and not knowing what had happened. He looked at his watch and then quickly went to school. The first class had already begun, so he went into the classroom quietly. He soon found Mac 23
and took the seat next to him. “Mac, I want to tell you something…something very weird,” whispered Dell. Mac was surprise, bending his brows. “How do you know my name?” asked Mac. “What? Please! Be serious!” said Dell. “I am serious. Who are you? Is this your first time taking his class? I’ve never seen you.” “What are you talking about? What do 24
you mean you don’t know me?”
“What do you mean you don’t know me?” said Dell to Mac.
“Excuse me, young man. Could you please stop talking?” the professor responded somewhat annoyed. 25
“Sorry! Mr. White. I am just asking Mac something,” said Dell. “Are you new here? I’ve never seen you before. Welcome to my class, but you should know some rules in my class before you begin,” said Professor White. “What? Excuse me, Professor White, but… are you kidding? Don’t you know me? I’ve been in your class the whole semester.” “The last question, boy. I have to continue my lecture. What’s your name?” 26
“My name is……is……I don’t know.” Everybody sits in class was silent and watching Dell. “Don’t waste my time, or you can leave here now,” said Professor White impatiently. “Whatever, I am going to continue my lecture.” So he started to continue his lecture. Dell still couldn’t remember his name, and he started to realize that everyone around him didn’t recognize him either. 27
He had no idea what had happened. These strange things started from this morning after he woke up. He still knows and remembers all the things such as his father, his friends and his reports, but he couldn’t remember his own name. He left school and walked on the street. He tried to find someone to help him and tell him what was going on. He even wondered if he had some mental problems. He continued to walk along the street and think of his name. He didn’t 28
notice the traffic light and walked across the road when the light had turned red. A car almost hit him. Fortunately, he didn’t get hurt, but the driver hit the trees on the sidewalk while dodging him. The driver was angry and called the police to cope with the accident. Finally, Dell was taken to the police station and took down in writing. The police asked him to write something, but he couldn’t explain anything and actually didn’t know his name. The police started to search and 29
check his ID, but there wasn’t any data about him in the police computer. “Excuse me, sir. We suspect that you are a illegal immigrant,” said one of the policeman. “What? That’s absurd! I am a real American and I live on the William Street. The Boss Pizza House is my home.” “Sorry, we couldn’t find any of that.” “That sucks!” “Sir, we need more time to recheck and find your ID, but you should stay here 30
while we are checking on this matter.” “That may be a good idea and hope you can solve my problems and find out what has happened!” Dell started to feel very annoyed and impatient. While Dell was waiting in the police station, he fell asleep.
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Chapter 5 A New Life
The alarm clock went off. Dell opened his eyes and found that he was lying on a king-size bed. He was staying in a room which he had never seen before. And he was absolutely sure that it was not his room. He woke up and went downstairs. He was surprised because everything in front of his eyes was so luxurious. Then a woman came to him and 32
said politely to him, “Mr. Boss, this is your schedule for today. Please look over it after you finish your breakfast.” “Wait, who are you?” asked Dell. “I am your secretary. No kidding, sir. We don’t have much time. There is a meeting at 9 o’clock.” “What meeting? I’m not kidding. Please tell me what happened and who I am.” “You’re the CEO of the Dell Computer Company,” 33
Suddenly, Dell remembered his name. “Dell, yes, Dell, that’s my name!” said Dell very excited, “but, where am I?” “Sir, you are now in No Name Town,” answered the secretary. “What? Did you say No Name?” asked Dell confusedly, “I have never heard such a place.” “Every successful man comes here, sir,” said the secretary, “you can always reach your goal here.” “Whatever, Sir, please have your breakfast first,” she 34
added. Dell didn’t know what the secretary was talking about. He didn’t recognize this place nor the people here. But he finally remembered his name. After breakfast, Dell had a meeting with his staff. And then he was interviewed and reported for the newspapers, TV shows and magazines. He was famous and everybody here knew him. Afterwards he discovered that he was 35
already a successful businessman. He established the Dell Computer Company. He was a CEO and earned a lot of money. He had reached his goal. He was happy at first and enjoyed his wonderful life. There were many people cheering for him, but not his father, his friends, his professors or any other people he knew. In this place, no one was familiar with him. He had no friends and no parents. He started to recall the memory of the time before he became successful. 36
Chapter 6 The Truth One day Dell had a meeting with the mayor of No Name Town “It’s so good to have such well-known successful businessman living in our town,” said the mayor. “Thanks, mayor. I appreciate that,” said Dell,” but could you please tell me, am I really the CEO?” “Of course you are.” “But why do I feel all of this is just 37
fake?” “I actually don’t know why I am here. The place I’ve never been and seen,” said Dell. “So where were you before you were here?” asked mayor. “I just can’t remember. But I knew that I was a university student. My dad owned the pizza house and I had a good friend named Mac. One day I woke up and these strange things started to happen- my dad, my friend, my professor and all of my classmates didn’t know me. And I 38
couldn’t remember my name either.” “So, do you like our town?” asked the mayor, looking at his brochure. “Yeh…of course. Your town is really incredible; I mean that, everything is so attractive here, and the town is amazingly developed.” “Oh, thank you. I’m glad to hear that, but there must be something you don’t like. I wonder?” “Well, yes. I have to say that it is lack of something here.” 39
“Sure, what is it?” “I am not sure, maybe…the happiness?” “Well, that is really important,” the mayor nodded his head, silence for a couple of seconds and said, “Everyone that forgot their name will come to my town, so they can remember their name,” “just like you,” he added. “As you said, my town is amazingly advanced; you can have your dream come true here because of the magic in this town.” 40
Dell listened carefully, without saying a word. “But, you have to exchange one thing to make your dream come true, and for you, it is happiness,” said the mayor. “But why did I forget my name?” “It’s your ambition, Dell.” “What?” “Your ambition makes you blind to focus only on how to reach your dream. And you ignore the other things around you,” said the mayor, “just like now 41
you’ve reached your goal, but you are not happy because you had lost your mind and other valuable things,” continued the mayor, “So I made you lost your name because I wanted to warn you that you were going to lose your mind.” Dell was a kind of shocked after hearing what the mayor had said. “Don’t be scared,” said the mayor, smiling at him, “I want you to be aware that if you are still going like this, finally you may get what you want, but you 42
might have changed to another kind of person that your friends and family would not recognize you anymore,” “just like the situation you said a while ago,” he explained. Dell breathed deeply and nodded, “So even though I find my name here, it’s not meaningful anymore because of disappearance of happiness.” “Here you realize and learn pretty well,” said the mayor very happily, “I’m going to cancel your name on my list of 43
the town residents!�
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Chapter 7 Back Home
“Wake up, Dell!” Rick yelled at his son. “What? Have you guys finished checking my ID yet?” “What are you talking about? Wake up now, or you will be late for your first class.” “Dad? Are you my Dad? Do you know me?” 45
“You must be sick!” Suddenly, Dell realized that the mayor had sent him back. “Dad! I am not going to school today. I want to stay at home, I mean the pizza house, to help you. Is that ok?” “Are you serious?” “Absolutely!”
Dell is the smart young man who 46
wants to be a successful man in the future. One day he woke up early as usual, he didn’t feel sick but couldn’t remember his name. All the people around him, even his father didn’t recognize him. Finally, he found that he was in the place, “no name town”, which he had never seen. However, the people here all recognize him, although he didn’t know anyone of them...........
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