The earthquake

The earthquakeEl terremoto

Chapter oneCapítulo uno
Two ticketsDos tickets
Gabriel looked in the mirror. He had a hind face. He had intelligent brown eyes. He usually had a friend smile. But Gabriel wasn't smiling today. “I want to be like Marco,” he thought, “I want to be good-looking. I want to be rich and attractive-like Silvia likes me. I know she does. She thinks I'm kind and nice, likea brother. But she thinks I'm boring, too. Boring old Gabriel, that's me.” on the table there were two tickets for the movies. Gabriel put them in his pocket. There was a red rose on the table, too. He picked it up and went out. One hour later, Gabriel stood outside the door of Silvia's apartment. He knocked. Silvia opened the door. She didn't smile at him. “Oh, hello,” she said. “what... er...?”“Don't you remember, Silvia? “ said Gabriel. “It's Sunday evening. We're going out to the Plaza together, I've bought the tickets. It's that great new movie. You said...” “What do you mean?” said Silvia. “I can't go out with you this evening. I'm busy. I don't remember...” “But you agreed!” Gabriel said. “I called you on Thursday! You wanted to come! You said so!” Silvia pushed her beautiful darkhair out of her eyes. She didn't look at Gabriel. “Oh dear, she said. “It was silly of me. I'm awfully sorry. Please don't be angry, Gabriel. Come back tomorrow. We'll go to the movies tomorrow.” she began to shut the door. “Silvia,” Gabriel said angrily, “don't lie to me. You're going out with Marco, aren't you? I know you are! Well, I want to tell you something. You're being a fool, Silvia.Marco's no good. He's rich, and good-looking, but he's a bad man.” He stopped. Silvia wasn't there. He was talking to the door. He still held the rose in his hand. He threw it onto the ground, and put his foot on it. Behind him, he heard a quiet laugh. Gabriel turned. A man was coming up the stairs. His suit looked expensive. He was carrying more than twenty red roses. It was Marco. “Poor old Gabriel,”Marco said. He was still laughing. “Is she too busy tonight? Doesn't she want to go out with you? Let me try. Perhaps I'll have better luck.” Gabriel didn't answer. He walked quickly away and went down to the street. It was a hot Sunday evening. There was no wind. A lot of people were in the street. They were sitting in the parks and drinking in the cafés. Young men and women were talking andlaughing and holding hands. Gabriel didn't want to look at them. He felt too unhapp0y. Then he pulled the two tickets out of his pocket. “I've paid for them,” he thought, “and it's a wonderful movie. I'll go alone. Silvia Delgado's a fool. I'm not going to spend my time on her. I'll go and see the movie, and I'll enjoy it.” the Plaza wasn't far away. It was a big, old building in the centre of town. Acrowd of people stood outside. They were waiting of the doors to open. Gabriel waited with them. At last the doors to opened. People hurried inside to the ticket office. But Gabriel had his ticket already so he waited outside. It was 8.27 p.m. And at that moment, the earthquake happened.
Gabriel miró en el espejo. Tenía una cara trasera. Tenía inteligentes ojos marrones. Por lo general teníauna sonrisa amiga. Pero Gabriel no estaba sonriendo hoy. "Quiero ser como Marco," pensó, "Quiero ser bien parecido. Quiero ser rico y atractivo, como Silvia, me gusta. Sé que lo hace. Ella piensa que soy amable y agradable, como un hermano. Sin embargo, ella piensa que soy aburrida, también. Gabriel Aburrido de edad, ese soy yo. "Sobre la mesa había dos entradas para el cine. Gabriel los metió en elbolsillo. No fue una rosa roja sobre la mesa, también. Lo cogió y se fue. Una hora más tarde, Gabriel se quedó fuera de la puerta del apartamento de Silvia. Llamó a la puerta. Silvia abrió la puerta. Ella no sonrió a él. "Oh, hola", dijo. "Lo que ... eh ...? " " ¿No te acuerdas, Silvia? ", Dijo Gabriel. "Es domingo por la noche. Vamos a salir a la plaza juntos, me he comprado los boletos. Es...