Pepe and Guillermina - Chapter 1 & 2 PDF

# Pepe and Guillermina ## Chapter 1 Pepe was eight years old. He was a boy (well, not a boy anymore) with black hair that ended in a slanted fringe. He loved custard, chocolate, video games, and television; everything but books, because Pepe didn't like reading. At his age he hadn't read a single...

# Pepe and Guillermina ## Chapter 1 Pepe was eight years old. He was a boy (well, not a boy anymore) with black hair that ended in a slanted fringe. He loved custard, chocolate, video games, and television; everything but books, because Pepe didn't like reading. At his age he hadn't read a single book! If it were up to him, he would burn them all. Guillermina, Pepe's sister, was twelve years old, and she was a girl (well, not a girl anymore) who was diligent and studious. She wore round glasses that she was always adjusting. Unlike Pepe, she loved books. She spent hours in her room reading and dreaming about the stories she read. Pepe felt quite lonely. His father worked in an office and came home at night, very quiet. He always said the same thing: "Leave me alone; I've had a bad day." His mother also worked. She was a teacher and she also came home tired, complaining about everything. During the week, Pepe spent the whole day at school. At eight in the morning, whether he was cold or sleepy, the bus picked him up and took him to the outskirts of the city. In the afternoon, it brought him back. The weekends were also long and boring for Pepe. His father was busy with his own things and his mother tidied the house. Guillermina, naturally, was reading. That's why Pepe felt so lonely. He spent a lot of time with video games or watching television, watching commercials, movies, and competitions. They were his only company. The only things he heard from his father were: "Pepe, turn the TV down!" or from his mother: "Why don't you brush your teeth and tidy up your room?" Brushing his teeth was too much for him. So, without making a sound, he would open the front door and go into the bar to watch the machines. But that life changed for Pepe one Friday afternoon when he went to the circus with his aunt Lorenza and Guillermina. As usual, his parents couldn't go with them. They had to go to a dinner party. So they had to go with Aunt Lorenza in her second-hand car that never started properly. Aunt Lorenza was single and worked in a bakery. She made the best custard in the world and that's why Pepe loved her so much. ## Chapter 2 The Viking Outside the circus, people were lining up to buy tickets. Guillermina and Pepe already had theirs, because their father bought them the day before, when he heard the circus being advertised in the street. So they went in without a problem. A clown, with a yellow wig and a checkered suit, took them to the front row. Pepe was eagerly expecting one of the acts advertised with great fanfare: "The Viking Woman!" On the posters that were stuck up all over the streets he had seen a large woman with long hair, breathing fire from her mouth. When the circus was full, the ringmaster, in a sequined suit with a top hat, announced the start of the show. Acrobats, the boa constrictor, and the lion tamer all performed... And finally, to the sound of drums: "The vikiiing waaaaammmman!" The lights focused on one side of the stage, where several dwarf children appeared, doing somersaults and cartwheels. Behind them came a large, stout woman, wearing a tiger skin. It was the Viking Woman! Her lips were painted red and she had a mole on her right cheek. The lights were turned off. The Viking Woman brought a torch to her lips and blew out a flame, which rose and took the form of a dragon. When it reached the roof of the tent and it seemed that it was about to escape through a hole, the canvas caught fire. The audience shouted in alarm. The lights came on. A voice boomed over the loudspeaker: " Calm down, ladies and gentlemen!" People jumped out of their seats and ran down the steps. Pepe grabbed his aunt's hand. She was screaming and asking for the Complaints Book. Suddenly, someone pulled Pepe's hand. "Come this way!" It was one of the dwarf children who had come out with the Viking Woman. Pepe followed him, pulling his aunt and his sister. They ran along the edge of the ring towards a dark passage. They could hear snorts and thumping from both sides. "Don't be scared," said the dwarf child. "It's the circus animals. They're in their cages. They were just taken out to a meadow." "Let's go to the car!" said Aunt Lorenza. In the distance, they thought they heard a siren. Black plumes of smoke rose from the circus. It was getting dark.