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 Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:42 pm
Estrelas beamed instantly. "Yes, yes, you are a good boy!" she declared giving Johannes a hearty pat on the hat, and then, disregarding his earlier information, waved a middle finger in a salute. "You treat your mother and your sister right and you will do good in life," she told him sternly. "Your mother sounds like a good industrial woman and you should be proud."
Estrelas flipped open her pouch and plucked out a few rather crushed custard tarts. She offered one to Johannes while adding, "No, Avo is my mother's mother."
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:46 pm
"Eh, he, he" chuckled a blushing Johannes as he was patted on the hat. And then he proceeded to widen his eyes out in surprise as Estrelas waved with the middle finger.
"Yes, I agree." "Rather, you should treat everyone right, no?" exclaimed Johannes, adding "I dont know about being industrial -- but thank you anyway. Everyone thinks highly of her -- well, most people do at least." Johannes shrugged his mouth as he said this last sentence. "What kind of clothes do your mother and aunt make, Ms. Alvares?"
Johannes noticed that Estrelas had offered to him food. Even if it was crushed, it looked and smelled like food. "These...are...what?" he asked while also commenting: "Oh, I see, your grandmother then." "Your Grossmutter in German or Abuela in Spanish."
"Here" said Johannes as he showed the photo of Esperanza, "here's my little sister." "Do you have a photo of your little sister around?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:00 pm
Estrelas grinned again. "You treat everyone right, yes, yes!" she exclaimed. "And good that your mother good woman, then? Respect, no, yes?" she continued, waving her hand around, then thought about his question. "Everything," she boasted. "They make every kind of clothes in the world!" This was accurate if one considered that Estrelas' version of the world mostly included rural Portugal...
"Pastie de Nato!" Estrelas exclaimed, pushing a few of the crushed tarts to Johannes. "AH MAKE LAST NIGHT!"
...And the laws of the universe state that when women are presented with a photograph of one's young relative, they do this:
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH yes she is SWEETEST LITTLE THING!" Estrelas squealed, startling Angel into flight. "AWWWWWWWW! HOW OLD SHE? HOW OLD SHE?" Estrelas happily dug around her pockets until she found a poor-quality Polaroid of a rather blurry and faded little girl. The features were too ambiguous in the bad photo, but it seemed like a smaller version of Estrelas. "Ah send back camera!" she bragged.
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:01 pm
"Oh, I see." "Your mother and aunt are impressive as well then -- not that making all types of clothes makes them more better than if they hadn't -- uh, uh, uh -- they were great people even before that!" "Ah-huh" grinned nervously Johannes. "Um, anyway..." "Ah, thank you..." Johannes held some of the tarts in his hand. Biting a bit and chewing them carefully, he asked "Ms. Alvares, what ingredients are in this 'pastie de nato'? having pronounced the food term with a Spanish accent. Of course, he doubted she heard the question as she proceeded to scream in delight when presented with Esperanza's photo. He almost choked on the piece of tart he had out of mere fright and surprise. " Thank you very Uh, well she is...or will be, about 8 years old." "And learning how to write cursive most likely."
Johannes laughed: "Haha, you did?" "You should have kept it -- I'm sure there are interesting things here that you would like a photo of."
"Ahh, I can see a bit her face...she looks as young as my sister." He put the photo closer to his eyes in order to be able to see it better -- it seemed to be old. "How old is she in this photo?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:34 pm
Estrelas didn't appear to notice Johannes stumble over his statements. "Yes, yes, they are, yes yes?" she chirped happily, grinning like a sunbeam. She beamed even more as Johannes asked her what was in the custard.
"EGG!" she screamed, practically leaping with joy. "Egg! You see? Chicken come around? Chicken come, chicken go? Chicken come, Estrelas get egg!" she exclaimed, looking very smug. "...Of course... Right now, Epaninny let chicken out, so no know where chicken is... But.. That not point," she sniffed, glaring at Johannes as if daring him to disagree.
When she saw Johannes choke after she screamed, she absentmindedly pounded him on the back and grinned. "OHHHHHH she seem very, very sweet! OH! SHE LEARN TO WRITE! So your family, rich, Mista Johannes!" she exclaimed. "Ah tell by hat and clothes!" She grinned again. "Ah know, since you Ambassa-da-da-da-sa's Son, or mostly Son, you rich!"
"Oh, but Ah have camera already, you see?" Estrelas bragged, as if boasting about having an extra Mercedes-Benz. "Ah have two camera, you see? So Ah send one home." She grinned happily at her generosity. "We send photos, family and me, we send photos and have Old Man write address for us. And my sister Estica- she six! That almost same age as your Esperanza!!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:50 pm
"Yes!" Johannes said, nodding fervently. Thank God she didn't notice.
"Oh! Oh, I see," chuckled Johannes as he again was surprised by Estrelas, asking himself at some point whether someone had died once of a heart attack come about by screaming. Or by a 'pat' on the back like Estrelas had done. "" said he as he tried to talk again (and see whether his lungs still worked.) "Well...now that I think about it, we are." Johannes hadn't noticed -- he was just thankful to have his family. Material never seemed to matter much to Johannes. "But we help the poor, unlike most rich people." "Perhaps that is the difference."
"Oh, you do, eh?" said a smiling Johannes "That's very good of you, Ms. Alvares." He kept grinning as he was told Estrelas' sister's age, commenting on the fact that that was a small coincidence. "Is your sister...as energetic as you are?" Johannes hoped not. Not that Estrelas was bad, but he didn't think the poor parents couldn't handle one, much less two children who seemed alike.
"Eh, Epaninny?" asked Johannes. "Your nanny's here?...."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:58 pm
Estrelas happily shoved another custard tart into Johannes' hand. "You all right, Mista Johannes? You have more pastie. It make feel better," she declared, "Well, Mista Johannes, my family, we no poor at all," Estrelas bragged, then flushed. "Well, little bit." They had a two-room adobe house and a farm! That was pretty well-off in her eyes. "But we no take no piedade, no caridade from no one!" she boasted, her eyes flashing with the fierce pride of the poor of the earth. "But of course it good to give," Estrelas amended hastily. "Maybe there poor who no can work. Then that okay," she added politely. "You good family, Mista Johannes!"
"What your sister like, Mista Johannes? She like you?" Estrelas giggled when Johannes inquired about Estica. "No, no, she... She very... Very serious all the time. Sometime no fun. Sometime no want play with me," she said lightly.
"Epaninny? My... My nanny?" Estrelas thoughts of the strange word. "Nanny mean friend, yes, yes? You see Epaninny before she... She.. She shorter than me.." Estrelas gestured around. "She paler than you, her hair black, she have hat and old coat..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:46 pm
"Oh?" "Oh, yes, I'm all right." said Johannes as he took the pastie and ate it carerfully.
Surprised by the fact that he understood the foreign words that suddenly popped out of Estrelas, he kept listening, nodding. "Hmm...." He declined to comment any further, thinking perhaps best to drop the subject for the time being.
"Ah, she...is very curious." "Also very unpatient." Johannes laughed, thinking of the times Esperanza tried to learn something and ending up throwing a tantrum. The lamp, thankfully, survived. "She's not much like me, no." "At least I don't think so." Even though he helped raise her at some point....
"That's very interesting -- altogether different from you." Johannes smiled, almost mischievously due to the fact that Estrelas was not as energetic. Maybe it only happened to Estrelas. "Heh, perhaps you just have to find something that you share in common and do that together." "Maybe it's not that she's serious -- it's just maybe she has other interests and the things that you want to do are not necessarily the same that she wants to do" commented Johannes as he patted Estrelas on the back with the free hand that he was using to take pieces of the tart -- which he had swiped lightly before on his pants, of course.
Noticing that there was a door close nearby, Johannes decided to explain quickly the meaning of the word 'nanny': "Nanny can be a friend, but usually it's someone who takes care of children when the parents." "That's why I asked whether your nanny was here, because you mentioned Epaninny..."
"I haven't seen her -- then again I haven't seen much people." Johannes shrugged, and then said "maybe she's here" as he pointed towards the door.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 1:49 pm
Estrelas smiled like a bubble at Johanne's description of his little sister. "You know, you not think she is, but you probably more same than you think," she said slyly. "...That, she sound like what Mama said about me. And little Estica sound like you. I think we no same, but turn out that we have a lot more same thing than I thought! You think hard, Mista Yo-Hans, and you see!" she said in an attempted sage-like manner, but pouted at his suggestion. "You sound so grown up when you say that. I know you right," she grumbled reluctantly. "But you know, a lot easier say that different. I say, Estica, you want go play outside and catch bug? She say, No, not want to, stop annoying her. You see? You see?"
But she laughed hugely when he described a nanny. "You mean Baby-Sitter?" she guffawed, cackling. "No, Epaninny my friend! She from the future. From France, from France, you see?" She craned her neck around to look beyond the door. "Epaninny?" she called, then shook her head. "But maybe I go find her. She might get trouble without me..." she mumbled, absentmindedly nudging Angel with a foot.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:06 am
Johannes just stood there with a straight face. Then he laughed.
"Oh, oh, I'm sorry for laughing." He chuckled a bit more before fixing himself up again. "I apologize profusely for laughing, Ms. Alvares, but...it seems that our families are much more alike than we give each other credit for."
"Don't worry, one day you'll see -- you will get along better when you're both older." Johannes smiled as he put his hand on her shoulder, patting it a few times in a emphatic manner. Hopefully, he thought.
Johannes shirked a little -- Apparently this 'Epaninny' isn't a nanny. From the future, from France? "Oh, I see...she sounds interesting." Well, the fact that she has a seemingly strange name is interesting, thought Johannes. "It seems that you're a good friend, worrying about her." "You can go look for her, if you want." "I can help too--" He interrupted himself by yawning a bit loudly.
"Oh my." "I didn't know I was that tired."
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:11 pm
Estrelas stopped smiling. "Mista Yoo-hannes? When last time you see little sister?" she asked suddenly. "When you go back, what if she no little sister anymore? She grow up, do thing, go trouble without you, and she look at you and say who that stranger," Estrelas suddenly said. "Ah not go back to Portugal in long time. Ah been here three year. Three year! And how long you gone?" she asked, almost accusingly. "We fight for world but what for us? And when we go back and say yes, we win war, it over now, we go back and then nothing is same, and everything change, and all of a sudden nothing the way you left it. Ah not selfish- no ask that people not put world on hold for me while Ah here. But when we all go back, we will have lost brother and sister here in LOTUS, and we lost brother and sister back home. And what about us? If everything back to normal, we see each other none? Then we people trapped in two world. Like veteran. Old veteran. He come back from war, in my village, Old Man come back from war. And he can no work anymore. All day he sit and trap in nightmare. It like he trapped in different world than all of us. No one can connect to him. And he trapped him his own world." She suddenly seemed very moody and dark. Moody and darky Estrelas was disturbing. It was like seeing Charlie the Happy Chipmunk with a bottle of Prozac and a chainsaw.
"Haha, look at you Mista Yooo-hans, you yawn like my uncle's old lazy dog!" she exclaimed, suddenly leaping up and clapping her hands delightedly. Whatever upsetting thoughts she had before were quickly jammed down under an extra layer of bounce. "But you tired- no, Ah find Epanninny on own. She never far. Farthest Ah found her was when she got stuck in sewer," Estrelas said lightly. "No, Mista Yo-hannes, you go and you go take long nap, yes yes?" she asked. "You look like you need rest."
Angel snorted from behind Estrelas as if agreeing.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:25 pm
Johannes looked at her with amazement once again -- her constant flux of changing emotions takes some time to getting accustomed. "Yes, perhaps, you're right...hopefully she won't be in the uh, sewer again." In the sewer?? Johannes thought. What kind of girl was this 'Epanniny'?
"I'll be going then, take care, Ms. Alvares" said he as he smiled and bowed a bit. He was about to turn around when he exclaimed: "Oh, Ms. Alvares...to answer your previous question:"
"I've been gone for about a year or so and the last time I saw my little sister...was in my memories." He looked at her with sympathy: "If you maintain communication with your loved ones, then you have nothing to fear. One may change their appearance, but the person will always remain the same inside, in their hearts and soul." "In the meantime, until they send a photo or something" --he chuckled-- "you can simply remember your sister how she was until you go back to Portugal." "It might be hard sometimes, but I assure you - it'll be worth it."
"The same goes for everyone in LOTUS." He put both of his hands on Estrelas' shoulders, almost as if he was hugging her. "We won't lose any of our 'brothers and sisters' here if we communicate with each other, and never forget one another." "That veteran from the war probably saw horrible things happen and he can't understand why they happened, so one shouldn't worry much about that."
He waved, turned around and walked back to his room, bidding goodbye. He understood Estrelas perfectly. He hasn't seen his family in a long time, and he himself expects that things might never be the same again. But for now, he'll stay here and try his best. With, as Estrelas said, his "brothers and sisters."
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