bad blow oil blood touch mix team wire cost brown wear garden equal choose fit flow fair bank collect save control gentle woman practice separate difficult doctor please protect noon locate ring character insect period indicate human history effect expect crop modern element hit
And now for your Lesson G -- Story 2 .........Sound.....mp3?
MAX TALKS BACK
Max sat in his office in the bank all morning, practicing his smile on simple people. At noon, he left to go to the doctor. Everything he was wearing still fit well, but everything was equally old. While he was driving, he listened to what was happening in the world. Another bad day….
"Oil is flowing again in the nation and its costs are down again," said the voice he had heard many times, from the front speaker in his car.
"Just because you said that, I expect oil will go up again," said Max back to the car speaker. He talked back to the little speaker in his car a lot.
"Crops this year are the worst in modern human history," the voice said.
"You always say things like that," said Max to the car speaker. "Always the bad side…Always the same effect: It costs me money."
"They say it is the mix of so many insects and great heat at the same time," the little speaker continued.
"So now my own garden will turn brown. It will need more water," Max said. "Water costs money, so I will control that. I will collect rain water."
"A team of a woman and four men tried to blow up a bank today," the voice said.
"Not my bank!" said Max loudly at the speaker. "You are not that quick. I was just there. Or… maybe they hit it after I left. I'm glad I didn't save my money there. Now that I think of it, I don't have any money anywhere."
The rest of the way to the doctor's office, someone else sang songs. Max did not answer back. It was hard to talk back to a song….
"We'll need some blood, please," said the doctor, who was a gentle character. Max had come to this doctor 3 times now, but other 2 times he didn't have to wait. This time the doctor said: "You can wait in my separated waiting room for a little while. Then I'll tell you what it indicates."
Max read through a periodical in the waiting room. It was about buying houses. It said: "Protect your money…When you buy, choose a house with the best location."
"I will do that," Max said to the page. "If I ever get some money."
The doctor came out. Max stopped talking to the page.
"I find it difficult to tell you this," said the doctor. He touched Max's arm.
"You're going to cost me more money?" said Max.
"I think it's fair to tell you, what I have to tell you is not good."
"I like this element of surprise. So is what you have to tell me going to cost me more?"
"You are going to die."
"Oh, well at least you are one person who doesn't want more money."
"No," said the doctor. "But you are going to die."
"If I had some money, could I live longer?"
"How much money?" said the gentle doctor.
"I have only this ring to sell."
The doctor looked at the ring. "Give it to me for a day. Let me ask my brother what he can sell it for."
"So I don't have to die?"
"Perhaps. But only perhaps…" said the doctor. "If the ring is good, my brother will wire the money and we can do the work in a day or so."
"But wait! What if I have even more money?"
The doctor touched his arm again. "How much more money?"
Max knew the ring was colored glass, of course. But he might be able to live…That thought made him happy. Now he drove his car back to work at his bank. Oil costs were up again. And now there was too much rain for the crops.
He came back to where his bank was. But the bank was gone.
"They did blow it up." he said to the missing bank. "And I was away, so I didn't die inside."
He looked up. Money was coming from the sky.
Max got out of his car and ran around looking at the sky and the street. He quickly picked up many, many notes with the number "1000" on them: euros and dollars and pounds.
"Now," Max said, to the money in his hand, "All you have to do is pay the doctor and buy me a house in a good location. So…" he said, happily, "This was not such a bad day…."