15 Bizarre Food Around the World

1. Escamoles, Mexico

Escamoles are the larvae of a venomous ant species that lay their eggs deep down in the roots of agave or maguey plants in Mexico (so harvesting them is not a barrel of laughs). The larvae are said to have a consistency akin to cottage cheese and taste somewhat nutty; they’re normally eaten as the filling in a taco or omelette.

2. Shirako, Japan

As euphemisms go, this one’s a corker: shirako in Japanese means “white children” but refers to the sperm sacs of either cod, angler fish or puffer fish. Looking like white blobs of goo or miniature brains, they are said to have a sweet custardy taste.

3. Tuna eyeballs, Japan

It’s waste not want not when it comes to tuna in Japan; even the eyes are plucked out and served up cheap in supermarkets. To cook, simply boil or steam, and season with garlic or soy sauce. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it tastes a little like squid.

4. Balut, The Philippines

This fertilised duck egg, with its partly developed embryo inside, is boiled alive and then eaten from the shell with salt, chilli and vinegar. You’re supposed to tap a hole in the top of the shell, sup the savoury liquid and then crunch down the rest of what’s inside – feathers, bones and all. Bleurgh.

5. Crispy tarantulas, Cambodia

Few people would look at a tarantula and think “lunch”, so it’s perhaps no surprise that these spiders were first eaten by Cambodians starving under the Khmer Rouge regime. Bizarrely, they became popular and are now served as a deep-fried snack throughout the country. Apparently they taste a bit like crab.

6. White ant eggs soup, Laos

One of the world’s more unusual soups, Gaeng Kai Mot Daeng combines a mixture of ant eggs and partial embryos from the white ant, plus a few baby ants to add sourness. If your stomach can handle it, the flavour is supposedly quite tasty: sharp and delicate, and a little like shrimp.

7. Jellied moose nose, Canada

Nose isn’t exactly a choice cut, but that hasn’t stopped some adventurous Canadians from experimenting with nasal gastronomy by boiling them up with onions and spices, removing the hair, boiling again, then slicing and covering with a broth that sets into a jelly. It certainly looks as bad as it sounds.

8. Boshintang, Korea

This supposedly health-giving Korean soup is made with spring onions, dandelions, a host of spices and one infamous ingredient: dog meat. Though you will struggle to find it on menus today, it’s still popular with the older generation and generally agreed to taste better than it smells.

9. Huitlacoche, Mexico

Corn smut is a fungus that turns normal corn kernels into tumour-like growths covered in blue-black spores. To most people that’s a diseased corncob that needs to be thrown out; to the Mexicans, it’s a culinary speciality. They call it huitlacoche (“sleeping excrement”) and enjoy the woody, earthy flavour of the fungus.

10. Airag, Mongolia

Glass of fermented horse milk, anyone? In Mongolia, this isn’t an unusual offer at all. They make a kind of beer called airag by taking a mare’s milk and letting it ferment into a fizzy, sour and slightly alcoholic liquid. It’s traditionally served chilled in a bowl-shaped cup; dregs are supposed to be poured back into the main container.

11. Casu marzu, Italy

Known as “rotten cheese”, Sardinia’s casu marzu is made from Pecorino that has gone bad – really bad. The larvae of cheese flies (piophila casei) are added to the Pecorino, hatching inside, burrowing around and digesting the fats. The result is a weeping, tongue-burning delicacy that you can eat with or without the maggots.

12. Muktuk, Greenland

A traditional Inuit meal of frozen whale skin and blubber, muktuk is normally served either raw or pickled. It looks a little bit like licorice allsorts and has several layers: the skin (which apparently tastes like hazelnuts), the fat (chewy) and the protective layer in between (even more chewy). Don’t eat if wearing dentures.

13. Hakarl, Iceland

How anyone conceived of this dish is a mystery. To prepare: first gut and behead a Greenland shark, place in a shallow grave and cover with sand and stones. Leave for two to three months, then cut into strips and dry for several more months before serving: first-time tasters are advised to hold their nose and try not to gag.

14. Century egg, China

If you discovered a rotten egg, would you eat it? Someone in ancient China did, lived to tell the tale and now it’s an established delicacy. The eggs (also known as hundred-year eggs or pidan) are covered in clay, ash and salt for months, by which time the yolk is dark green and stinks of sulphur. Mmmm!

15. Salo, Ukraine

Many advocate keeping the fat on meat, but the Ukrainians decided to go one step further and just eat the fat on its own. Usually it’s made into slabs, smoked and left in a cool cellar for a year before being eaten sliced thinly with rye bread. Ukrainians love it so much they even have a festival of lard to celebrate it.

Forced To Beautifully Fat

When we think of beautiful, desirable women, the western world associates these adjectives to thin, fit women with model-like physiques. This is what society teaches the community and therefore, this is what is learned. The western world norms, although influences many around the world, has not influenced all societies – especially those in Africa.

Mauritania, is an Arab Maghreb country in West Africa, would be the perfect example. “A generation ago, over a third of women in the country were force-fed as children. It is said that the practice of force-feeding also known as “Gavage” is to improve a woman’s marriage prospect. Mauritania is one of the few African countries where, on average, girls receive more food than boys. Now only around one in 10 girls are treated this way. The treatment has its roots in fat being seen as a sign of wealth – if a girl was thin she was considered poor, and would not be respected.”

This is still the case in rural parts of the country. You can find “Fat Farms” where their focus is to increase a girl’s weight. Although the practice of “gavage” can well be argued depending on who you are talking to, the violence on humanity, especially children who are tortured to be fattened needs to be an awareness spoken of – A choice not force. While skin bleaching products increase in other countries regardless of its danger, artificial “gavage” products are being put in the market with serious danger to women. Women desperate to fatten themselves go for these illegal enhancing products which bloats them up but with major health issues. Some of the products are even meant for animals such as camels but surprisingly they still go for it whether aware or unaware. This shows how desperate some are, even if it means having liver problems. Today, the perception of beauty has more of a focus on health rather than force-feeding women, but the idea of “big and beautiful” is still celebrated by many.

10 Festivals Around The World

The Rio de Janeiro Carnival - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro is a world famous festival held before Lent every year and considered the biggest carnival in the world with 2 million people per day on the streets. The first festivals of Rio date back to 1823. The typical Rio carnival parade is filled with revelers, floats and adornments from numerous samba schools which are located in Rio.

Chinese New Year

The biggest holiday, with dragons, fireworks, symbolic clothing, flowers, lanterns, and celebration is China's most important and significant day of the year. Also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally run from Chinese New Year's Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar!

It marks China's greatest festival - an important traditional Chinese holiday celebrated at the turn of the Chinese calendar. In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival. Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally run from Chinese New Year's Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar.

Boryeong Mud Festival - South Korea

A South Korea cosmetics company developed a line of beauty products which featured mud from the Boryeong mud flats as a main ingredient. Since the company couldn't be bothered to spend money on commercials, the Boryeong Mud Festival was born so potential customers could feel the benefits of the special mud firsthand. In case you attend and get bored of the mud slides, mud prison, mud pools, and mud skiing, you can enjoy live music, acupuncture, and the festival's culminating fireworks display.

Burning Man - Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA

Burning Man is an annual event when up to 48,000 people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock desert to create art and express their individuality. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy, which is set alight on Saturday evening. The event is described as an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. People who have gone to Burning Man gatherings claim you need to attend to truly understand.

White Nights Festival - St. Petersburg, Russia

The White Nights Festival is an annual international arts festival during the season of the midnight sun. It consists of a series of classical ballet, opera and music events and includes performances by Russian dancers, singers, musicians and actors, as well as famous international guest stars. The Scarlet Sails celebration is the culmination of the White Nights season, the largest public event anywhere in Russia with the annual estimated attendance about 1 million people, most of whom are students from thousands of schools and colleges, both local and international.

 Running of The Bulls - Pamplona, Spain

The Running of the Bulls is a part of the famous San Fermin festival - a practice that involves running in front of a small group of bulls (typically a dozen) that have been let loose on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets. A first rocket is set off at 8 a.m. to alert the runners that the corral gate is open. A second rocket signals that all six bulls have been released. The third and fourth rockets are signals that all of the herd has entered the bullring and its corral respectively, marking the end of the event. Every year between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run although most injuries are contusions due to falls and are not serious. So you think you're up for it?

Holi - India

Holi is a spring festival also known as the festival of colors. It is an ancient Hindu religious festival which starts with a Holika bonfire on the night before Holi where people gather, sing and dance. The next morning is free for all carnival of colors, where everyone plays, chases and colors each other with dry powder and colored water, with some carrying water guns and colored water-filled balloons for their water fight. Anyone and everyone is fair game, friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders. Groups carry drums and musical instruments, go from place to place, sing and dance.

Up Helly Aa Fire Festival - Scotland

It takes place in Lerwick, Shetland, on the last Tuesday in January every year. Up Helly Aa day involves a series of marches and visitations, culminating in a torch-lit procession and the burning of a galley. This is followed by hours of performing acts and dancing in halls throughout Lerwick. There is a main guizer who is dubbed the "Jarl". There is a committee which a person must be part of for 15 years before one can be a jarl, and only one person is elected to this committee each year. The procession culminates in the torches being thrown into a replica Viking longship or galley.

Carnival of Venice - Venice, Italy

The tradition of carnival dates back over 900 years. It was the one time during the year when there were no bounds. Everybody was free to do things desired all year without any guilt thanks to the masks. During the carnival, Venice comes alive with masked Venetians and tourists. Bands,jugglers and entertainers are everywhere and the canals are full of colorful boats. The nights are also full of parties and masked balls.It gives you a feeling as if fairy tales are coming alive!

Pingxi Lantern Festival - Taiwan 

Its a festival that witnesses thousands of sky lanterns light over Pingxi District in Taiwan. It was originally celebrated to ward of evil and disease from the town. The Taipei Pingshi Sky Lanterns were released originally to let others know that the town was safe. These lanterns are decorated with wishes and images relating to the owner and finally they're released off into the sky together magically decorating the sky into a sanctuary of lights.

Día de Los Muertos

The Day of the Dead—in Spanish, El Día de los Muertos—is celebrated principally in Mexico and in Central and South America. The holiday has an increasingly strong presence in parts of the United States such as Texas and the Southwest, as well as in many other urban areas where Latin American cultures thrive.

Officially November 2nd is the actual date for Day of the Dead. It is, however, celebrated between the end of October and November 2nd. Although the Day of the Dead is a celebration honoring the deceased, it is not a depressing occasion. It is, rather, a time full of life, happiness, color, food, family, and fun. The celebration has many modes of expression which vary somewhat from vicinity to vicinity. The principal modes of expression include the creation of an ofrenda, or altar, in honor of a deceased loved one; parades and other public events, such as a parodic display of a notable deceased citizen; cleaning of tombs; and spending a special evening in the graveyard with music, food, and the spirits of loved ones.

La ofrenda

The ofrenda is a display honoring the memory of a loved one. Its offerings are designed to lure the spirit of the deceased back to earth, so that s/he will again spend the day with those honoring him or her. The ofrenda has nine principal elements:

1. A picture of the honored person -- The person is usually deceased, but in recent times some have honored persons who are living far from their families and friends. 

2. Candles – Candles light the way for the returning spirit. 

3. Skulls -- Skulls or other skeletal representations serve to remind that although death awaits us all, our focus should be on life. 

4. Item of significance to the deceased – These items evoke found memories for the person paying tribute and also entice the deceased spirit to return. 

5. Flowers – Cempasúchil, a type of marigold, whose bright yellow flowers are strewn to form a path to guide the spirit back to the memorial site. 

6. Food – After a long journey back from the dead, the deceased will need the sustenance of their favorite foods.

 7. Fruit – More sustenance.

 8. Water – Vital to life itself.

 9. Salt – Salt, too, is essential for life.

The images on this sheet are some of the thousands produced by the great Mexican engraver José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913), whose art has come to define the Day of the Dead.

Skeletons with familiar human foibles and conceits serve as whimsical reminders that death awaits us all—and that underneath our skins we are strikingly similar.

Posada’s images account for one reason the holiday is so closely linked, in the popular imagination, with Mexico. But this celebration is every bit as native to many other Latin American countries. People in Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Ecuador pay tribute to their dead at this time of year. Their ways of doing so range from the Venezuelan’s quiet, contemplative visit to clean a loved one’s grave, to Ecuadoran indigenous people’s custom of having a feast at the gravesite with the departed’s favorite foods shared by those in attendance; the deceased guest of honor gets to eat first, of course. Many lands have traditional foods associated with the celebration—including Bread of the Dead (pan de muerto), which can be had in Reading at El Gallito, a bakery and market at 350 N. 10th Street (610-372-7075).

Diablo Carnival In Rio Sucio Colombia.

 

Every two years, the town of Riosucio, in the mountainous and coffee-producing region of Colombia, prepares to receive His Majesty, the Devil. Starting the Thursday before the Feast of the Kings, January 6th, and during six days, people from Riosucio join this traditionally Catholic religious fiesta in practice for over two hundred years to celebrate the arrival of the playful, "talkative" and mocking character of the Devil.

The Carnival's Devil has become a symbol of reconciliation between two peoples. It owes its history to the war waged between the The Mountain reservation and Quiebralomo reservation in the nineteenth century. The first was under indigenous control. The second was under control of Germans who brought black slaves to work in gold mines in the area. The people of both reservations were ordered to move to a zone near Río Sucio (Dirty River), and thus began a dispute over the territory and a mutual exclusion that brought about the construction of two temples in two zones: one known as Temple of San Sebastián, located in the "upper" part of what is now the town of Riosucio where the whites from Quiebralomo lived, and the other known as the Temple of Our Lady of The Candelaria, in the "bottom" part of the town where indigenous lived.

  The official origin of the Carnival has been stated to be in 1912. According to people from Riosucio, the devil was born to bring both communities together. In fact, it is said that “because God could not join the communities it was the devil who did” and that is why their origins are related to the end of a lengthy dispute. It is also said that the devil was born from an image that used to be on the fence in order to threaten anyone one who intended to cross the border and trespass the territory of the other community, which gradually became an object of play and mockery.

Currently, people from Riosucio characterize themselves and the Devil as mestizo, and hence its 'uniqueness'. They say that, from the natives of the Mountain reservation, the devil has inherited the spirit of fun and mockery, a worked-up spirit by guarapo (an alcoholic drink made of cane) and the music. From the enslaved Africans of Quiebralomo mines, the devil inherited the rebel and playful spirit (which takes us back to those festive times when slaves dressed up and “whipped” their masters with cow bladders, a practice that still takes place in the Carnival). And from Catholic "Whites," the devil inherited the iconography, the horns, legs, and sometimes the red color.

The Devil is the central character of the Carnival of Riosucio, which has been called (especially by the media) “Devil's Carnival,” despite the fact that many people of Riosucio consider this a misnomer. Instead, for locals, the figure of the devil is considered a catalyst for many other actos matachinescos (buffoonery acts) that are essential elements of the carnival, and among them, the Word, a device by which people establish the festive ritual.

During the six days of carnival, people from Riosucio and thousands of visitors from all over the country join the Carnival, especially since it was declared a Cultural and Intangible National Heritage. The night of the Devil's Entrance and the day of the Cuadrillas' Parade are the acts that attract the largest number of people. The Devil's Entrance is a parade that moves through the main streets of town with a large effigy of the devil and arrives to the site of the Temple of San Sebastián at the top of the mountain. There the effigy remains for the duration of Carnival. That night, the “Comité de Matachines” (Committee of buffoons) greet the Devil, welcoming him while the devil 'himself' gives a speech about the Carnival.

In the cuadrillas' parade hundreds of people from Riosucio who live year round all around the world reunite to sing carnival songs. Cuadrillas are groups made of about ten to twenty people dressed in colorful and elaborate costumes who walk throughout the town voicing various messages, some very critical and others intended to be social ridicule. Throughout that day, cuadrillas (which can, at times, number thirty or more) visit the cuadrillera houses, which are the houses that belong to the most well-known and wealthy people of the town and are located around the two plazas. They present on the "platforms" or on stages built just in front of the devil, where they sing familiar songs with improvised lyrics while dancing and showing their costumes.

These fiestas are also places for a series of non-official events such as the gathering of traditional musicians, the carnival of the Indigenous, and the Parade and Burning of the Diabla (female devil), that are distant from the institution of the Carnival, but are increasingly gaining more strength and support. The diabla is a symbol of an alternative carnival that was originally promoted by marginal sectors of Riosucio (called themselves "The gang of the 30”) that until a few years did not officially participate in the Carnival. The events of the Diabla carnival have received strong support since they decided to burn the effigy of the diabla as a symbol of protest against the Board of the Carnival in 2007.

Even if the diabla was born about thirty years ago as the mistress of the devil, and was initially a “dummy” several meters high that looked more like a Barbie-doll than a devil, it was only until “the gang of the 30” took the images of “mamacitas” (hot girls) who appear naked in yellow press and popular calendars that the diabla has assumed the form of a giant red devil with black boots, white wings, breasts exposed, long blond hair, and arms always open.

The figure of the devil has become controversial over the years, not only within the official Carnival but also within the academy, which has sought to define this phenomenon especially from a gender perspective. It is worth underlining that this new figure is the symbol of “the gang of the 30,” mostly made of men and where women, most of them prostitutes, are called “diablas.” At the beginning, the gender discourse was not intended by the gang, but over the years, members of this group have incorporated such discourse to vindicate, not really the women but the gang itself as a marginal group. The Carnival is clearly a scenario where the tradition is alive and contradictory itself, as well a it happens between the discourses that circulate within it.

-Laura Sánchez García

Reading Comprehension

En esta sección encontraras actividades propuestas a través de lecturas cortas.

Las actividades se encuentras organizadas en niveles.

Debes seguir las instrucciones de cada una de las lecturas y enviar las respuestas a tu monitor.

Básico
1. Guess the Animal.
2. Guess the Place.
3. Koalas.

Koalas

Lee la información acerca de los Koalas y después responde las preguntas.

Responde las siguientes preguntas

1. What kind of animal a koala is?

2. How do thw baby koalas eat?

3. What does the word Koala mean?

Guess The Place

Lee cada una de las descripciones y adivina de que lugar se trata.

Guess The Animal

Lee cada una cada una de las descripciones y adivina de que animal se trata.

1.This animal is really small and It is an omnivorous animal. It lives in the underground and It usually goes to your house to eat. This animal is really strong, probably the strongest animal because It can lift many times its own weight. This animal is usually brown color.

This animal is the ........................

2. This animal flies around flowers sucking sugar out of them. It is a beautiful animal that moves its wings many times pero second.  It is usually green color and It has a peak. It is small and should not be in cages.

This animal is the ...........

3. This animal is carnivorous and people are usually scare of them. It is famous un movies. It has a fin and lots of teeth. When It smells blood It could attack.

This animal is ..................

4. When you see this animal you get scared. Not because It is dangerous but because people hate this animal. It lives in your house but usually you can't see It. Because when people see It, It gets killed.

This animal is the ............

5. People love this animal but It is very shy. This animal can be domestic and It is a small version of other animal. You can see It in the circus and It is used for human recreation. People love to take pictures on this animal.

This animal is the ..............

6. This animal is two animals in its life and It has a different depending on how old It is. This animal is ugly when It is a baby but when It becomes and adult It is beautiful.

This animal is the ...............

Reading Club - Articles

En esta sección encontraras lecturas organizadas por los diferentes niveles desde básico hasta avanzado.

Básico
1. Art or vandalism
2. Animals in the city
3. A walk in the forest
4. Amazing adventures
5. Diablo Carnival in Rio Sucio Colonbia
6. Dia de los Muertos
7. 10 Festivals around the world
8. Forced to be Fat
9. Bizarre Food Around The World

Amazing Adventures

Amazing adventurers

Do you ever dream about climbing Mount Everest or visiting Antarctica? If so, you’re not alone. Every year, thousands of people try to climb the world’s highest mountains or walk across continents. Let’s take a look at some of the 21st century’s greatest adventurers.

Amazon adventurer

Ed Stafford from the UK is the first person to walk along the Amazon River from the mountains of Peru to the mouth of the river in Brazil. His amazing journey took two years and four months. There are many dangerous animals in the rainforest, like snakes and crocodiles, but Ed was lucky; he was only bitten by ants and mosquitoes. On his trip, Ed had to find fruit and nuts or catch fish each morning. Sometimes food was hard to find and Ed was often tired and hungry.

Technology was very important for Ed. He used a radio to ask the people of the rainforest for food and help. Many people came to meet him and guide him through the rainforest. While he walked, Ed wrote a blog to tell the world about climate change and destruction of the rainforest.

A mountain climber

Did you know that more than 4,000 people have climbed Everest? Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria is one of them. She is one of the world’s greatest climbers and has climbed all the world’s mountains over 8,000 metres. It’s very difficult to climb in cold weather and storms, but Gerlinde loves it. She started climbing as a teenager in the mountains near her home. When she left school she became a nurse but always went climbing in her free time. Now she spends her time climbing and helping a charity for poor children in Nepal.

More than one adventure

Some adventurers are always looking for a new challenge. Meagan McGrath from Canada has climbed mountains, ridden a bike across Canada and run races in the desert. But her most incredible journey was a skiing trip to the South Pole. As she skied, Meagan pulled a sledge with a tent and all her food. She skied through terrible storms and freezing temperatures for forty days till she arrived at the South Pole.

Erik Weihenmayer from the United States has climbed mountains and ridden a bike through deserts. Amazingly, Erik is blind and he wants other blind people to have active lives too. He has taken groups of young blind people climbing in Nepal.

Where next?

Technology is a big help for adventurers but the world is still a dangerous place and it’s very important to prepare well. If you dream of being an adventurer, there will always be continents to walk across and mountains to climb!

Robin Newton

A Walk In The Forest

Tuesday

Going through the forest is my favourite part of the walk. My dog Benji loves it too. I’m Grace. I live on a farm with my parents and I take Benji for a walk most days after school. While Benji’s playing, I stop to take a photo of a butterfly. I’m thinking about posting it on Facebook, but then I hear Benji barking. He’s jumping and running around a boy. The poor boy looks worried. 'Benji, stop! Come here!' I call and throw him his ball. I’m about to say sorry to the boy, but he’s gone.

Wednesday

It’s cold today, so Benji and I are walking fast. As we go through the forest, it starts raining so I run. Suddenly, I fall and I’m on my back. OUCH! That hurt! 

Then there’s someone there and a voice asks 'Are you all right?' I look up and see the boy from yesterday.

'I’m OK,' I say and the boy helps me up.

'I haven’t seen you at school. Do you live near here?' I ask.

'No, I’m from Manchester,' he says. 'Sorry! I have to go. Can you walk? Do you need help?' 

'No, I’m fine. Thanks!' I say and the boy walks away.

'I’m Grace,' I call. 'What’s your name?' but he’s already gone. 

At home, Mum’s watching the news. 

'Hi Grace. Do you know  about this boy, Mark?' she asks.

'No, what boy?' I say.

'A boy from Manchester. He’s run away from home. Look! This is his dad.' 

There’s a man on TV sitting with a policeman. He’s crying as the policeman asks people to help. Then they show a photo of the missing boy. It’s the boy from the forest. He’s Mark. Should I say something? 

'Poor man,' says Mum. 'I just hope they find his son soon.'

No, I mustn’t say anything. If I tell Mum, the police will come and find Mark. What if he’s run away for a good reason? I should talk to him first.

Thursday

I can’t find Mark, so I shout, 'Mark, where are you?'

No answer.

'Mark,' I shout again, 'I know about you.'

After a moment, he appears. 'What do you know? How do you know my name?'

'Your dad was on TV. The police are looking for you.'

He looks shocked. 'Did you say anything? Have you told them?'

'No,' I say. 'I wanted to talk to you first. What’s happened? Why have you run away?'

'I had an argument with my dad. A bad one.'

'What about?' I ask.

Mark points to a fallen tree and we sit down.

'My mum died four years ago. It was a very difficult time for me and for Dad. He was sad for a long time, but then he met someone new. Mel’s her name.'

'Oh, and don’t you like her?' I ask.

'No, not much. She’s not a bad person, but we don’t really connect. She wants my dad for herself and she isn’t interested in me.'

'But, what about your dad? Have you talked to him?'

'He tells me to try harder with her, but I can’t. The night I ran away, he told me that we’re all moving to London. Mel’s from London, you see. Then he told me that he and Mel want to get married and have a baby. We both got angry and I told him I’m not moving to London. I took my tent and I left in the middle of the night.'

'But what will you do? You can’t live here.' I tell him.

'I know, but my grandad and my friends are in Manchester. I don’t want to move to London.'

'You might like London,' I say.

'That’s what my dad says.'

I feel sorry for Mark, but I think of his dad crying on TV and feel sorry for him too. 

'What are you going to do?' I ask.

'I don’t know. I need time to think.'

Friday

Mark’s waiting for me in the forest. I’ve got some news.

'The police came to the farm this morning. They’re going to search the forest tomorrow.'

Mark looks sad, 'I didn’t want this. My dad, crying on TV and the police looking for me. I don’t know what to do.'

'I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you live with your grandad in Manchester? Let your dad and Mel move to London and visit them in the holidays.'

Mark doesn’t answer at first, then he looks at me and smiles. 

'Can I use your phone?' he asks. 'I need to call my dad.'

Robin Newton