داستان کوتاه

VIP Mini Story - Anger

Hello, this is AJ. Welcome VIP to the mini story this month. Let’s get started.

There was a girl names Tomoe. Tomoe was Japanese and she had trained and a ninja. She had trained as a ninja starting at the age of two. So when she was two years old she started training as a ninja.

So she had trained as a ninja starting when?

Starting when she was two years old.

Who had trained as a ninja for a long time?

Tomoe. Tomoe had trained as a ninja for a long time. In fact, since she was two years old.

So she had trained as a ninja. Now, I’m saying “had trained” because this happened in the past before something else. The something else you will learn later in the story.

Don’t think about the grammar too much, just accept the way I’m telling it. This could be told many ways. I’m choosing to tell it this way.

So, she had been a ninja since two years. She had trained as a ninja since she was two years old, starting at the age of two, but, also, she has always had a problem. Tomoe has always had a problem with her ninja training.

Has she always had a problem or has she sometimes had a problem?

Well, she has always had a problem.

And who has always had a problem?

Tomoe, of course. Tomoe has always had a problem.

She has always had a problem with what?

With her ninja training.

And what kind of problem has she always had?

Well, her problem was that she was too cute. Tomoe was too cute.

In fact, one day her master said “Tomoe, ninjas cannot be cute. They must be scary. You must learn to be scary.”

Did her master want her to be cute?

No, Tomoe’s ninja master did not want her to be cute. He wanted her to be scary. He said “Tomoe, you must learn to be scary.”

What did she need to learn?

She needed to learn to be scary.

And why did she need to learn to be scary?

She needed to learn to be scary because ninjas are supposed to be scary.

And was Tomoe, at that time in the past, was she scary?

No, no, she wasn’t. She was not scary. Tomoe was cute.

She had always had this problem. She had always been too cute. So her master said “Tomoe, ninjas cannot be cute. They must be scary. You must learn to be scary.” And so for the next 20 years, Tomoe trained constantly trying to be scary.

How often did Tomoe train?

She trained constantly. It means all the time.

And what did she train constantly to do or to be?

Well, she trained constantly to become scary; to be scary. She practiced making scary faces, rah, trying to make her face look scary.

What kind of faces did she practice making?

She practiced making scary faces. She showed her teeth and she made her eyes look very small. Err, she tried to look angry. She practiced making scary faces.

Now, “to make a face”, that’s a little bit of an idiom maybe. To make a face means to make an expression on your face. So we can say make a scary face means make your face look scary. Or make a happy face means make your face look happy. So to make a scary face, make a happy face.

She practiced making scary faces, aarrah, rah, different kinds of scary faces. She also practiced yelling in a scary way, rah, eeyah, eeeye, meeyah.

What kind of practice did she do?

Well, she practiced making scary faces and she practiced yelling in a scary way.

Did she practice whispering?

No, she didn’t practice whispering, speaking quietly, no. She practiced yelling in a scary way.

Who practiced yelling in a scary way?

Tomoe. Tomoe practiced yelling in a scary way and she practiced making scary faces.

And how often did she practice yelling in a scary way?

Constantly; all the time.

And how often did she practice making scary faces?

Also constantly. She constantly practiced making scary faces.

And, of course, she practiced learning how to kill people with one strike platow!

One hit, one strike, she learned how to kill them. So she practiced killing people with one strike. She practiced yelling in a scary way and she practiced making scary faces and she did this for 20 years.

For how long did she practice all of these things?

For 20 years. She practiced these things for 20 years.

And at the end of 20 years, she was still cute. Oh, no, she had a problem. Her master said “Tomoe, you can now kill any person with one strike, but you cannot be a ninja if you are cute and you are still cute. Go now to America. There are many scary people there, learn from them.” And so Tomoe went to San Francisco and in San Francisco she met many crazy people, insane, scary people.

What kind of people did she meet in San Francisco?

Crazy, insane, scary people.

And who met crazy, insane, scary people?

Tomoe met them.

And where did she meet them?

In San Francisco, she met them in San Francisco.

Who or whom, did she meet in San Francisco?

Crazy, insane, scary people. In fact, she met one extremely crazy and scary person.

What was his name?

His name was Allen. She met Allen in San Francisco. He had been crazy and scary all of his life.

Had he ever been cute before?

No, he had never been cute before meeting Tomoe. He had been crazy and scary all of his life.

For how long had he been crazy and scary?

He had been crazy and scary all of his life. From the point he met Tomoe, all the way back to when he was born, during that entire period he had been crazy and scary. Allen had been crazy and scary all of his life.

Had Tomoe been crazy and scary all of her life?

No, no, no, no, Tomoe had been cute all of her life, but she had not been crazy and scary all of her life.

So who had been crazy and scary all of his life?

Allen, of course. Allen had been crazy and scary all of his life.

And so they met in San Francisco and Tomoe said “Please teach me.” And Allen said ‘’Yes, I will teach you how to be crazy and scary.” And so Tomoe trained with Allen every day for the next 10 years. Every day she practiced being crazy and scary. She constantly practiced being crazy and scary during the next 10 years.

How often did she practice being crazy and scary during that time?

Every day. Constantly, every day, she practiced being crazy and scary.

And for how long did she practice with Allen?

She practiced with Allen for 10 years.

And how often during that time did she practice?

She practiced every day, constantly, for 10 years.

And what did she practice every day with Allen?

She practiced being crazy and scary.

They practiced and they practiced, rah! Making crazy sounds, looking crazy, acting crazy, trying to be scary. And after 10 more years of constant practice with Allen, Tomoe was still cute and Allen had become cute also.

So did Tomoe become scary?

She did not. Tomoe didn’t become scary, she remained cute.

What happened to Allen?

Well, he became cute too. After 10 years, he had become cute as well.

So after 10 years, who had become cute?

Allen had become cute after 10 years. Tomoe was already cute, but Allen became cute.

You notice I’m using two kinds of grammar to say that. After 10 years, Allen had become cute or after 10 years, Allen became cute. They’re both correct, just a little bit of a different feeling, a little bit of a different subtle feeling of how you say that, but they’re both correct.

You need to learn that in English, in any language, there’s not just one correct way to say something. You can say it many different ways and the feeling might be a little bit different, but they can all be correct. So, after 10 years, Allen had become cute also or after 10 years, Allen became cute.

So finally, Tomoe quit being a ninja. She decided she would never become scary and she would always be cute and so, instead, she became a comic book writer.

She became a very successful comic book writer.

And that is the end of our mini story.

So don’t think about the grammar. There was a lot of little different grammar thrown into this story. Don’t think about it, just learn the phrases, listen to the story again and again answer the questions. Just let it get into your brain naturally. Don’t analyze it. Don’t think about it.

All right, I’ll see you again soon.

Have a great day, bye-bye.