داستان کوتاه

Hello, this is A.J. and welcome to this month’s Mini Story. Welcome to a story about a very old friend. Unfortunately my old friend really has a problem, I’m afraid. I’m sorry to tell you this. This story starts out a little bit difficult and sad but let’s go ahead and start the story.

My very old friend is a cat named Bubba. Bubba is fat. Bubba is very, very huge. In fact, by now Bubba has reached 799 pounds. Bubba weighs 799 pounds.

What is Bubba?

Bubba is a cat.

Is Bubba a small little cat, a svelte cat?

No, Bubba is not a small cat. He’s certainly not svelte. Svelte means thin. It can be a little sexy even but very thin. The word svelte means thin.

Is Bubba Svelte?

Bubba is not svelte. Bubba is huge and he’s quite fat.

Is Bubba svelte or is Bubba fat?

Bubba is super fat. He’s obese. Of course obese means very, very fat.

Is Bubba a person who’s very fat?

No, Bubba is not a person, not a human. Bubba is a cat, a fat cat, a very fat cat.

Who is a fat cat?

Bubba.

Is Bubba a little bit fat?

No, Bubba is obese. Bubba is huge. Bubba is gigantic, super big.

How much does Bubba weigh?

Bubba weighs 799 pounds.

Does he weigh 799 kilograms?

No, not kilograms. Bubba weighs 799 pounds.

Usually Bubba didn’t care about this in the past but now he’s having problems. Now he needs to lose weight, so Bubba decides to go to a fat camp. He gets online and he searches for fat camps. A fat camp is a place where people go to lose weight, where people go to lose fat. Maybe it’s for one week or two weeks or three weeks or four weeks.

They have to eat healthy food and exercise.

Where does Bubba want to go?

To a fat camp.

Who wants to go to a fat camp?

Bubba wants to go to a fat camp.

Why does Bubba want to go to a fat camp?

Because he’s super fat. He’s obese. He weighs 799 pounds.

So he searches online. First he finds a fat camp in Russia, in Siberia.

Where does he find a fat camp?

In Siberia. Siberia is part of Russia. The cold middle part of Russia.

Where does Bubba go?

Bubba goes to Siberia.

Why does Bubba go to Siberia?

Bubba goes to Siberia to attend a fat camp.

Why does Bubba want to attend a fat camp?

So he can lose weight.

Where does he go to a fat camp?

He goes to Siberia in Russia.

What does he do at the fat camp? Every day they make him chop wood. He has to chop wood with an axe. Chop, chop, chop every single day all day long.

What does Bubba do in Siberia at the fat camp?

He chops wood. Chop, chop.

How long does he chop wood each day?

All day long. All during the day he chops wood.

If Bubba stops chopping wood, what do the Russian masters of the fat camp do? They yell at him and they beat him with a stick. Chop more wood! Poor Bubba. Bubba gets very tired. Anytime he tries to rest, what do the Russians say? Chop more wood! They yell at him and beat him with a stick. Chop more wood! Every day poor Bubba chops wood. He’s miserable. Finally he decides this is not his cup of tea.

That’s an idiom – not his cup of tea or not your cup of tea. It means it’s not for you. This situation or this thing is not for you. You don’t like it. Chopping wood in Russia was not his cup of tea.

Did Bubba like the fat camp in Russia?

No, he didn’t like the fat camp in Russia. It was not his cup of tea.

Was chopping wood Bubba’s cup of tea, meaning something that he liked?

No, chopping wood was not Bubba’s cup of tea.

Was being beaten with a stick by Russians his cup of tea?

No, he didn’t like that either. Being beaten by Russians was not Bubba’s cup of tea, not something he liked.

Since this was not Bubba’s cup of tea, what did he do? He escaped. He left the fat camp in Siberia. He got online again and he found another fat camp in California. This one was the leading edge of fat camps. It was at the leading edge of fat loss.

To be at the leading edge of something means to be at the front of it. It’s the idea of being new and innovative, the newest and best. For example, you could say that company is at the leading edge of technology. It means that they’re right at the front of new technology.

They’re doing new things all the time. They’re the newest and the best, the newest thing, the newest approach. The fat camp in California was at the leading edge of fat loss.

Were they using old traditional methods?

No, they were not using old traditional methods. They were at the leading edge. They were using the newest and the most innovative methods.

Was the fat camp in California at the leading edge or were they old and traditional?

They were at the leading edge and they are at the leading edge.

So Bubba goes to California and this place is at the leading edge of fat loss in California.

At the California fat camp he drinks green juices every day. He drinks green juices every single day and he sits in a sauna. He gets a massage and he does yoga. Every day he follows this schedule – green juices and yoga and saunas. Does Bubba like the California fat camp? Yes, he likes it very much. In fact, he emails all his friends and tells them in one month I will lose 500 pounds. This is easy.

Is he confident about losing weight at the California fat camp?

Yes, he’s confident because they are at the leading edge of fat loss technology, of fat loss techniques.

What does he say to his friends in an email?

He says I will lose 500 pounds easily.

Was he confident at the Russian fat camp?

No, he wasn’t confident at the Russian fat camp. It was not his cup of tea. He didn’t like that.

Does he like the California fat camp?

Oh yes, he loves the California fat camp.

Why?

Because it’s at the leading edge of fat loss technology and methods.

So everyday he enjoys this schedule. After one month and then two months, he still has not lost any weight. Oh no. When he sees his friends again, he has egg on his face and they all shake their heads. Bubba, what happened? He has egg on his face. That’s another idiom.

To have egg on your face means that you’re embarrassed. It means to be embarrassed. If you say I have egg on my face, it means that you’re embarrassed because of something.

You did something and now you’re embarrassed by it. It’s this idea of being embarrassed by something you did – to have egg on your face.

Does Bubba have egg on his face?

Yes he does. He has egg on his face.

Why does he have egg on his face? Why is he embarrassed?

He didn’t lose weight. He told his friends he would easily lose 500 pounds but he didn’t.

Does he have egg on his face?

Yes, he has egg on his face. He’s embarrassed.

Who has egg on his face?

Bubba the big cat.

Do you have egg on your face?

No, you’re not embarrassed.

Who has egg on his face?

Bubba has egg on his face. He’s embarrassed. He said he would easily lose weight but he didn’t.

So Bubba tries again. This time he goes up to San Francisco. He’s still in California.

Where does he go?

He goes to San Francisco.

Does he go to Los Angeles or does he go to San Francisco?

He goes to San Francisco.

What does he do in San Francisco? He joins a cross-fit gym.

What does he join?

A cross-fit gym.

What is a cross-fit gym? Cross-fit is a kind of exercise. It’s very tough with lots of different kinds of exercise. They use lots of them – weights, and pushups and pull-ups and lots of different ones. It’s very powerful and intense and difficult.

Did he go to a very soft easy gym or did he go to a tough difficult gym?

He went to a tough difficult gym. He went to a cross-fit gym.

Every day he does the classes. He sweats and he works, and he sweats and he works – pushups, pull-ups, weights – and he suffers.

Where does he go every day?

He goes to the cross-fit gym.

What does he do every day?

He works out every day. He exercises every day.

How does he feel every day?

He feels tired. He feels miserable every day.

Who feels miserable at the gym every day?

Bubba feels miserable at the gym every day.

Does he stay the course or does he quit? He stays the course. Bubba stays the course at the cross-fit gym. To stay the course means to continue. It means to keep going. When you stay the course, you do not quit. When you stay the course, it means that you’re persistent.

Does he stay the course?

Yes, Bubba stays the course. Bubba does not quit. He keeps going to the gym even though it’s difficult and even though he suffers.

Does he lose weight? Yes he does. Bubba finally loses weight. Bubba loses 400 pounds.

He’s still a big cat but he loses 400 pounds and he’s much healthier and happier.

Did Bubba lose weight?

Yes, he did.

How much weight did he lose?

He lost 400 pounds.

Why did he lose 400 pounds?

Because he stayed the course at the cross-fit gym.

Did he stay the course at the cross-fit gym or did he quit?

He stayed the course at the cross-fit gym.

Did he stay the course at the Russian fat camp?

No, he did not stay the course at the Russian fat camp. The Russian fat camp was not his cup of tea, so he left.

Did he stay the course at the Southern California fat camp?

Yes, he stayed the course. He completed two months.

Was he successful?

No, he wasn’t successful at that California fat camp.

Did he stay the course at the San Francisco cross-fit gym?

Yes, he stayed the course at the San Francisco cross-fit gym.

Was he successful?

Yes, he was. Bubba was finally successful. He finally lost some weight.

That is the end of our Mini Story for this month.