One day, a train was approaching the small town of Hastings. On the train was a strange man with a big suitcase. He was called Reed Cameron and he looked very common. Though, what made him most unusual was that when he needed to communicate he did it by singing opera. It didn’t matter to Reed whether it was simply answering, like “good morning”, he always cleared his voice and responded.

No one could get a spoken word out of him. And, as anyone knew how he made his living and he always wore his same old second-hand suit, they often treated him with disdain. They made fun of his singing, calling him a nobody or mad.

Reed had lived in Hastings for some years, when, one day, a rumor spread round town like wildfire: Reed had secured a role in a very important opera in the nation’s capital, and there were posters everywhere advertising the event. Everyone in the capital went to see it, and it was a great success. At the end of its run, when Reed was being interviewed by reporters, he answered their questions by speaking rather than singing. And he did it with great courtesy, and with a clear and pleasant voice. From that day, Reed stopped singing at all hours. Now he did it only during his stage appearances and world tours.

Some people suspected why he had changed, but others still had no idea, and continued believing him to be somewhat mad. They wouldn’t have thought so if they had seen what Reed kept in his big suitcase. It was a large stone, with a hand-carved message on it. The message said: “Practice every second, for you never know when your chance will come”. After a while, people realized that he got his job in the opera because the director had heard Reed singing while he was buying a newspaper.

Aida Mirabel Fernández
1r Batxillerat C
Guanyadora en categoria d’anglès postobligtòria