Ring of Fire Read Online Free PDF
Author: Pierdomenico Baccalario
turning beet red, his back to the girls.
“We aren’t scandalized,” replies Elettra, winking at the French girl. “Are we?”
Mistral lets out a little peal of laughter, which is interrupted by Harvey’s stomping over to his bed. “I’ll sleep up on top, okay?”
“Okay,
hao,”
says Sheng in a soft voice. “I’ve always dreamed of getting the bottom bunk. …”
Harvey stiffens, as if he heard a hint of irony in Sheng’s reply. “Did I say something wrong? You want the top bunk? Whatever.” And without waiting for an answer, he grabs his gym bag and tosses it onto the lower bunk. “I’ll take the bottom one.”
“Hey! What are you doing?” Sheng asks calmly.
“Bedtime,” Harvey announces, disappearing into the darkness of the bottom bunk. Standing there in his gym shoes, Sheng looks at the girls with amusement, his face plainly showing howsurprised he is by all this. Harvey seems like a pretty bullheaded guy. The kind who wants to act tough.
Elettra senses a challenge in the air, which she readily accepts. She rests her hand on the boys’ bunk bed, and, leaning over to look at the jeans and tennis shoes that the American boy is still wearing, she asks him, “Do you always sleep with your shoes on?”
Harvey opens his eyes wide with alarm. “Huh?”
Elettra repeats, “I asked if, over in America, you sleep in your shirt, boxers, jeans and shoes.”
Only then does Harvey realize he’s still completely dressed.
Embarrassed, he stares at Elettra’s pajamas, then at Mistral’s and finally at the striped outfit worn by Sheng, who starts undoing his gym shoes, explaining, “I forgot my slippers. But I always take these off before I go to bed.”
Outside of the room, the snow drifts down slowly. The two girls are sitting cross-legged on the floor. Harvey’s in the bathroom and Sheng’s brushing his hand over the dandelion-shaped lamp on Elettra’s nightstand. It’s a bundle of countless tiny wisps of glowing glass. “My father?” repeats Sheng in impeccable English. “He works in tourism.”
“Does he have a travel agency?”
“Kind of. He organizes cultural exchanges. A Chinese boy goes to live with a European family for a month and a European boy goes to live with a Chinese family for a month. It’s a sort of student exchange.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“I’ll let you know in a month,” Sheng mutters. And then he explains. “Basically, I’m going to act as a guinea pig in Rome, although my father really wanted to send me to London.”
“Why not Paris?” breaks in Mistral.
“Because I like
Gladiator
more than
The Da Vinci Code
?” quips Sheng.
“Paris is Paris.”
“And Rome is a beautiful city,” Elettra replies in its defense. “It’s old and new at the same time.”
“And with the snow, it looks … magical,” adds Sheng, peeking out the window.
“You guys are lucky. It almost never snows in Rome.”
“Have you already met the family you’re going to live with?” Mistral asks the Chinese boy.
Sheng shakes his head.
“No. I’ll meet them next year—that is, in a few days.”
“Do you know if you’ll end up in a house with a boy or a girl?”
“I haven’t got the slightest idea.”
The bathroom door opens up and is instantly snapped shut again. Harvey walks up to them, dragging his bare feet on the floor. “Done. If you want, we can go to sleep now.”
None of the other three kids seems to want to answer him.
Elettra hugs her knees in her arms and says, “It sure must be strange, living away from home for a whole month. I don’t know if I’d like it.”
“A month where?” asks Harvey. When they explain, he sneers, “I’d never want a stranger in my house.”
“I’m not the least bit surprised,” replies Elettra.
“Um, why’s that?”
“Because you obviously don’t like company. You’ve barely said a word since you walked into the room. Except ‘Bedtime.’”
“Well, what was I supposed to say? I’m
“We aren’t scandalized,” replies Elettra, winking at the French girl. “Are we?”
Mistral lets out a little peal of laughter, which is interrupted by Harvey’s stomping over to his bed. “I’ll sleep up on top, okay?”
“Okay,
hao,”
says Sheng in a soft voice. “I’ve always dreamed of getting the bottom bunk. …”
Harvey stiffens, as if he heard a hint of irony in Sheng’s reply. “Did I say something wrong? You want the top bunk? Whatever.” And without waiting for an answer, he grabs his gym bag and tosses it onto the lower bunk. “I’ll take the bottom one.”
“Hey! What are you doing?” Sheng asks calmly.
“Bedtime,” Harvey announces, disappearing into the darkness of the bottom bunk. Standing there in his gym shoes, Sheng looks at the girls with amusement, his face plainly showing howsurprised he is by all this. Harvey seems like a pretty bullheaded guy. The kind who wants to act tough.
Elettra senses a challenge in the air, which she readily accepts. She rests her hand on the boys’ bunk bed, and, leaning over to look at the jeans and tennis shoes that the American boy is still wearing, she asks him, “Do you always sleep with your shoes on?”
Harvey opens his eyes wide with alarm. “Huh?”
Elettra repeats, “I asked if, over in America, you sleep in your shirt, boxers, jeans and shoes.”
Only then does Harvey realize he’s still completely dressed.
Embarrassed, he stares at Elettra’s pajamas, then at Mistral’s and finally at the striped outfit worn by Sheng, who starts undoing his gym shoes, explaining, “I forgot my slippers. But I always take these off before I go to bed.”
Outside of the room, the snow drifts down slowly. The two girls are sitting cross-legged on the floor. Harvey’s in the bathroom and Sheng’s brushing his hand over the dandelion-shaped lamp on Elettra’s nightstand. It’s a bundle of countless tiny wisps of glowing glass. “My father?” repeats Sheng in impeccable English. “He works in tourism.”
“Does he have a travel agency?”
“Kind of. He organizes cultural exchanges. A Chinese boy goes to live with a European family for a month and a European boy goes to live with a Chinese family for a month. It’s a sort of student exchange.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“I’ll let you know in a month,” Sheng mutters. And then he explains. “Basically, I’m going to act as a guinea pig in Rome, although my father really wanted to send me to London.”
“Why not Paris?” breaks in Mistral.
“Because I like
Gladiator
more than
The Da Vinci Code
?” quips Sheng.
“Paris is Paris.”
“And Rome is a beautiful city,” Elettra replies in its defense. “It’s old and new at the same time.”
“And with the snow, it looks … magical,” adds Sheng, peeking out the window.
“You guys are lucky. It almost never snows in Rome.”
“Have you already met the family you’re going to live with?” Mistral asks the Chinese boy.
Sheng shakes his head.
“No. I’ll meet them next year—that is, in a few days.”
“Do you know if you’ll end up in a house with a boy or a girl?”
“I haven’t got the slightest idea.”
The bathroom door opens up and is instantly snapped shut again. Harvey walks up to them, dragging his bare feet on the floor. “Done. If you want, we can go to sleep now.”
None of the other three kids seems to want to answer him.
Elettra hugs her knees in her arms and says, “It sure must be strange, living away from home for a whole month. I don’t know if I’d like it.”
“A month where?” asks Harvey. When they explain, he sneers, “I’d never want a stranger in my house.”
“I’m not the least bit surprised,” replies Elettra.
“Um, why’s that?”
“Because you obviously don’t like company. You’ve barely said a word since you walked into the room. Except ‘Bedtime.’”
“Well, what was I supposed to say? I’m