麻豆约拍

Read by Kevin Harvey

It was nearly the end of the school day, and Mr Jones was writing 4W鈥檚 homework up on the board. 鈥淩emember!鈥� Mr Jones said, 鈥淚鈥檇 like you all to write something about living in a city. Why you like it, and why you wouldn鈥檛 want to live anywhere else.鈥澛�

The classroom bubbled with excitement and chatter, and Kyle watched as all his friends talked noisily about the places that they loved. Kyle felt his heart sink deep in his chest. He hated living in a city. In fact, he couldn鈥檛 think of one thing that he liked about it. 鈥淪ir,鈥� Kyle said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing I like about living in a city. It鈥檚 not fun or exciting.鈥� The classroom went quiet. 聽鈥淎h,鈥� Mr Jones said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not true. There are so many interesting places to visit, so many wonderful things about living in a city. You just have to look closely.鈥�

Kyle didn鈥檛 say anything. He didn鈥檛 want to look closely, and he didn鈥檛 want to listen to Mr Jones. You see, Kyle had lived in this city for eight whole years, and he was certain, more than anything, that he would never find a single thing that he liked. Kyle wished more than anything that he lived somewhere else: somewhere hot, like Greece, or Spain. Somewhere that had lots of different people and lots of different things going on.

The next day, which was Saturday, Kyle sat down at the kitchen table and tried to do his homework. 聽He thought about what Mr Jones had said, about looking closely, but when Kyle got up and stared out of the large kitchen window all he could see were thick, grey clouds. 鈥�罢测辫颈肠补濒!鈥� 聽Kyle thought. And all he could think of were the bad things about living in a city: it was noisy, there was rubbish everywhere and it never stopped raining.

Kyle began to feel very frustrated. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no use!鈥� Kyle said, putting his head in his hands. But he knew that if he didn鈥檛 get his homework done, then he would be in serious trouble with Mr Jones. 鈥淢u-uuum,鈥� Kyle shouted. 鈥淲hat is it, love?鈥� Asked Kyle鈥檚 mum. 鈥淢r Jones has asked us to write about why we like living in a city, but I can鈥檛 think of anything. I hate it,鈥� said Kyle. Kyle鈥檚 mum smiled. 鈥淐ome on!鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檒l show you why living in a city is so great.鈥�

Kyle and his mum climbed to the top deck of the bus. Kyle liked to sit right at the front, so he could pretend he was the one driving. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 another good thing about living in a city,鈥� said Kyle鈥檚 mum. 鈥淵ou can get a bus or a train anywhere.鈥� Kyle shrugged. He liked buses and trains, but they weren鈥檛 exciting.

Kyle鈥檚 mum pressed the bell, and the two of them got off the bus. Kyle was certain that his mum wouldn鈥檛 be able to change his mind. After all, he鈥檇 lived in this city for eight whole years and he鈥檇 never seen anything exciting.

Soon, they were standing on a busy street, crammed with shops and market stalls. Kyle stopped at one of the stalls selling vegetables.聽 鈥淲hat鈥檚 this?鈥� Kyle asked the African grocer. He was pointing to something that looked like a large potato.聽 鈥淚t鈥檚 a yam. It tastes delicious boiled, or you can cook it in a spicy soup.鈥� 鈥�Wow,鈥� Kyle thought. He鈥檇 never even seen a yam before. Kyle moved on to the next stall, which was full of brightly coloured material. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 this?鈥� Kyle asked the Indian woman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lovely colour.鈥� The woman smiled. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a wedding dress. On their wedding day, a lot of Asian brides like to wear something red and sparkly.鈥�

Kyle鈥檚 eyes widened. There were so many things he hadn鈥檛 seen before. He didn鈥檛 even feel like he was in his own city. Kyle felt like he鈥檇 been transported to a different world. 鈥淲hat would you like to do now?鈥� Asked Kyle鈥檚 mum. 鈥淲e could go to the cinema, or for pizza, or we could go bowling?鈥� 聽Kyle was spoiled for choice. 鈥淵ou see,鈥� laughed his mum. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 another good thing about living in a city. There are so many things to do, and everything is so close by.鈥�

Kyle hadn鈥檛 thought about this before, he didn鈥檛 realise how lucky he was to have so many things to choose from. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to go for pizza,鈥� Kyle said, finally.

Kyle and his mum walked back towards the bus stop, but just as they got there it started to rain. A car drove past, right into a puddle and splashed them both, but Kyle just laughed. He didn鈥檛 mind so much anymore. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe I鈥檝e lived here for eight whole years,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I never realised just how great it is before!鈥�

Kyle's City was written by Danielle Jawando