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Pablo and the black bird

Learn English by audiobook or video with Cullen at eattmag.com

Release Date: 05/30/2023

The Rope show art The Rope

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Something like a rope passed him again. It was not tied to anything. It was floating. It moved slowly, back and forward, like seaweed. Pablo watched it for a moment. It did not feel dangerous. He reached out and pushed the rope away from his body. He pushed it to the side so he could start to go up. His breath was running out. His chest felt tight. He needed to go back to the surface. Then he saw more of it. Not all at once. At first, it was only a shape. A grey shape moving in the water. It did not look like a rope anymore. It looked like skin. That was when he understood. It was a shark. He...

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Learning the Water show art Learning the Water

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Pablo had only learned to swim recently. He was in his early twenties. It took him a long time. He worked full time. He also had a part-time job. That day, he swam out from the shore and dived down. He wanted to see the rocks he had heard about under the water. He did not know how deep the ocean was there. Even close to land, it could be very deep. He felt like he was about five meters down. He did not look up at the surface. Something touched the back of his leg. It frightened him, but he kept going. The seaweed was large. It felt thick, like kelp. It brushed past the tattoo on his leg. He...

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Pablo — The Kitchen show art Pablo — The Kitchen

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Perhaps he thought when he got home he could hang his wooden spoons up, although at the moment they were sitting in a great big blue jar—which seemed to be the right place, as then he could just grab them beside the air fryer, you know, that kind of thing, when he was cooking on the run. This was making him hungry now, thinking about all these wooden spoons and the boat made of wooden spoons. He was thinking about dinner. Maybe he could have some nice pasta with some garlic and some black pepper, vegetables, and maybe some olives. He might be able to put some tuna in there too, and he may...

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The boat made of wooden spoons show art The boat made of wooden spoons

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After his swim, Pablo decided that he was going to sit down and do some writing. And when he sat down, he suddenly remembered that he had a dream the other night about a boat, and the boat was made from wooden spoons. Why would a boat be made of wooden spoons? That was an interesting idea. They must have been all glued together because the boat was bobbing along quite well in the water, and there was a small crew of sailors sitting in the boat having a lively chat. What were they talking about? He wondered. He hadn't remembered that part of the dream. Was the discussion about coming to land or...

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Swim First show art Swim First

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From here on, new episodes are released on Apple Podcasts.

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The Room show art The Room

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The Lite Library:   A short fragment as the show rolls out on Apple Podcasts.   

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Not a Busy Day show art Not a Busy Day

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Pablo jumped up to snatch the newspaper show art Pablo jumped up to snatch the newspaper

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A different cup show art A different cup

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Pablo was suddenly very tired. He was also feeling very thirsty. So he decided to go home and make himself a nice cup of coffee. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. And though he was feeling hungry, he decided first he needed to get himself a nice drink. Normally, he wouldn't drink coffee after about 2:00 PM as he felt somehow made it more difficult for him to sleep. He was thinking about his favorite coffee cup when he suddenly realized that he had a series of habits that some people might have found a bit strange. The first habit he had was that in the morning first thing he would have a...

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Pablo in the park show art Pablo in the park

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Pablo sat down on the stool in the kitchen and closed his eyes to think back for a moment. He remembered a few weeks ago being in the park near his apartment, sitting on a bench in the sun and noticing a small blackbird. “It can’t be the same one,” he thought.  Then he remembered that was the day it rained. He had gone for a walk, turned his phone on silent, and sat on a park bench. One of his teachers had told him years ago that he should improve his skills in observation. So, when it rained, he stayed on the bench with his rain hat and raincoat for a few minutes, observing the...

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Just as Pablo turned towards the kitchen window, he saw a bird.
 
A little Blackbird.
 
The little Blackbird sitting on the windowsill had small bright yellow eyes.
The bird seemed to be looking almost curiously at Pablo for some reason.
 
As if he was wondering what Pablo was about to do.
Pablo stood very still. He did not want to see the bird fly away.
It was not every day that Pablo had a little black bird sitting on his kitchen windowsill, but then again.
He wondered. Had he seen this bird before?
Was this the little bird that had been sitting outside on the steps?
The same day he had sat outside last Saturday, on the steps outside his apartment on the sidewalk in the sun.
 
Probably not, he thought to himself. How would he know anyway?
Little blackbirds like this one, well, most of them looked the same.
 
Although this one was kind of a little bit different. he seemed confident somehow. As he was meant to be there and Pablo was the visitor
 
It was certainly looking at him a little bit differently, as if it was most curious. Perfect, Pablo thought.
 
Now the little bird was going to delay his pizza making and he was feeling very hungry.
The little bird's eyes seemed to dart around the kitchen very quickly before landing on Pablo. Was he curious about me?
 
Pablo wondered to himself, while he must be.
 
Nice to have company, Pablo thought. As he remembered how difficult it was being away from people.
Especially at the time, so many people were separated from each other. He appreciated the company of this little bird. The bird looked up and chirped at him happily.
He then chirped again very loudly and flew away.

English lesson objective
Enhance your understanding of descriptive language by answering the following questions

Answer the following questions:

Have you ever observed a unique encounter with an animal or bird?

  • How do you think Pablo felt when he first noticed the blackbird?
  • Why do you think he wanted the bird to stay?
  • How did Pablo's feelings change when he realized the bird might have been observing him before?

What have learned about the descriptive language and emotions through the story of Pablo and the little black bird?
 
Exercises:
 
Write a continuation of the story, imagining what happens after the blackbird flies away.
Create a piece of artwork sharing some part of the story