This morning, around 11 am, I heard my boyfriend slamming the front door - he went out just some minutes before, so I asked him if it was all right, and he answered:
"Yeah, I'm just in a hurry, and Hamdi (just for you to know, Hamdi is the greengrocer on our street) makes me wasting my time with his questions. He asked me to buy him a laptop for 100€ and now he's complaining because it gives him trouble! I have to look for a cable in order to adjust it...By the way, he also asked me if I'm in need of extra money: there is an old man who's looking for someone willing to help him with the grocery. I'm not in need of extra money and I'm in a hurry! Maybe you'd like to go...?"
I looked at him from the armchair, chewing a banana, still wearing my pajamas..."Yes! I'm glad I can help!"
I jumped up, put on some clothes, and left with him.
Hamdi gave me the address "Well, I can't remember his name...But it sounds very Greek! You will recognize it for sure on the ring bell!" - Like I know how Greek surname sounds like...
Indeed, after a while, I was in front of the building and, reading a name ending with -os, I was sure it was the right one.
I rang the bell and after a few minutes, a feeble voice answered. After explaining clearly who I was, who sent me there, and why, his answer made me smile: "Okay...What do you want!?" The second attempt seemed to work. He opened the door sentencing "third floor".
The man at the door was really old. I think he was the oldest man I've ever seen in my whole life! Short, hunchbacked, featherweight. His skin looked like tissue paper and he was staring at me with tiny eyes covered with wrinkled skin. I was wondering how could he even be able to see something when he asked: "Can we trust you!?" - Like I would say no if I was a thief ready to empty his house! "Yes, you can! Hamdi is sending me, the 'Gemüsemann' at the end of the street".
He let me in and the first thing that came to my attention when I entered the house, was the number of carpets. So many carpets in such a small place! His wife stood up from a large sofa and came towards me. She welcomed me and explained what they needed with such a tender glance and a smile...I listened to her, grabbed the bags that she was handing me over, and went out to accomplish my task.
After half an hour or so, I came back with the bags full of what the grocery list showed. The old couple thanked me. We talked about Greece and Italy, about the man's stay in Pisa and I told them about myself and why did I come here to Aachen to live. At one point, I noticed the woman struggling to recognize some coins on the table.
After a while, she took up ten euros from the change I had put on the table and said: "Here are five euros..." - "...No, they are actually ten!" - "Oh, are they?" so she took the real five euros bill and add the other five euros in coins. "Here it is, my dear. That's for your help" I was smiling inside me, but at the same time, I felt extremely softened by the vulnerability of the two. Both of them could barely see, both of them had so many years behind themselves!
"Here is my number, feel free to call me whenever you need to. I live right behind the corner and for some other weeks I have quite much free time!"
I left the house with a smile on my face.
Actually, I would be glad to see them soon again and have more time together...I have missed interacting with elderly people since both my grandparents passed away, some years ago, and there are so many things I can learn from their tales of life!
Ciao, Alice! Congratulations on your text; it is extremely well-written. Your English expression is excellent and you really sound like a native English speaker! It felt like reading a novel; you sound like a real author! There are a few occasions where I think certain expressions you have written could be altered slightly but they do not stop you from conveying your message. Keep practising as I do not think it will be very long until you are fluent in English!
Ciao, Nelson! :D Thank you so much for your hugely helpful corrections and encouragement 💪
A really nice anecdote! They sound like such a sweet couple!
They are, indeed! :)
Alice, I also enjoyed reading this story. Very nice indeed. I have one question to the English natives here: I would have written "I heard my boyfriend slam the front door" instead of "slamming", because for my thinking slam is an abrupt thing, while slamming would be an action that would take some time. Like for example "I heard him singing a song". As both Nelson and Rachel haven't made this correction, I believe I must be wrong with my assumption...
That's an interesting question! :)
Hi Erich and Alice; both forms of the verb are correct, but I think using the continuous tense adds to the "story-telling" element of the text. In addition, it connects well to the next part of the sentence "...I asked him if he was alright...". It give a similar feeling as when using the imperfetto in Italian, in the sense of describing a situation in the past (even if the rules for using the imperfetto are different ).