Re-Write on Elizabeth(film) by Jan

Hi guys. Finally I have uploaded my re-write, which I have requested the extension from Paul. It was so hard with the topic I have chosen but I think I have tried my best to put the history together from a lot of research. I was not able to write exactly the same as my proposal in the part of Spanish Armada due to the space. But I am pleased to cover the romantic story in the English history of love triangle between Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Robert Dudley and Lady Amy Robsart which I have re-write ideas from the movie “Elizabeth”. I hope you all enjoy my re-write.

Cumnor Place in 1557

In Robert’s dream, he saw once again the empty room, he was accompanied by a priest of the newly restored Roman Catholic Church, and he had repented of his sins and recanted his principles. He had begged for forgiveness and slavishly apologised. He had thrown away all fidelity for the chance of forgiveness, and by the anxious turning of his head as he searched the faces of the small crowd, he was hoping for the arrival of his pardon at this late, this theatrical moment.
He had every reason to hope. The new monarch was a Tudor and the Tudors knew the power of appearances. She was devout, surely would not reject a contrite heart. But more than anything else; she was a woman, a soft hearted, thick-headed woman. She would never have the courage to take the decision to execute such a great man; she would never have the stamina to hold to her decision.
The door behind Robert opened and a gaoler came in and laughed to see the two young men up at the window, shading their eyes against midsummer sun. ‘Don’t jump’, he said. ‘Don’t rob the axe man; it’ll be you two next.’
‘I will remember you for this, after our pardons have come, and we are released,’ Robert promised him and turn his attention back to the green. Below on the scaffold, the priest stepped up to the condemned man, and read him prayers from his Latin Bible. Robert found he was suddenly cold, chilled to ice by the glass of the window he was resting his forehead and the palms of his hands, as if the warmth of his body was bleeding out of him, sucked out by the scene below. On the scaffold, his father knelt humbly before the block. The axe-man stepped forward and tied the blind-fold over his eyes, he spoke to him. The prisoner turned his bound head to reply.
‘Be still.’ Robert roared, hammering against the thick glass of the window. ‘Father, be still! For God’s sake, be still.’ The blood was pumping from the wound but the man still scrabbled like a dying pig in the straw.
‘Father!’ Robert cried out in agony as the axe came down. ‘Father!’
‘Robert?’ ‘My Lord?’ He opened his eyes and Amy before him, her brown eyes open wide.
‘Good God! What a nightmare! What a dream. God keep me from it. God keep me from it.’
‘Was it the same dream?’ she asked. ‘The dream of your father’s death?’
He could not even bear that she should mention it. ‘Just a dream,’ he said shortly, trying to cover his wits. ‘Just a terrible dream.’
‘But the same dream?’ she persisted.
He shrugged. ‘It’s hardly surprising that it should come back to me. Do we have some ale?’
Amy threw back the covers and rose from the bed, pulling her nightgown around her shoulders. But she was not to be diverted.
‘It’s an omen,’ she said flatly, as she poured him a mug of ale. ‘It’s a warning,’ she said.
Robert took a draught of ale, burying his face in the mug to avoid her accusing gaze.
‘A bad dream like that is a warning. You should not sail with King Philip.’
‘We’ve been through this a thousand times. You know I have to go.’
‘Not now! Not after you dreamed of your father’s death. Your father is warning you beyond the grave. You be a good husband,’ she retorted. ‘And don’t leave me. Where am I to go when you have sailed for the Netherlands? They will think you have left me because you are tired of me,’ she said reproachfully. ‘Anyone would think so. You have only just come home to me and you are leaving me again.’
‘Amy, forgive me. These months have been like a lifetime. With my name attained by treason I can own nothing in my own right, I cannot trade or sell or buy. Everything my family had was seized by the Crown. I know, everything that you had has been lost by me. I have to get it back for you. I have to get it back for us.’
‘I don’t want it at this price,’ she said flatly. ‘It is not what I want, it’s no good for me. I want you by my side.’
‘I have to go,’ he said. ‘I would rather be dead and my name cleared by my death, than live like this, an undischarged traitor from a disgraced family, in Mary’s England.’
‘Why? Would you rather have Elizabeth’s England?’ she hissed.
‘With all my heart,’ he answered truthfully.

************************************************************

1558

“The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen.”
“The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen.”
“The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen.”

All the bells in Norfolk were ringing for Elizabeth, Pounding the peal into Amy’s head, first the treble bell screaming out like a mad woman, and then the whole agonising, jangling sob till the great bell boomed a warning that the whole discordant carillon was about to shriek out again.
She pulled the pillow over her head to shut out the sound, and yet still it went on, until the rooks abandoned their nests and went streaming into the skies, toss in and turning in the wind like a banner of ill omen, and the bats left the belfry like a plume of black smoke as if to say that the world was upside down now, and day should be forever night.
Amy did not need to ask what the racket was for; she already knew. At last, poor sick queen Mary had died, and Princess Elizabeth was the uncontested heir. Praise be. Everyone in England should rejoice. The protestant princess had come to the throne and ringing bells for joy, dancing in the street and throwing prison doors. The English had their Elizabeth at last and the fear filled days of Mary could be forgotten.
Everyone but Amy.
Everyone but Amy.
This news of Elizabeth did not bring Amy to joy, she did not celebrate Elizabeth’s upward leap to the throne. “God strike her dead,” she swore into her pillow. “God strike her down in her youth and her pride and her beauty. God blast her looks and thin her hair and rot her teeth and let her die lonely and alone. Lonely and alone like me.”
Amy had no word from her husband. Another day went by and then it was a week and then it was a month. Amy guessed that he would have brought the news of Queen Mary’s death to Hatfield Palace and he would have been the first to kneel before the princess and tell her she was queen. Perhaps now he and princess were celebrating the great news together.
She knew that she should be glad to be Lady Dudley once more. She knew that she should be glad for her family and she knew she should be glad that the queen favours him. But she was not. She knew that she was a jealous wife – How could we end up like this? How could it start so well, in such a glory day and end in the hardship and loneliness like this?

************************************************************

1559

The lilies were out in the Cambridgeshire in a sprawl of cream and gold in the fields by the river and the blackbirds were singing in the hedges. Amy went out riding with Mrs Woods every morning and proved to be a charming house guest.
‘How is Robert? Have you not seen him since the queen inherited?’ Mrs Woods asked incredulously.
Amy laughed it off. ‘I thought he would come home for Twelfth Night, indeed, he promised that he would; but since he is Master of Horse, he was in charge of all the festivities at court, and he had so much to do. The queen rides or hunts every day, you know.’
‘Don’t you want to join him?’ Mrs Woods asked.
‘Oh, no,’ Amy said. ‘I went to London with him when his father was alive and the whole family was at court and it was dreadful!’
Mrs Woods laughed at her. ‘What caused you to be dreadful?’
‘There is nothing to do and but stand and talk of nothing. There is the business of the Privy Council and Parliament to discuss.
Mrs Woods laughed at her again. ‘But the life in court pleases Robert. What about you?’ Mrs Woods bringing her horse alongside the younger woman.
‘I keep faith, I wait for him.’ Amy said.

************************************************************

Elizabeth had restored private letter from Philip of Spain, had went far enough to alarm William Cecil and Robert Dudley.
‘I’m certain that she is only securing Philip as an ally and amusing herself,’ Mary Sidney said to reassure her brother.
‘Does she want him to stand her friend so that she can against the Scottish regent? Does she like Cecil’s plan to support the Scottish Protestants? Is she planning for war as Cecil suggested?’ Robert asked his sister worriedly.
‘She worries what enemies she might unleash here. She is living in the terror of someone coming against her and secretly harms her. She dares not to do anything to increase the number of enemies.’ She replied. ‘Cecil would have her marry Arran.’ Mary guessed. ‘Cecil hates Spanish and France is our greatest danger.’
‘Have you ever seen Arran?’ he asked.
‘No, but Catherine Knollys speaks very highly of him. She says he is handsome and clever, and of course his claim to the throne of Scotland is second only to Mary, Queen of Scots. If the queen marries him and he defeats the regent and takes the throne, then their sons would unite the Kingdoms.’ She said.
‘He is our greatest danger,’ Dudley said with his face darken.
‘She likes you better than any other man at the court,’ she said, smiling. ‘She is always saying how skilled you are and how handsome you be. She is always remarking on it.’
‘What good is that to me since I have a wife?’ he asked. ‘Elizabeth would not marry against policy, whatever her desires. And I am not a free man.’ he said.
‘The queen only has her eyes for you; the entire world can see that! Half the men at the court hate you for this.’ She said. ‘But I never dreamed that you thought of anything more.’
‘Of course I think of it,’ He said. ‘But I cannot imagine how it might come to me. I am a married man and my wife is not strong; but she is not likely to die within the next twenty years, and I would not wish it on her. Elizabeth is a Tudor inherited, she will marry for power and desire, just as her sister did. Arran would be a great match for her; he could unite the Scots against any nations. England would become an unbeatable kingdom.’
‘It is best for England, even if it might be against our own personal desires?’ she looked at her brother.
‘What is good for England is good for the great family, The Tudor, The Parrs, The Cecils and The Seymours. And the one that greatest of them all is the one that manages its own business the best,’ he said. ‘There is no point in being the favourite unless you raise yourself to the first man in the land.’

************************************************************

1560

Amy paid a visit to Mrs Woods once again in end of August month and told her that she must leave at once.
‘I am so sorry you are going,’ Mrs Woods said warmly.
‘I will come another year, if I can,’ she said. ‘Sir Robert has just sent for me to go to meet him at Camberwell, I have to go at once.’
‘To Camberwell? Does he mean you to go to the city? Will he take you to court? Shall you see the queen?’ Mrs Woods said.
‘I don’t know,’ Amy said, laughing with joy. ‘I will write and tell you all. Everything! What the queen is wearing, and who is with her, and everything.’
‘Perhaps she will take you as one of her ladies in waiting,’ Mrs Woods said.
Amy shook her head. ‘Oh no! I couldn’t do it. He would not ask it of me. He knows I cannot bear court life. But if we had the Flitcham Hall for all the summer, I could live with him in London in the winter.’
‘I think you could! How grand he is becoming, how grand you will be, you must not forget me.’ Mrs Woods gave a little cry. ‘Such a hurry!’
‘I cannot delay, my lord wants me.’ Amy said.
‘Perhaps I may call on you in London. Perhaps I shall call on you in your new London house.’ Mrs Woods said.
‘Thank you; I have had such a merry visit. And when my lord and I are settled in our new house you shall come and stay with me.’ Amy said.

************************************************************

September 1560

Elizabeth’s birthday celebrations, which had started with a roar of guns, ended in a blaze of fireworks that she viewed from a barge in the Thames, with her closest friends and her lover at her side.
‘She will have to marry soon,’ Laetitia observed. ‘Or she’ll have left it too late. Well, you have seen to that. ‘For being betrothed without love I am unlikely to find it now.’
‘For most women it is better to marry well than to marry for love,’ Catherine said. ‘Love may follow.’
‘It didn’t follow for Amy Dudley,’ Laetitia said.
‘A man like Robert Dudley would bring trouble for his lover or his wife,’ Catherine said. As they watched, the barge rocked and Elizabeth stumbled a little. At once Robert’s arm was around her waist and, careless of the watching crowds, she let him hold her and leaned back against him so that she could feel the warmth of his body at her back.
‘Come to my room tonight,’ he whispered in her ear.
‘You will break my heart,’ she whispered. ‘But I cannot. It is my time of the month. Next week I shall come back to you.’
‘It had better be soon,’ he warned her. ‘Or I shall come to your bedchamber before the whole court.’
‘Would you dare to do that?’ she whispered.
‘Try me,’ he recommended.

************************************************************

Back in Cumnor Place 8 September, 1560

Amy, seated in the silent house, waited for Robert’s arrival, as he had promised in his letter. The house was quite empty except for old Mrs Owen who had gone to sleep in her room after an early dinner. Amy had walked in the garden, and then, obedient to the instructions in Robert’s letter, gone to wait in her room in the empty house.
The window overlooked the drive and she sat in the window seat and watched for the Dudley and his horse. ‘Perhaps he has quarrelled with her,’ she whispered to herself. ‘Perhaps she is tired of him. Or perhaps she has finally agreed to marry the archduke of France and they know that they have to be apart.’
Whatever the reason be. I have to take him back without reproach. That would be my duty to him as his wife. She could not stop her heart from lifting.
She heard the sound of a single horse and she looked out of the window. It was not one of Robert’s horses, and not Robert. It was another man, bowed low over the neck of the horse, his hat pulled down over his face. Since no servants at home, she had better go and greet this stranger herself. But as she did so, her bedroom door silently opened, and a tall stranger came in quietly and shut the door behind him.
‘Who are you,’ Amy gasped.
‘Lady Amy Dudley? Sir Robert’s Dudley’s wife?’ stranger said.
‘Yes, and you are?’ She asked.
At once the man stepped behind her. In one swift motion he took her jaw in his hands and quickly twisted her neck sideways and upwards. It broke with a crack, and she slumped in his hands without even a cry.
He lowered her to the floor, listening intently. There was no sound in the house at all. She had sent everyone away, as she had been told to do. He picked her up, she was as light as a child, her cheeks still flushed pink from the moment that she thought that Robert had come to love her. The man held her in his arms and carried her carefully from the room, down the little winding stone stair, a short flight of half a dozen steps, and laid her at the foot, as if she had fallen.
He paused and listened again. Still, the house was silent. Amy’s hood was slipping back off her head, and her gown was crumpled, showing her legs. Gently, he pulled down the skirts of the gown and put the hood straight on her head. Her forehead was still warm, her skin soft to his touch. It was like leaving a sleeping child.

************************************************************

Amy’s body was found by two servants who had come home from the fair, a little ahead of the others. They were courting and had hoped to steal an hour alone together. When they came into the house they saw her, lying at the foot of the stairs, her skirts pulled down, her hood set tidily on her head. The girl screamed and fainted, but the young man gently picked up the body and laid her on her bed. When Mrs Forster came home they met her at the gate and told her that Lady Dudley was dead from falling down the stairs.

************************************************************

My rewrite on Advantures of Huckleberry Finn

“Good morning, Jack! Such a nice day, huh?”

“Yeah, too good to be working.”

Yolanda took a glance at the two Caucasian gentlemen wearing nice and fit black suit passing by her and heard their conversation. Then she looked down at the baby in her bosom. The dazzling and hot sun was shedding a yellow luster over the little baby and that seemed awoken the baby from his sweet afternoon nap, and he was looking at her with frowning face as if he was about to say something. She looked at the baby very peacefully and joyfully, and the baby looked at his mum Yolanda. Yolanda smiled at him and said,
“ Jim! Today is a very nice day, isn’t it? Had a good sleep, love?”

It has been two days now for Jim to be adopted by an American black woman Yolanda, so everything with the new mother looked new and scary for the one year old boy. Jim has black and twisted hair, black coloured skin, big but tearful eyes as if he still remembers all the happenings happened over the last few days, just before he came to Yolanda who has a small nose, a dark and thick lip that are all features of blacks. People passing them passed by with only a slide glance at them and maybe they thought a crazy black woman who likes extravagance is looking after a negro beside of a café. She took a sip of tepid water and reminded of the two Caucasian gentlemen. Then she said to Jim with a lovely smile. “I will nurture you well so everybody respects you. Believe in me, son”.

**************

Jim became 17 years old and he was such a quiet student among his classmates. He was living with his step-mother Yolanda and he wished lots but had few friends at school. There were few black students as well and Jim felt a kind of homogeneity from them for some reason and he wondered if they were having same life as him.

“Hey, you, nigger, wanna fight with me? Huh?” said Chris the white-skinned leader of the gang; they despised black people for no reason. They fasten a quarrel on any black mates, find quarrel in a straw to any black mates they see. Also, they even commanded to do things like drinking water of toilet bowl, carrying schools bags of the gang’s members from their houses to the school and other things even worse. But nobody didn’t complain this to teacher or stay against it, they rather enjoyed.

One day, Jim was just walking towards the school in the morning and Chris stood in front of him behaving frivolously. Jim couldn’t keep walking as Chris was disturbing him, but Jim said “sorry” and went around Chris and kept walking. Then Chris tripped him up so he had fallen near a little dirty pond. Then the gangs laughed loudly pointing at him and then left. Jim shook dust and mud off his clothes and kept walking. He used to be suffered from the hooligan’s harassment since he was a child. Long time ago, when he came home with dirty clothes because of white people, he often cried and asked to Yolanda, “What are they cruel to us for?” and Yolanda replied him with no answer. And now, it went over madness and became normal to him. But soon after, his face drenched with tears.

Yolanda was working on a vegetable farm. She was such a hard worker than others (because she was under pressure of the boss) but she got only paid half amount than what she has to be paid for. There was terrible racial discrimination on the workplace; there were few white men working for the farm as well but they didn’t have to work as much as Yolanda does, and they got paid even more than her, but they thought it’s fair though. Although she got small salary, with her patience and honesty, she could afford a small underground house which was reasonably suitable for them. While she was planting some cabbage seeds, she hummed a song she used to sing years before with friends;

“Hear me, I am calling. Oh! my brothers.

Hear me, I am calling. Oh! my sisters.

Where is the street we can walk down together?

Where can we meet we greet one another?

Where is the love that can make men free?

Here we can hope, we ca…”

“Shut up! You stupid creature!!” said the boss.

***************

Jim arrived at school and got into his classroom. His big and sunken eyes stared in wonder, because his desk and chair were covered with graffiti and mud. But he cleaned alone quietly, didn’t even talk or look at the gangs that looking and giggling at him. Jim was looking down with downcast eyes so they couldn’t see, but his eyes became big bright and glared at the mob.

‘Surely will revenge on you. There WILL be one day you repent your sins…’ Jim firmly determined.

“Hey, nigger! Why did you clean my drawings off? You didn’t like that, huh? Come out there after the school.” Chris seized Jim by the collar and said in a commanding tone as usual. The place called there was known only to the gangs and Jim; used to ail and beat him (they called educating him). The place was actually a school waste disposal site where normally nobody visits unless the entire students do the school cleaning.
‘What are they cruel to me for?’ Jim wondered…But for a second, Jim thought he had stood to the best of his capacity. Suddenly, the bell had rung which means finally, the time has come for them; time to meet at the place. Jim was afraid, but what could he do? “See you later, son of a whore!” said Chris in a sarcastic voice. When he called his mother “a whore”, Jim was very furious. “My mother is not a whore!” Jim wanted to say this, but he couldn’t. ‘America freed us, but why? Why should I be teased for?’ He questioned himself and he received no reply. All he could do was to clench his fist. On his way to meet Chris, he passed a specially designed cooking class. There were 8 small real kitchens including real cooking stuffs in the classroom. Anyway, for some reason, the class was open with lights on. Jim thought.. and he went into the class… He saw a kitchen knife being at a wrong place. He grabbed it. Then Jim decided to put it in the right place, but he took it with him at the end and kept walking towards there. He’s hidden the knife on his back inside of his clothes, so no one could see that. Who can imagine such a black student is carrying a kitchen knife in his body and search for his mates?

Jim arrived there, but only cold wind was welcoming him. “Akkk!!” Suddenly, somebody hit Jim’s calf with a thick wood stick. He fell forward and looked back to see who. As was expected, that was Chris. When Jim was about to stand up, Chris punched his face several times. “Hey, you, son of a whore, your mum is a whore, right? Your mum gets a lot of money, huh? You rich? Nah, who wants to sleep with your fucking negro? Haha”. The followers were standing behind of Chris and laughing with their arms folded. He stood up staring at him (for the first time), because he couldn’t control anger. “My mother is not a whore!” shouted Jim. Jim finally got into a rage and flew out at him. Jim has been forgetting everything they had done to him, but how could he forget this? Of course, the gangs were stuck dumb with surprise, because they’ve never expected or even thought about this situation and when Chris was about strike his fist on Jim’s face, Jim took out the knife, then the knife stabbed Chris. Then the followers ran away.

*******************

Jim realized that things will become too different from now on. ‘This is it. Now everything is over. No one would tease me anymore. I am brave.. I am brave..’ And he walked to home with vacant face. Yolanda was at home sewing her old cloth. She looked tired and sad, but welcomed him with a forced smile. “Hi, son, how was your school today?” She must have wanted “yes” answer, but she looked at his vacant face instead and sensed something was wrong. “What happened, Jim? What happened?” Yolanda had an uneasy look and asked. Jim answered quietly. “I killed Chris.” Yolanda couldn’t believe her ears, but her eyes were admitting the fact. ‘Tell me it’s a joking.’ Her words were just whirling around her mouth. The news was too shock to her that for a while she remained stupefied. How could he? How could he have done that? Finally Jim hardly opened his mouth. “Mum, I am sorry, but it couldn’t be helped. I am sorry.” Yolanda kept looking at him imploring on his bended knees.

She still couldn’t believe (just hoped she is dreaming), but she thought if it is true, they should pack up and leave the house as soon as possible, and somehow, she suddenly strongly sensed that they should leave now. So Yolanda stood up and started to pack up things into a big bag. “Pack up your stuff! We should leave now!” shouted at Jim in the room. Jim was weeping quietly still but stood up shutting his mouth tight and went into the room and started packing. “Pack up important things now. We won’t come back again.” Her voice was urgent and trembled like an aspen leaf and their hands were quick but trembling with fear. They didn’t speak but there was only one thing they knew; should go away far by all means as quickly as possible, otherwise will die.

After they packed up everything, they went to the nearest train station. It seemed nobody recognized them yet. While they were waiting for the next train, they both felt the time was the slowest in their life. But, there was something Yolanda forgot to bring; the something she cannot go without; something precious to her. “Jim, go wherever far from here, doesn’t matter where, but far far away from here. You understand?” said she quietly reading others’ faces. She grabbed his both upper arms tightly and stared at his trembling eyes to make sure he answers it. “I’ve forgot something at home so I will go home now and will definitely come back here to get on the train. So you go first, I will find you wherever you are. You understand? You promise me to get on the train.” Yolanda said quietly but in a commanding tone and Jim’s crying face thinly nodded.

He needed mother and didn’t want to be alone. “I love you, son.” Her thin voice was tremulous. He became alone again, just like when he was on his way home after the un-returnable behavior. Then the next train was coming over uttering a piercing shriek.

**************

People were passing me as normal and everything seemed fine so far. ‘They must have not recognized me yet’, I took a deep breath and thought. When I saw my house from far, it seemed nobody was hanging around there. So I ran to the house and took my ring. That ring was given by my mother and she gave me when she was dying. This is only one she left for me and the rest of her relics; must have burnt by somebody I don’t know. Then, I got out of the house, and my mind has gone white all of a sudden. I really hoped I become an insane person so remembers nothing.

“Are you Mrs. Rogers?” the policeman asked. “Yes..” My voice seemed the smallest at that time in my life. “Where is your son?” his flawless police suit were enough to menace me. “I don’t know” I replied and turned my head strongly so he doesn’t sense anything. “You should go with me, Mrs. Rogers.” He said handcuffing my both hands. While I was being taken by the police, I saw my friend Tom looking at me with surprise. ‘I’m sorry, Tom’, I gave him a significant look. Then I imagined my son Jim going away by train. He must have being on the train now.. He should have. My seized hands were trembling and the handcuff was so cold enough to double my fear. While I was shivering, the car stopped which might mean that my life will be end here. I have been living for my son, I have been working for my son. And now, I am dying for my son. What a happy woman I am!

I sat on a cold chair. The police station was quite noisy but there was a faint suggestion of cruelty in the air. “Now! Tell me where your son is. Then I will free you.” The policeman said threateningly. “I truly don’t know.” I said. He hardened his face and asked clearly again. “Now, you know your damn son killed a person who is very important. How cocky guy, isn’t he? So, I need to know where he is. If you don’t tell, you won’t survive.” He explained slowly but carried weight. “Sir, I don’t know. I really don’t know. Please just kill me. He has done nothing wrong. It’s to do with my wrong upbringing. Please.. please kill me. He has done nothing wrong.” I worn a tearful face and spoke out of my heart kneeling down and I implored him frantically. “Please kill me.” I don’t know how many times I repeated these words. Then, an upset looking man came up to me and seized me by the collar at once and said in an angry voice, “Listen carefully. Your fucking son killed my cousin. I will find him anyhow and kill him. And, I will kill you too.” And he stood up. He said something to other policemen, and I got into a jail, without letting me know how long I would be seized.

Two week after.

Outside became dark, like my life. In here, they provided only a piece of bread for meal, and two glasses of water for one day. But I didn’t mind it, because only Jim was in my head all day long. And I didn’t know how, but my Korean friend Tom was working here watching my movements. I was happy as long as I can see my friend’s face before I die. One day, I was lying down on the floor thinking about Jim. I awoke until mid-night. But suddenly, my iron-barred window started to shake. I tried to hide in a corner at least thinking who the person would be and hoped it’s not Jim.

The iron-bars started to be broken one by one slowly and quietly, and I was nervous when each iron-bar was come off. But thankfully, it was my Korean friend Tom so I didn’t surprise anymore, and I got out of the small, dark and stuffy room hardly with his help and we started run in the dark. We ran until dawn; the hardest thing was to endure my breath so I couldn’t even say thank you to him. My Korean friend Tom was one of my good friends. He was very brave because he came to America by himself, but it would have been better if he had a family. He was a worker on our farm, but he was kicked out for something I don’t know, so he is looking for a job which was also a very hard thing in our deprived society and has no home or food at the moment. But how good was this? I was able to find my son now. Food and home weren’t important to me at all. Sometimes we searched some eatable thing in rubbish bags and sleep in piles of rubbish bags which was warm though. And we started to follow the train rail to search Jim.

3 weeks before

“Jim, go wherever far from here, doesn’t matter where, but far far away from here. You understand?” Mum said quietly. “I will definitely come back here to get on the train. So you go first, I will find you wherever you are. You understand? You promise me to get on the train.” She said. So I nodded. Then she left me alone and the next train stopped by me soon and the door was open. I looked back but nothing was there, but some rowdy white people. I got on the train, but my brain kept saying no, so I got off the train soon after. Then the door of the train closed and left me. I thought.. and I thought again.. How can mum find me when I go away? I looked down the floor and thought aloud, ‘the floor is as black as me..’ Suddenly a small round stone rolled towards my right foot. “Oh!” I grabbed the stone and wrote something just under the chair I was sitting on like this. “TNS” It wasn’t big sign but was recognizable. TNS stands for State of Tennessee, and I hoped my mum could recognize my sign. After about 10 minutes, another one came by me and I left my village the State of Mississippi. And after leaving my mother there, I started working on a ranch waiting for my mother to come and take me away. But it has been 3 weeks already, but she didn’t come. I sensed something is wrong with her, so I took a train going to Mississippi and arrived when night falls. Under cover of night, I walked towards my friend Huck’s home. The streets were the same and everything was the same as before; it was only me changed.

“Oh, my god! Jim! Come on in.” Huck welcomed me, which was lucky I thought (actually I was worrying because he could have kicked me out because I was a murderer).
“Oh, my god. Jim! You got so much lean. Did you have dinner or something?” Huck asked with surprise. “Do you know where my mum is, Huck?” I got into a straight question. “Oh… I am so sorry to tell you, but your mum was arrested by the police.” Huck’s voice was shivering. “When was it? How? So where is she?” My voice was loud, I couldn’t control my mind and was close to explode my anger. Then Huck said in a calm voice, “I don’t know exactly when, but few weeks ago. I heard from others, but people said your mum is going to die… That’s all I know.. Sorry, Jim.” I had my heart break, so couldn’t even say something anymore, just shedding tears.

Then I decided to go to the police office to take out my mother who was suffering and dying because of me and to confess truly what I have done. At dawn, I came out of the house and walked.. The streets were littered with white papers. I was terribly conscience-stricken on my mother having to be considered as a guilty man and die instead of me, and regretting having done such a thing, and stepped on the white papers with no idea. A white man passing Jim picked up one of the littered paper and said. “looking for Yolanda and an Asian man? Hmm.. I don’t understand why they’re wasting time on finding them. These wretched creatures must have been killed!”.

Jim entered the police office and everybody recognized him, and especially one policeman came to him and grabbed his throat. “I am the one killed Chris. Please free my mother and kill me instead.” The policeman’s eyes were trembling with rage and he was biting his lip in frustration. “How dare you kill my cousin? You are so brave, aren’t you, boy? Of course we will kill you, as well as your mother. No more talk is need.” Then I was kept in a jail. But I did not fear at all, but just believed my mother is here too, so hoped to see her one day.

*************

“Look at this, Yolanda, a negro is put to death by hanging? This is open to public near the Mississippi river.” “Jim!!” Yolanda shouted and they looked each other’s eyes. “No, no no. this can’t be. This can’t be. We gotta go there now!” Yolanda’s thin face became pale, and they both ran like crazy to the hanging place. At there, a big and dark gallows was standing and a lot of people were already there probably to enjoy someone’s death. Between the big and high gallows wood pillars, there was a black boy who was small and as thin as a stick. “Jim!!” Yolanda shouted at Jim but he couldn’t hear it as the place was very noisy because of people swearing and throwing stones at him. He looked very exhausted so was faltering instead of standing properly.

“Jim! Jim!” Yolanda was crying and kept yelling like crazy at him, and tried to go further towards him, but nobody didn’t let her do so. Then, a thick rope rolled around Jim’s neck and Jim raised his head and looked at the crowd looking at him. Then he saw a woman stamping her feet on the ground and shouting. ‘Mum…’ he smiled. Then the rope pulled up his head and his eyes had closed. Yolanda became rigid for a while and she pierced her chest with a small knife and her eyes closed too.

Brief1_Re-Write_By YUNA LEE

It's a re-write of 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories' by S. Rushdie.
It's totally different from my proposal that I submitted. I'm sorry but had to change it.

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‘Tick… Tick… Tick…’
A clock was ticking – it was loud enough to fill the house and break quietness in the house.
A lady on a dining table in a kitchen looked at the clock on the wall, then a pile of stinky dishes in a kitchen sink. But, soon after, she turned her head back where it was. There was a steam rising from a cup of hot tea in front of her. She raised her hand, put it over the steam to grab it and opened her hand to see whether there was any steam she caught. She grinned at it when she realized there was no steam but only dampness left. Then, she slowly sipped a tea.
That was all which moved and sounded. And it was nice, warm, and quiet.

But it always interrupted by neighbors: Roxanna was out in her garden, tied her hair back with a ribbon, and was stretching her legs to join a walking group; girls in fancy clothes – bright colors, short and small fits – were giggling at the bus stop with books on their hands; Autena, who got a new perm and dyed hair, was reversing her car to go to work.
She stood up and walked towards the kitchen window – not to say hello to them but to do the dishes. She just washed up dishes and mugs and put it back on the shelf. She zipped her lips tightly, did not even made a humming sound – was that because there was no one to talk to or did she lose her voice?

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When she was preparing a dinner, the phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Hi honey. Get dressed – I’ll be there in 30 minutes. You need to accompany me to a dinner with publisher tonight. Ok? I’ll see you then. Love you!”
“But… dear, hello? Hello?”
About 30 minutes later, “Honey I’m home. Are you ready? Parsa, you too. I’ll drop you off at your uncle’s home.”
“Dear he told me he wanted to go to his friend’s home to stay overnight.”
“Don’t worry – I’ll talk to him. I don’t want him to stay outside till late. You look nice. I’m sorry for the late call – I’m sure you understand it. The work is always like this. Anyway where is your headscarf? That ruby-red headscarf looked good on you, my dear.”
“I… ok. Just a minute.”

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After the dinner, she felt tired so leaned her head backward and closed eyes.
“The food was nice, huh? Let’s take Parsa next time. (He looked at her closing her eyes.) You were bored, weren’t you? It’s lucky that you don’t know about the business. It’s always complicated – more than just a story”
“No, I had fun. I just feel a bit tired – that’s all.”
She did not like food – actually the smell, a strong smell of herb. But she did not mention it to him.
“I know what you mean… I understand.”

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One day, everyone was at home – her husband was working on his new book in a study room, her son was watching a TV in living room and she was making a fruit and vege juice.
“Here”
“Thanks mum.”
She did not look good – was slightly coughing with wheeze, but Parsa did not notice it.
“Have some honey.”
“Thanks, my dear. (She coughed.) Did you catch a cold? Go and see the doctor before it gets worse.”
“Na. I’m almost recovered now. Asthma makes me sound like it when I breathe.”
He noticed that she was unwell but did not know she had a nasty cough for the last few days.
“I’m sorry honey. The doctor must have got a good medicine for you to get better soon like this. Go and get some rest. I’ll go out and get some take-away for dinner.”
“That’s ok. I feel much better now – I’m fine.”
“No more words. I’ll organize the dinner, so leave it on to me and go to bed. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
He did as he said – he got a combo of hamburgers. Parsa came to her and gave a kiss on her cheek before he went to the bed.
They both loved to hear her singing – but it looks like they do not realize that she has been stopped singing – even herself.

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Her husband is a nice, gentle, and intelligent man.
He writes books – he is a famous book writer - and quite often invited to deliver a speech at the national convention or to give the after-dinner speech.
When he works on his book, the house has to be quiet – because he is becoming very sensitive and nervous. And she needs check him up regularly whether he needs anything to drink or eat – it can be a day or a night.
When he is not, he talks to her all the time. There is nothing that he hides from her – tells her everything and share everything he knows or thinks with her. But sometimes, just sometimes, she stares blankly into space, not knowing what he is saying.

One night, they had a cup of tea on deck. “My story is about……. (He is talking about his book and, then, realizes that she is not concentrating.) Hey, are you listening? Honey? (She recovers her consciousness and makes an eye-contact with him.) Well anyway it’s …. (He keeps talking.)”

She loves his kindness; his creative imaginations; and his job. She feels safe in his boundary and he is funny enough to entertain her and to fulfill her life with happiness. He is very mature for his age and knows everything – so there is nothing she needs to do or know particularly. She just needs to be a mum and a wife in this family – in this house.

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Tick… Tick… Tick…’
A clock was ticking and it was loud as usual.
She was sipping her tea on the dining table and staring at a steam rising from a cup.
But when she looked at the window, mails on a mailbox got caught her eyes.
She got up and walked towards the door, not to those stinky dishes in a sink.
She grabbed her headscarf and put it on the chair.
Trees and flowers’ sweet smells tickled her nose and her hair gently waved in a spring breeze –a light and pleasant wind cooled her face. And the sunshine warmed her body immediately. She closed her eyes and had a deep breathe.
When she was approaching to a mailbox, she could hear what girls at the bus stop was giggling about – it was about boys and an on-coming party on Saturday; Roxanna in a pair of trousers gave a big wave to her to say hello; and Autena stopped her car to work to have a short chat with her and asked her to come over to her place for a cup of tea later.
She came back home and sat on the dining table – had a last sip of a tea in a cup. She might not recognize this but she was smiling.

She stretched her arms to push the doorbell but the door was open then - Autena’s husband came out.
“Oh hi – how are you? I heard you’re coming from Autena. Autena honey, your friend is here! (He looked at her again.) Have a nice time then. And say hello to Navid for me.”
“Honey, don’t forget to get a milk and a bread later,” Autena shouted from the inside and her husband replied back.
“Yeap,” then he left.
“Bye” she said to him and went to inside of the house.
She had a coffee and I had a cup of tea with freshly baked cookies and muffins.
She talked about ‘her’ holiday plan- a trip to Germany and England where her younger sister lives. Her perm and dyed long hair fell loosely to her chest and a diamond necklace was sparkling. She lit a cigarette and a cigarette smoke blurred the boundary between her and me.

‘Who am I? What’s my name? Naia yes – but why there is no one call me, Naia - my name. When will I be free? After Parsa graduate the University or when he gets married or after my husband retires or… Hang on, should I keep listen to him – listen to his stories? Where am I anyway?’
She felt dizziness – so lied on a table and nestled her face against her arms.

“You won’t believe who I met today at the pub. After work… oh before saying it, I’ve decide the end of my story dear. It’s gonna be…”
He started talking again as soon as he got home after the work. His moth-engine was turned on as he opened the door
“Honey, can I stop you for a moment? I’ve got something to tell you.”
“What... Why? I mean… what is it, honey. What’s wrong?”
Now he looked at me – found where I stood and what I was doing.
“I need a holiday.”
“Pardon?”
“I need a holiday - like you and Parsa; like everybody. I’ve been sacrificed myself for you, family and this house. And I’ll be – I have to be for another what 10, 20years. I can’t go on like this. I don’t want to.”
He interrupted her. “Honey. Sweetheart. I understand. Of course you must get tired of this. It’s the most tough job in the world… you know to be a mum and a wife. And you know that we all respect that. What can we do without you? Honey you’ll feel better if you go for a shopping tomorrow. I’ll take you – let’s get some new headscarves and…”
“No, you don’t understand me. My name is Naia and I know what I want. There is no Naia in my life anymore. Everyone has their own work to do, but not me. Everyone is living their life, but not me. You are just like a talking-bird – it doesn’t matter what I’ve been doing during the day or what I’m saying to you. I can’t even remember whether I opened my mouth and split the words out at least once a day or not.”
“Ok, stop. Let me think…”
“No. you don’t get it. I want to work too – get paid for my labor. I want to learn something – anything. I want to enjoy the life… I want my mouth to speak and to sing.”
“I guess my stories blurred the distinction between reality and fantasy to you. It is how ordinary woman should be - it’s what you do for a living. Why you need to be educated or work? I work and my salary support this family financially so you don’t need to. And what you do is the housework – then what the education is for? However it’s not worth it to start it now – you’re old; you’re a mother of teenager who will be an adult soon. And …”
He kept talking and she went to blank again.

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Tick… Tick… Tick…’
A clock was ticking loudly in a kitchen – in a house. A pile of stinky dishes was sitting in a sink.
But there was no one at home – no Naia on the dining table with her favorite tea.
When she got to the airport, there was Kyran, a neighbor. They recognized faces each other but did not talk. Because she knows that he does not like her husband – she thought that must be because of his talkative wife.
They got on the same flight to the same place and sat beside each other in a plane – it all happened by accident.
“So… Philippine? Huh?”
“Yes…”
“Have you…”
“No. it’s the first time.”
“Ah…I see.”
They both bended down their hand and looked at their hands – her fingers were making a ring and his fingers rolling a pencil.
“I thought you always wear headscarf on your head.”
She put her hand on a top of her head and said, “oh well…”
“ No no. I’m just saying it. You’ve got a nice brown hair – looks nice.”
She combed her hair with her fingers and they smiled at each other.

She got a small studio in downtown, Manila. She traveled for the first few days – there were no difficulties as many people could speak English. She studied Filipino at the school during the day and worked at the music store at night – where she can listen to all sort of music.
She started to sing and humming again.
Once a week, she went to learn a computer at the community centre. After the class, she was hanging out with classmates to a karaoke or a pub. There were many housewives in a class: they all have their jobs; they spend their salaries for their own shopping; husbands do the housework; and nannies look after their children.
They were like a symbol of the freedom to her – what she dreamed about. And she became one of them. Except when she woke up in the middle of night and looked for Parsa, “He was here – call my name.” And except when she missed that a gentle breeze and a warm sunshine. And except when she felt too quietness in a room and realize there was no one who talked to her.
Few months later, she found his husband new book in a bookshop.
“Is it? How weird is it? It’s not the one that he worked – I never seen this one before.”
But she was sure that was his book. So she took it to the counter and paid for it.

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Naia was sitting on a plane to back home. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back, listened music and was humming.
Her husband’s new book was on her leg – she held it with her hands and tapping with her fingers as the music flew.

She could find the key easily. When she opened the door, everything was there as they were. The clock was ticking – very loudly and her headscarf was on the chair.
She made a cup of tea and sat on the dining table.
‘Tick… Tick… Tick…’
When she looked at the kitchen sink, she smiled. It was not because a pile of stinky dishes was gone. She smiled because she saw Parsa and her husband were running at home with a big smile on their faces. She raised her hands and gave a big wave – to tell she is here at home.

The book was about a woman who is beautiful, smart and generous. Her family love her so much but they have forgotten to show it to her - did not know how to express love towards her, respect for her, and appreciations for all sacrifices she makes. So that woman ran away from the family. Even thought, the family was not angry at her, did not bitterly resent her act or hated her for this. But they showed penitence for their mistakes and missed her; wanted her to come back home – where she belonged, where she needed, and where she wanted to be the most.
In the end, that woman came back home and they all lived happily ever after.

And just for a tip, in a story, the key was under the entrance mat. That is where Naia found her key.

Machuca: The sequel
Summary

In 1988, fifteen years later after the incident of Silvana’s death Gonzalo has just finished his university degree in business and gets the possibility to enter into the company of a friend of his mother. Pedro’s alcoholic father prophecy of his assured future welfare thanks to the social and political Status Quo is becoming a reality. During the days of the coup his father was working in Rome and begged to join him there but his mum preferred to stay with her rich and older lover, Roberto and he decided to stay in Italy and never return. She is now a widow and has inherited the fortune of Roberto. On the other side of the city, Pedro lives with his mum and her sister in a poor suburb of Santiago. After Silvana’s death his father quit drinking but one day returning from home he was run over by a bus. They both work hard to keep the family going while his younger sister attends secondary school but he is also compromised with the struggle of his people and as an amateur photo journalist he denounces the social and political reality; a very risky business during those days of dictatorship.
One day the caprices of faith brought Pedro and Gonzalo together. Since the episode that ended with Silvana’s death they never met. Their worlds were so different that it was almost impossible to bump into each other. A political demonstration for the coming plebiscite in which the two factions, those who will vote YES if they want the military regime to continue and those who oppose to that voting NO will bring them face to face in an antagonist scenario. Pedro while taking photos of some paramilitary YES supporters beating and slashing a member of a heavy metal tribe who dared to joke of their political choice gets a pointy knife on his throat from a secret police who asked for the film. Gonzalo is a witness of the whole scene.

Re-Write of the movie Machuca

The Sequel

When Gonzalo entered into the store room he saw the old bicycle dying at a corner as a silent witness of yesteryear. He could not avoid a picture seizing his brain; the image of Pedro taking him at the back of that same bicycle through the dirt football field into what was for him a completely new and unknown world. Pedro’s world was so different to his. The whole expierence of meeting Pedro and Silvana during his early adolescence left profound traces in his memory and his soul and those traces appeared from time to time, as ghosts of the past bringing the torment of Silvana’s tragic death that could have been avoided.
That happened long ago, fifteen or sixteen years back and although he did not do anything wrong but saving his life, he felt guilty that there was one moment in which he had to draw a line that separated him from his friends and their family to survive. Maybe there was nothing wrong with that but having had to appeal to his European look and the good clothes that he was wearing to achieve his salvation made him feel deeply ashamed; still today.

The telephone ringing in the living room brought him back and interrupted his yearly rite of searching for his skies. It was the beginning of the skiing season and he would go to the neighboring ski resorts for the weekend. He rushed to get the phone before it stopped ringing but when he got there the answer machine was already delivering his message and he could not resist the temptation of listening who was calling and then decide if pick up the phone or let the machine to take the message.

- Gonzalito, How are you my darling. It’s mum. I spoke to my dear friend Nicolas Errazuriz the one I told you and he said he would be happy to consider you for a position at his company. He said that he will like to meet you and have lunch with you. In his company they are looking for someone young and full of talent to be part of the international business team.
- What do you think? Call him as soon as you can because he is a busy person. He will be in his office until two today. Well, my sweetheart maybe you can ring me later and tell me how did it go. Good luck. Bye, my dear son.

Gonzalo had recently finished his business studies at the university and now he was ready to be another piece in the machinery of the neo liberal economy that was implemented in the country after a coup ended the socialist government of the president Salvador Allende who died defending his government when two Hawker Hunters bombed the presidential palace in 1973.Since then a dictatory government ruled the country. At the beginning, radical changes were implemented over the whole nation. Four years of imposed curfew changed people’s habits. The regime changed the economic system and opened the economy to the world but as a result of that, other things arisen. People’s values and the perception of all that was native became depreciated. The overrating of the foreign became the norm. It turn out to be that radios broadcasted music mostly in English and TV showed series from Hollywood that did not reflect the reality of the country but that fed the escapism of people and that was good for the regime. The press manipulated the reality and instead of informing they misinformed. In time, the country grew into polarization among those who supported the dictatorship just because they profited from it and those who could managed to see the reality among so much deception.

When the coup occurred Gonzalo’s father was working in Italy and when he knew about it he told Gonzalo’s mum to sell everything and join him with the family in Rome but then it was too late. The relationship with Luisa, Gonzalo’s mum, was already in a point of no return and she decided to stay and go to live with her rich lover Roberto with whom she seemed to have more affinities. Roberto, as a businessman profited a great deal with all these changes, especially the economic changes that encouraged free market and his prosperity allowed him to provide generously to Luisa, Gonzalo and his sister.
But Gonzalo in spite of his well-being disagreed with the political and social situation. He had still a conscience and he could not fully enjoy this welfare knowing that there were people who were having a hard time day by day and he felt that this was a major divergence with his mum and sister who seemed completely immersed in their own world of abundance. Of course, they were not interested in discovering how other people lived although the evidences of inequality were everywhere outside their bubble. Still, he could not blame them for that and for a moment he doubted if they did not have the joy or the misfortune to discover such a world. Maybe it was better not to have a conscience.
It was Thursday and it was better to try to arrange the job appointment with Mr. Errazuriz for the following day rather than leave it for next week. He rang to his office and everything went so smoothly that he thought that it had been easier than expected. He even didn’t have to talk to him and managed to arrange an appointment only by talking to his secretary. Contacts were very influential and being well connected facilitated the possibility to get an opportunity.

On the other side of the city, Pedro worked in a warehouse of a North American bank were all the cheques and financial documents that needed to be kept were stored. It was a big contradiction for him that in spite of strongly opposing to the imposed capitalist economic system he worked for a bank. At times he felt guilty but later he thought over and he knew that for the time being, the job was perfect for him. He spent most of the time in his small hidden office that was located on the second level at a corner of the big warehouse. From that corner sounds of classical music and dramatic opera often emanated. These sounds were the background curtain for his thoughts. There, he had the freedom to create his own world. He spent most of the time reading “key books” as he liked to call some of the works from Plato, Machiavello, Rousseau, Freud and others. Not to mention the other literature that was considered subversive and was prohibited by the regime like Marx, Lenin and the endless speeches of Castro and Che Guevara.
Every time someone approached his office, he could sense the vibration produced by the steps on the stairs of the metal structure that sustained the whole second level warning and allowing him enough time to hide whatever he was doing in the intimacy of that little office and pretend to work.
That Friday he left the warehouse earlier. In two weeks the plebiscite that would decide the faith of the country was going to take place and there will be political manifestations from both fractions in the streets of the city. Authorities were always struggling to avoid that crows from opposite sides met each other but almost always these manifestations ended in serious incidents among the YES and NO supporters or the No supporters against the repressive forces. the repressive forces never went agaisnt the YES supporters.

Gonzalo’s passion was photographic journalism. He had always been fascinated by the power of images and how could one of them tell more than thousand words. His passion grew spontaneously because at the beginning he was just another opponent in the crow showing his discontent but one day overwhelmed by the amount of images of all kind that his eyes witnessed he decided to start document them by taking pictures. His passion became an obsession and now he was in an tireless search for that single image that would go from one press agency to another all over the world denouncing the repression and social conditions in his beloved country.

He knew it was a risky business but he didn’t seem to fully realized of the level of danger he was exposing himself to.
While he traveled on the bus he noticed the walls of the city papered will posters supporting YES and NO. The whole idea of having only two options seemed so bizarre to him. In a normal situation political posters had pictures of a candidate in whom people could deposit their trust and their dreams but this time it was not the case. He couldn’t avoid thinking on; how ridiculous this dilemma was? Having to choose in between accepting something or not, did not make much sense to him especially after fifteen years of dictatorship. Instead, choosing among several different options seemed much more sensible. That was real democracy. But he held back his anger when he further thought that this was just the first step. A hypothetical victory of the NO option was a preliminary step for regular elections the coming year. So among the two options, the NO represented the hope of the people and Pedro’s hope.
The more the bus approached to the central avenues the more people with flags of the YES seemed to surround the bus. Soon the bus seemed to move so slow that Pedro decided that it was better to continue walking.

The clock marked 13:05.He had 55 minutes to arrive to Mr. Errazuriz company headquarters. Gonzalo was a bit nervous. While driving he thought that it was essential to arrive on time to give a good impression. He knew that in spite of the influences Mr Errazuriz would not take someone who did not have the skills nor the talent for such an important position in the company. Gonzalo like the mayority of the rich and influential people lived at the foot of the Andes in the highest part of the city and from there the city spread eastward.
The office was allocated in Providencia an area that became a sort of symbol of the successful new economic system full of shops and modern buildings with lots of glass not far from Gonzalo’s house. When he reached the traffic light at an intersection of two main avenues a battalion of street vendors approached to the cars offering their products. It wasn’t a new sight for Gonzalo. In fact these hard working people were always there and for some reason that day Gonzalo seemed to be paying special attention to them.
Using his business knowledge he started to examine minutely the whole modus operandi of these hard working people and he thought how after so many years of brutal neo liberalism at gun point even the most humble people in the country had assimilated the principles of business operations in order to survive. They were five of them and most likely all members of a single family that in order to stay alive saw themselves as a partnership. They were there everyday so that corner belonged to them and nobody else could sell there, so the corner became their premises and they all sold different things; so they had product diversity; from newspapers to seasonal fruits. They even incorporated the spirit of the plebiscite by selling flags but there was only one option available in that part of the city; the YES option.
These thoughts intertwined with a memory that brought Gonzalo fifteen years back to evoke the episode in which he together with Pedro and Silvana were selling flags in manifestations of both sides of the political spectrum of that time. He then smiled just like we all do when we remember our child pranks. Suddenly, the green light was there and he had to press the gas pedal and leave his thoughts behind.
As he approached to his destination he noticed that there was a march ahead. He parked his car and started to walk. He did not know about this demonstration, otherwise he would not had come to this area but it was too late to cancel his important appointment. Since the shocking episode that ended with Silvana’s death he avoided any political demonstration. At times he thought on participating on them but it was like a trauma inside of him and he deeply feared them. Unfortunately for him the more he approached to the address of Mr. Errazuriz headquarters the closer he got to the epicenter of the demonstration.

Gonzalo arrived to the meeting point on time. It was almost a rite that before any manifestation all the photographers, national and international correspondents and amateurs photographers got together in order to know who was there. Taking pictures in those circumstances was a very risky business and sometimes photographers disappeared and they were never seen anymore. Those who were most at risk were the amateur photographers like Pedro, who did not represent any important agency or newspaper who could claim and denounce his disappearance to the international public opinion. They were around twenty photographers from which eight were international correspondent. They were easy to spot them because they all wore gas masks and water proof clothing but Pedro relied on sucking a lemon to combat the effect of the tear gas if it was necessary. Along the main avenue there was a huge gathering of supporters of YES marching in a parade. Among the people marching, singing and shouting there were cars and trucks decorated with flags and slogans. These vehicles were crowded with supporters and had loudspeakers that encouraged the people on the side of the avenue to vote YES but the silence and impassiveness of the public implied that they were for the NO. The whole country knew that the only way that the YES could win would be through an electoral fraud but the people was not sure if the regime would dear to commit such fraud considering that the eyes of the whole world were on this plebiscite and there will be international observant that will denounce any irregularity.

Pedro excited moved around looking for his best shots. Gonzalo nervously tried to swim among the sea of people with the only purpose to arrive to Mr. Errazuriz office as soon as possible. The area was a commercial and business area and on a Friday at lunch time was always busy. Just like Gonzalo there were many people who happened to be there and their curiosity incited to remain there and observe. He needed to cross the same avenue where the demonstrators were parading. The only alternative was to cross the avenue through the subway access. A tribe of heavy metal fans who traditionally gather outside a record shop instinctively approached to the avenue to satisfy their inquisitiveness. What kind of people could support the YES?-they wanted to see. The truck that was passing in front of them had a group of suspicious supporters with military haircuts and sunglasses. Anyone with a little bit of sense to smell what is rotten would realized that those were paramilitary members supporting the regime. Soon, the temptation to unmask and make fun of them was too big. They replied instantly with the only way that they knew to make their point heard; with brutal repression and violence. Nobody knew that the truck was full of stones. They bent down, picked the stones up and started to throw them to the heavy metal supporters who were mixed among the public. In a second everything was a chaos. Everybody was searching for a place to take refugee. The heavy metal fans improvised weapons from anything they could find in such urban battle field; paving stones and street post. Other blocked the avenue with huge ornamental street flower pots so the cars could not continue and got trapped. Three of the paramilitaries decided to descend from the truck and followed the most audacious of their enemies who tried to break the glass of the truck on the driver side with a post. He attempted to escape descending at high speed the stairs of the subway station but he felt. Soon, he was surrounded by his pursuers and one of them extracted a curved knife and started to slash him on his upper legs.
Pedro was there and when he saw the man slashing the young guy he started to shoot his camera incessantly until someone took him from behind and he felt a pointy knife in his Adam’s apple.

-The film. Give me the film – a commanding voice ordered him.

The caprices of faith brought Gonzalo right in front of the scene to witness the secret police threatening Pedro. He recognized him immediately in spite of the years. In that instant that seemed to freeze the whole scene he thought that life was giving him the opportunity to repair the mistake that he made in the past. He always thought that the time when he appealed to his European look and the good clothes that he wore then, as a passport to avoid being arrested was a coward act.

-Let him go –he shouted. The police turned to see who was talking.
-Who are you?- asked the police .
-Gonzalo Larrain.- he replied. If you don‘t let him go I can assure you that tomorrow you will be in the street with lots of troubles. Gonzalo’s assertiveness and appearance made the police believe him and the fear for consequences made him released Pedro.

Nobody else moved or talked. Gonzalo approached Pedro and took him downstairs silently through the subway station far from the crowd and the battle that still continued upstairs.
Once again Gonzalo appealed to the Status Quo to impose his authority. Once again he appealed to the same weapons but with this time with a different purpose. This time, he used it to save a friend; the same friend he felt had abandoned in the past, relieving his conscience of an old guilt.
Apparently, not many things changed in this country after fifteen years.

The re-write of Pride and Prejudice

Chapter one

‘It is a TRUTH universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’
Mrs Bennet said to her husband while he was sitting in the library trying to read one of his books, and hoping his lovely wife would forget about him fully. However, that seems to be impossible with Mrs Bennet, as she is constantly in the pursuit of husbands for her five daughters.
‘Why did you make this comment, my dear?’ said Mr Bennet.
‘Well, Mr Bennet, there are two young gentlemen in Netherfield who are originally from the North of England, with a large inheritance and in want of two wives; according to Mrs Long whom has just had a long conversation with Mr Morris, and is quite sure that the two young men are having a ball as soon as the place is ready for receiving the guests.’
‘Our two girls will be the best choice for these gentlemen. Well, we have been invited and we shall be there on Saturday, the 16th of June, 1813 when our Jane will become 21 years of age.’
Mr Bennet makes no comment about it because he does not agree with the manner in which Mrs Bennet always tries to marry their daughters, with fortune and not with love as he believes to be the best arrangement for marriage.
Days go by and the Bennets have a visit from Mr Collins who is Mr Bennets’ cousin and heir to Longbourn estate; although Mr Collins is to inherit the estate upon the death of Mr Bennet, he, Mr Collins, shows no interest whatsoever in taking possession of the property and leaving his cousins without a home.
The day for the ball draws closer, and all the eligible ladies are getting very excited with the possibility of finding a (rich) husband there.
‘Lizzy, what are you going to wear for the ball, dear sister?’
‘I am not so sure, Jane. I have that beautiful gown that father and mother bought me last year for my 19th birthday; I thought perhaps it would be good enough for the ball, don’t you think?’
‘All the ladies in the county are going to be looking their very best to impress the young gentlemen, Lizzy.’
‘Dear sister, with such a handsome face you should not have to worry one little bit about those ladies wearing expensive gowns; for you have what they have not, natural beauty.’
As soon as Jane comes into the dancing room she catches Mr Bingley’s attention with her graceful looks and delicate manners; Mr Bingley cannot resist Jane’s elegance and refined style. Despite the low connections of her family, he proposes to her on the same night: it is love at first sight.
‘Miss Bennet, I would like to have your hand in matrimony?
‘Mr Bingley, I am simply astounded. And it is yes. I accept to marry you, Mr Bingley.’
Elizabeth on the contrary, does not have as much luck as her beautiful sister: because she, Elizabeth, has a tendency to judge people.
Mr Darcy, after talking to Elizabeth for a little awhile, acknowledges that Elizabeth has an inner beauty that one cannot perceive by just looking at her, but above all by communicating - verbally.
Elizabeth has the gift of being able to speak well and easily about different subjects: she reads a lot and gets all her knowledge and ideas out of the books she treasures so much.
‘Miss Bennet, will you give me the pleasure of this dance?’
‘Yes, the pleasure is as yours as it is mine, Mr Darcy.’ And they dance and converse for a long time.
A few days later Mr Darcy visits Ms Bennet and asks her if she will marry him. Without doubt Ms Bennet says yes.
Mrs Bennet is so gay with her two eldest daughters being asked in matrimony, that she and Mr Bennet have a loving night which produces a male offspring: Jonathan Bennet, who is going to inherit the Longbourn estate and therefore, secure it once and for all within the Bennet family for another generation.
Mr and Mrs Bennet decide to send the three young girls to school to have a good education; money is not a problem anymore with the birth of Jonathan Bennet.
At the ball Mr Collins also meets Charlotte Lucas, and inevitably falls in love with her; Charlotte has a very good impression of Mr Collins and decides to ask him for a dance.
‘Mr Collins, would you give me the honour of this dance?’
‘Naturally, Miss Lucas; it is all my pleasure.
Mr Collins looks a little surprised but accepts it all the same, as he believes that men and women have the same rights: and he is happy with a lady taking the lead.
‘Ms Lucas, I am in love with you and I would like you to be my wife.’
‘Mr Collins, since I set eyes on you that is all what I have wanted to do; to be your wife; we shall marry immediately, Mr Collins.’
‘Of course, my beloved; anything you say. Your request is my command.’
‘Let us dance, Ms Lucas; for this is the best night in my life.’
‘Yes, Mr Collins.’

The wedding

The three couples get married on the 8th day of August 1814.
Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet go to live in the estate nearby, and raise a large family.
Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet go on a long journey overseas.
Mr Collins and Charlotte Lucas move to London where they have a very busy life with writing and printing poetry onto copper plate.

Chapter Two

Mr Collins is a poet, painter and printmaker; he is an intelligent, well educated man and very sensitive with matters regarding the political and economical situation in England at that time. Mr Collins dislikes the eighteenth and nineteenth century English society; he regards it repressive and authoritarian: where self-expression and power of imagination are not allowed. Also, Mr Collins does not approve of the English colonialism in the new world, America and the West Indies, and he uses his poems as a means of contesting against the possession of land and resources overseas, as well as the chaotic social situation that the poor class is made to live in.
Mr Collins does not accord of a society that believes that women should not be educated. He, Mr Collins, teaches his wife, Charlotte, to read and to write, and he trains her with the art of draftsman; later in life, his wife is the one to help him with the printing of his illuminated poetry – poetry which millions of scholars around the world are able to read and enjoy the freedom of expression, imagination and thoughts, that is so difficult to be seen in some societies.
Mr Collins “was concerned with the human imagination as a counter to the rise of science. The growing intellectual movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries placed scientific thought in the forefront of all knowledge, basing reality in material objects. He felt that imagination was essential to individual happiness because it allowed the individual to, as Wordsworth stated, ‘half-create’ the world. The individual shapes the reality he perceives because he brings certain a priori knowledge to every experience. The imagination also provides a common human bond; it provides a means of sympathy, of identification. However, the absence of imagination, he felt, would lead people to apathy and a false sense of being. As a Romantic poet, Mr Collins accepted the reality of the link between man and nature in the form of the human imagination as the basis of human understanding, rejecting the scientific world view of materialism.”
Mr and Mrs Collins live in London all their lives, just leaving the city a couple of times for a short period of two or three years; Mr Collins likes the city very much. They have no children, and live a life dedicated to writing a printing poetry onto copper plates. The couple live a poor life despite all the work they do; for the so imaginative and visionary poetry of Mr Collins’ does not raise any money at the time; the people’s level of understanding and discernment is not symmetrical with that of Mr Collins’ poetry: therefore, the poetry does not sell. The couple does share a special love and bond for each other; and Mr Collins reflects that special love in some of his, nowadays so popular, quotes: “I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love.”

Chapter Three

Jane and Mr Bingley leave England setting sail from Queen Mary’s Dock in London on a sea voyage in August, straight after the wedding festivities. The couple embark on their journey with all the blessings of their parents, families and friends whom attend the wedding. The voyage starts extremely well with the sea being calm and pleasant for the first-time travellers, as Jane puts it to her beloved Mr Bingley.
‘Mr Bingley, it is such a lovely day to leave on this journey: the sky is blue, the sea water is crystal clear, the wind is not blowing hard on my soft and pale skin, and we are here together.’
‘Indeed, my beloved Jane; we are together forever.’
However, the piece and quite does not last very long as the wind suddenly starts to blow excessively hard and a hurricane wrecks the ship in half, killing all the other passengers except Jane and Mr Bingley: they are extremely good swimmers. Mr Bingley and Jane have to swim for about two hours - they nearly do not make it - before they are rescued by the Captain of a Portuguese ship off the western coast of Africa; the ship is on the route to Brazil. Jane who is already pregnant nearly dies because she has complications due to such rough conditions; Jane survives the disturbance of this journey but she miscarries the two-month-old baby.
‘Mr Bingley, I have lost our baby. I am so sorry.’
‘I know all about it, my beloved. It is not your fault; the condition on the ship is too harsh for you to bear a baby.’
‘The Lord will give us more children once we are ready for them. We need to settle down somewhere to be able to start a family.’
‘Yes, you are correct, Mr Bingley. We need to have a proper place to live before we start a family.’
The Captain, seeing that tragic situation that takes over the young couple, decides to help Jane and Mr Bingley to become owners of a plantation. They settle in the north of Brazil - Bahia; there, they grow sugar cane in a massive piece of land. The piece of land is so vast that the eyes cannot see the boundary of the property; the land and the sky become one.
‘Mr Bingley, how are we going to be able to keep this property by ourselves?’
‘Jane my dear, we are going to have slaves to work for us.’
‘Mr Bingley, are we aloud to do such thing? We cannot make people work for us, can we?’
‘My dear Mrs Bingley, this is my land - my kingdom; I do as I please. I make the law; I am the law; and we all have to live by it.’
Mr Bingley changes a lot after he arrives in the new world; and forgets all the principles - on how to treat people - that he had learnt back home: it must have been due to the hot sun, the cause of so many changes in Mr Bingley’s attitude.
Mr Bingley becomes a very tough and nasty land owner, completely different from that kind and polite person back in England; he starts to import slaves from Africa to work on the sugar plantation that they possess now.
Mr Bingley builds a very big house for the family and keeps Jane and all their children in there. Jane has one baby nearly every year now; the family gets bigger and bigger. Janes’ duties are only with the family; she does not intervene with Mr Bingley’s management of the plantation and the slaves. Jane does not agree with the way the slaves are treated; however, Mr Bingley is the master and the law.
As their children grow big enough to travel, Mr and Mrs Bingley send them to England to have a proper education. With the departure of her children, Jane finds herself without much to do and decides that the slave children ought to be educated on the farm; she asks Mr Bingley to build a classroom for the slaves. Mr Bingley does not like the idea of having slaves who can read, write and are able to question their master upon everything he does.
‘Jane, I do not like this idea of yours about educating my slaves.’
‘Mr Bingley, they are your slaves indeed; however, sir, they are people. They deserve to learn to communicate in English; because we do not speak their African language, do we Mr Bingley? If I do not teach them the language, who will?’
‘Very well Madam; you win. I shall build a classroom for your little slaves to be educated.’
‘If the slaves become educated and knowledgeable they are going to rebel against us, Mrs Bingley.’
‘Mr Bingley, have no fear, sir; they are only children.’
‘Jane, you are just a woman; you do not understand the danger of having educated slaves. I am a man; I know better.’
‘Thank you so much for that comment, Mr Bingley; indeed, I am just a woman and a teacher as well. My duty is to teach what has been taught to me: and that gives me great pleasure, sir.’
Despite all the opposition from Mr Bingley, Jane starts educating the children. Of course, whatever Jane teaches the slaves is about the Anglo-Saxon culture of hers. Therefore, the children learn to speak English and learn all about the English culture. The children grow up speaking English and knowing it to good standard; in fact, as the children grow bigger they start teaching their own parents and the other adults. The adults are very keen to learn to read and to write, and in a few years basically all the slave population is literate. Jane is radiant to see that not only the children but the adults can read and write as well. That is the end of illiteracy amongst the slaves.
‘Jane, I have been having problems with the slaves on the plantation’.
‘What is the matter, Mr Bingley?’
‘Your slaves are demanding a salary to work on my plantation.’
‘They said:’ ‘We can read and write; we are literate people and we have the right to be paid wages for our labour; we cannot remain as slaves based on the colour of our skin. We are children of the ‘Lord’ as well.”
‘What am I to do, Jane?’
‘Pay them some money and also provide proper accommodation for them to live in, Mr Bingley.’
‘Oh, accommodation is necessary as well, is it?’
‘Jane, this is going to ruin us.’
‘That is nonsense; you possess so much money, Mr Bingley that our great grand-children will never need to work if they do not want to.’
‘Mr Bingley, you ought to pay these people wages for their hard work.’
‘You should be a democratic landowner, Husband.’
‘Jane, where did you get this idea from?’
‘I do not remember you talking about equality, literacy and about paying slaves for their work before.’
‘My dear husband, that is because we did not have any slaves in England.’
Jane verifies all the books and she is aware of how much their annual revenue is. Jane decides that enough is enough and she has to have a meeting with all the slaves and come to an agreement with them. Jane believes that the slaves are right: they work very hard and they should be paid wages and have proper houses to live in with their families. Jane sets a date to see all adult slaves and discuss the matter.
‘Jane, what have you done now, woman?’
‘What is right and what should have been done years ago, Mr Bingley. It is enough of this sending money and resources to the Mother Country while these people perish here in front of our eyes. They are human beings; they deserve better; and above all, this is their country now as well as ours, Mr Bingley. England is not our country any longer for we live here, do we not?’
‘Mr Bingley, I cannot think there is any intrinsic value in one colour more than another, that white is better than black; only we think it so, because we are so, and prone to judge favourably in our case.’
‘I shall follow William Wilberforce’s ideology and free these people from this disgraceful life.’

William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833)
“William Wilberforce was a deeply religious English member of parliament and social reformer who was very influential in the abolition of the slave trade and eventually slavery itself in the British Empire.
William was concerned with social reform, particularly the improvement of factory conditions in Britain.
The abolitionist Thomas Clarkson had an enormous influence on Wilberforce. He and others were campaigning for an end to the trade in which British ships were carrying black slaves from Africa, in terrible conditions, to the West Indies as goods to be bought and sold.
Wilberforce was persuaded to lobby for the abolition of the slave trade and for 18 years he regularly introduced anti-slavery motions in parliament. The campaign was supported by many members of the Clapham Sect and other abolitionists who raised public awareness of their cause with pamphlets, books, rallies and petitions. In 1807, the slave trade was finally abolished, but this did not free those who were already slaves. It was not until 1833 that an act was passed giving freedom to all slaves in the British Empire.”

Star Wars: The Adventure of Jar Jar Binks [By Guo Fang (Michael)]

Jar Jar Binks sat on the edge of the Lianorm Swamp, staring at the various plants and animals. Survival is not a problem for Binks, who like all Gungans, learned to hunt at a very young age. In fact, swamp lands like this are extremely well suited for permanent Gungan settlements if not for the humans who live in the nearby city. The Gungans still remember how contact with humans, no matter how peaceful it maybe at first, always end in conflict.

It has been almost 90 years since turmoil last befell the planet of Naboo. The Human population of Naboo, self identifying as “peace-loving” creatures, do not brand themselves as victors over the Gungans. Most humans, in light of the more serious historical events, do not even consider the Gungan-Naboo War a noteworthy conflict.

As the Humans continue building their terrestrial cities, the Gungans could only recede to the oceans of Naboo. The Gungans, being amphibians, require both land and water habitats if they are to survive for extended periods of time. Having been driven from terrestrial land, they constructed massive formations of underwater spheres. Filling these spheres with air, most of the necessary qualities of terrestrial land could be mimicked underwater. However, such spheres are difficult to build and especially hard maintain. Not nearly enough spheres could be sustained to allow every Gungan to live in comfort. Gungans are very athletic, naturally capable of great bursts of speed, and leaping great heights - feats that are rarely possible in the crowed confines of their new city.

On the other hand, the humans of Naboo never shied away from their Gungan counterparts. Having little interest in the vast oceans of Naboo, most humans simply believed that the Gungans’ retreat was because they simply preferred the underwater environment, and saw this as an opportunity to continue land-filling the mass swamps of Naboo and expand their cities even further to facilitate their business of deep space trade.

Binks was no fan of history. This was probably because his own personal history had few things worth remembering. Both his parents fell victim to the Behemoth of the Deep while hunting for food in their Bongo (submarine), leaving the then teenaged Binks an orphan. Being simple Gungan folk in dire times, Binks’ parents left him with only what he was taught him: the ability to speak Galactic Basic (the one and only Human language and also the lingua franca of the Galaxy) and Bongo navigation skills; the former being of little use in Gungan society, while the latter would only be useful if the young Binks could acquire a new Bongo someday.

Paying little heed to past events, Binks’ thoughts focused on the present: on his own exile and how he would return to his people. Having been through a rough childhood and surviving many misfortunes, Binks has developed an optimistic attitude that all things will sort themselves out in time. He knew that, while Boss Rugor Nass is quick to anger, like many Gungans, he is also quick to forgive. Many of Binks’ friends in important positions are also sympathetic to Binks, and having always been there for Binks when he needed them most, will try to talk Boss Nass down. Soon Nass will realize that his punishment for Binks has been too harsh, and accept Binks back into the fold again. For now, Binks thought to himself, he might as well enjoy his time in the swamps. After a few days, when Boss Nass is in a better mood, he will return to ask for forgiveness.

Binks’ thoughts were interrupted by strange pulsating noise. His eyes followed the source to see a bearded human in a robe, tailed by a MASSIVE droid Multi-Troop Transport. Before Binks could figure out what was going on, the bearded human had already slammed into Binks, and as the two fell, the human pushed Binks as hard as he could against the swamp mud. The soft mud yielded somewhat, allowing the hovering MMT to speed over the pair without crushing them.

“Are you brainless? You almost got us killed!” exclaimed the bearded human. Binks has realized that the huge transport was trying to ram and kill them, and was very grateful that this human saved his life. Also realizing that this Human spoke Galactic Basic (as do all humans), and understanding what the he said, Binks thought he should make it known that he could speak Basic as well. Having rarely practiced this foreign language in a long time, Binks at first was only capable of coming up with a few words:

“I spake” uttered Binks in his heavy Gungan accent. The bearded Human was clearly not amused by what Binks learned when he was a child.

“The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get outta here!” replied the bearded human as he began to leave.

Realizing that he must remedy this miscommunication, Binks chased after him saying:

“No...no! Mesa stay... Mesa yous humble servaunt.” Binks, like most Gungan, believed in balance in the world, and he must somehow reciprocate the help this human gave him.

“That won’t be necessary” replied the human. Binks was not about to give up his offer to help.

“Oh boot tis! Tis demunded byda guds. Tis a live debett, tis. Mesa culled Jaja Binkss.”

“I have no time for this now...” replied the human. Oddly enough, he never bothered to introduce himself to Binks. It was only after this human’s death did Binks learn that his name was Qui-Gon Jinn, and that he was a life long servant of the Jedi Order and an honoured hero of the Galactic Republic.

Suddenly, two Trade Federation battle droids mounted on small high-speed hover-vehicles popped up from nowhere. They were chasing another slightly shorter junior human.

Qui-Gon Jinn was obviously ready to fight these enemies. Within a split second, he and drew a small metallic weapon from his belt, which ignited a short but extremely powerful beam of energy. Reflecting the lasers fired by the battle droids, Qui-Gon quickly sent them crashing into the swamps.

The two humans were obviously brothers in arms. The junior human stepped forward and apologized to the senior Qui-Gon.

“Sorry, Master, the water fried my weapon.”

“You forgot to turn your power off again, didn't you?”

The junior human nodded sheepishly.

“It won't take long to recharge, but this is a lesson I hope you've learned, my young Padawan.”

As the two humans spoke, Binks felt the gravity of the Trade Federation invasion. Having only heard about the invasion among his fellow Gungans, Binks now knew the humans of Naboo were indeed in very great danger from this mechanical army.

“What's this?” The junior human (who Binks found out a month later to be named Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Jedi apprentice of Qui-Gon Jinn) looked curious at Binks.

But before Binks could answer for himself, Qui-Gon replied for him.

“A local. Let's go, before more of those droids show up.“

While Binks understood perfectly well that there was little time for pleasantries and politeness, it was really strange that these humans didn’t want to know anything about him and the Gungans, designating him simply as “a local”. One would think that if you are trapped in enemy territory, gravely outnumbered with an entire army after you, you would try to make as many friends as possible, asking any non-hostile around you for help. Especially when Binks has made it perfectly clear that he is willing to help.

The two humans began to run again, hoping to avoid any further droid patrols. Jar Jar Binks was still did not give up his offer to help. He chased after the two humans and shouted to them:

“Ex-squeeze me, but da moto grande safe place would be Otoh Gunga. Tis where I grew up...Tis safe city.”

This clearly got the humans’ attention. They immediately stopped running, and turned around:

“A City?” asked Qui-Gon.

Binks nods enthusiastically.

“Can you take us there?”

Binks paused for a slight moment, and said:

“Ahhh, will...on second taut...no, not willy.”

Despite his willingness to help these humans, Binks still has to think practically. While help can certainly be found in Otoh Gunga, if Boss Nass finds out about human warriors in the city, he might have them locked up simply to make sure the location of their city remains hidden from the droid army. Even Binks himself is not really supposed to be here in the swamps, lest he be captured and the city’s location revealed. Nass would have considered this before exiling Binks, had he not been so furious.

“No?” Asked Qui-Gon.

There was no way Binks could tell such a long story and make the humans understand in just a few sentences. But Binks had to try:

“Iss embarrissing, boot... My afrai my've bean banished. My forgoten der Bosses would do terrible tings, TERRIBLE tings to …”

The same pulsating noise was in the air again. Either the same droid transport was coming back for another sweep, or they’ve run into another one. Qui-Gon interrupts Binks and tells him:

“You hear that? That's the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way...”

Obi-Wan continued Qui-Gon’s sentence:

“When they find us, they will crush us, grind us into little pieces, then blast us into oblivion!”

“Oh! Yousa point is well seen. Dis way! Hurry!” replied Binks to the persuasive humans. “Boot my warning yous. Gungans no liken outlaunders. Don't expict a wern welcome.”

“Don't worry, this has not been our day for warm welcomes.”

And with that, Binks led the two humans to a nearby murky lake, which is actually connected underground to Naboo’s Ocean. Swimming underwater, he led the Jedi knights to the City of Otoh Gunga just as he promised.

----

After a long underwater swim, Binks and his two new human friends entered the City of Otoh Gunga. Gungan civilians scatter on sight of the two strange creatures, and it is not long before four armed guards came and surrounded the odd trio. Leading the guards was Captain Tarpals, a long time friend of Binks’.

“Heyo-dalee, Cap'n Tarpals, Mesa back!” said Binks as he gave Tarpals a sheepish grin.

Tarpals had just finished filing an appeal to revert Binks’ exiled status. It was a lot of trouble on Tarpals’ part, but at least the appeal had gone well, and Binks would likely be granted a pardon soon. But now, Tarpals has to arrest Binks again for bringing the two humans to the Gungan city. It goes without saying how angry Tarpals was, having just helped to bail Binks out, only to have him find greater trouble.

After assigning one of his guards to ceremoniously take Binks into custody (Binks was more than honourable and obedient enough to report to the detention area on his own), Tarpals now escorted the two Jedi knights to meet with Boss Nass.

As the Jedi entered the throne room, Boss Nass, leader of the Gungan people announced in his deep sovereign voice:

“Yousa cannot bees hair. Dis army of mackineeks up dare tis new weesong!”

“That droid army is about to attack the Naboo. We must warn them.” Explained Qui-Gon their purpose here.

“Wesa no like da Naboo! Un dey no like uss-ens. Da Naboo tink day so smarty den us-ens. Day tink day brains so big.” was Nass’ reply. Rarely could any language and culture in the galaxy summarize diplomatic relationships in such a concise an elegant way.

“After those droids take control of the surface, they will come here and take control of you.” Tried Qui-Gon again to partition for help.

“No, mesa no tink so. Mesa scant talkie witda Naboo, and no nutten talkie it outlaunders. Dos mackineeks no comen here! Dey not know of uss-en.“ Qui-Gon was refused again.

“You and the Naboo form a symbiont circle. What happens to one of you will affect the other. You must understand this.” Tried Qui-Gon a third time to partition for help.

“Wesa wish no nutten in yousa tings, outlaunder, and wesa no caren about da Naboo.” was Nass’ final reply.

Seeing that he is unable to convince the Gungans to provide help in this conflict, he waved his hand to put a mind trick on Boss Nass, hoping that this will at least yield them some small aid.

“Then speed us on our way.” said Qui-Gon waving his hand, unleashing his Jedi mind control powers.

It is unknown how Qui-Gon might reconcile this particular usage of mind control with the Jedi code of conduct. Certainly, Boss Nass is not an enemy of the Jedi or the Republic, nor is he a servant of such an enemy. Neither is Boss Nass a greedy merchant blackmailing the Jedi into paying more than fair for what they need. Boss Nass is the leader of an entire people, and such a dishonourable act of using mind control powers over him was certainly not the Jedi way. However, this was a time in history with far greater corruptions in the Jedi ranks, such as Qui-Gon’s old mentor, Count Dooku betraying the Jedi and going rogue. Therefore, it is unlikely that anyone would have the time to question Qui-Gon’s ethics. Furthermore, this point is made moot by the fact that the mind trick didn't actually work.

“Wesa gonna speed yousaway.” was the reply. Nass’ will was far too strong for mind control powers to have effect. Instead he has indeed decided to let these two humans go.

“We need a transport.” asked Qui-Gon.

“Wesa give yousa una bongo. Da speedest way tooda Naboo tis goen through da planet core. Now go. “

“Thank you for your help. We go in peace.”

Boss Nass has left the outcome of this meeting in the hand of their gods. Nass did not want to arrest these Jedi, since that would be an improper way to treat guests, and will only serve to incur the wrath of the Humans. Nass didn’t want to send them straight back to the swamps they came from either, because they would likely be captured be the Droids, and the location of Otoh Gunga might be revealed. Having them navigate the planet’s core, a dangerous but possible feat, would mean that if they shall perish, the Gungan City would be safe; but if the gods indeed have some higher mysterious purpose for these humans and let them live, then let the gods’ will be done.

On their way out, Qui-Gon saw Binks being chained. As Qui-Gon walked by, Binks tried to warn Qui-Gon about the dangers he will face:

“Daza setten yous up. Goen through da planet core is bad bombin!!”

And also thinking for a moment about himself, Binks asked Qui-Gon:

“Ahhh...any hep hair would be hot.”

Being in need of a navigator who knows the oceans, and knowing that he has had a hand in Binks’ fate, Qui-Gon sought to bring Binks along. He returned to the throne room, and quoting Binks on his life debt, at the same time using another mind trick (to no effect), asked Nass to let them bring Binks with them.

Nass did not wish send Binks on such a dangerous journey, and asked Binks to confirm his life debt to Qui-Gon, giving him a chance to declare his life debt already paid with what he’d already done.

“Binks. Yousa havena liveplay with thisen hisen?” said Nass in Galactic Basic so that Qui-Gon could also understand. Binks, surprisingly, confirmed his life debt.

“Your gods demand that his life belongs to me now.” added Qui-Gon.

With little more he could say on this matter, Nass declared: “Hisen live tis yos, outlauder. Begone wit him.”

Binks was happy that Qui-Gon took his second advice to help him, but became extremely distraught when he knew that Qui-Gon didn’t take his first advice to not go through the planet’s core.

“Count mesa outta dis! Better dead here, den deader in da core... Yee guds, whata mesa sayin?!”

But little could be done now, they were already on their way to the Bongo hanger, and nothing Binks could say would change Qui-Gon’s suborned mind.

----

Binks sat in pilot’s seat, and entered the coordinates for the main waypoints to navigate Naboo’s planet core. As their long trip began, the group tried to start a conversation to pass the time:
“Master, why do you keep dragging these pathetic life forms along with us?” asked Obi-Wan Kenobi very bluntly. This was obviously a bad conversation starter, to which Qui-Gon gave no reply. After a moment’s silence, Binks asked:

“Hey, ho? Where wesa goen?” Binks wanted to know more their destination: the Human city of Theed, a place Binks has heard, but never visited.

“You're the navigator.” was Qui-Gon’s reply, again cutting the conversation short. After another moment’s silence, Obi-Wan asked another blunt question:

“Why were you banished, Jar Jar?”

This isn’t something Binks wanted to talk about, and after a little bit of thinking, he decided to simply say:

“Tis a long tale, buta small part wawdabe mesa... ooooh...aaaa..... clumsy.”

“They banished you because you're clumsy?” Asked Obi-Wan again, insisting to follow up this line of questioning, to which Binks gave no further reply.

The conversation was obviously not working out. Silence pervaded in the small crowded bongo. Binks switched on the Bongo’s search lights, so that at least they could pass the time by admiring the underwater view.

As they closed in on the planet’s core, search lights would soon be a necessity. Dangerous creatures dwell in these deep waters, and while lights may attract the medium sized predators, the most dangerous Behemoths of the Deep are insensitive to light. However, it is much better actually knowing whether there are dangers nearby than to go on blind, because the Bongo does have enough maneuverability to avoid dangerous creatures. The keys to survival would be constant alert, and having good piloting skills.

It is not long before a medium sized creature (around 4 times the size of the Bongo is considered medium sized) caught sight of the Bongo. Binks started to become nervous. These are the same waters where his parents lost their lives.

“Just relax, the Force will guide us...” said Qui-Gon, breaking the silence, and trying to calm their pilot down.

“Ooooh, maxibig...’da Force’ is...Wellen, dat smells stinkowiff.” Binks was not amused by Qui-Gon’s religious blessing. Few of the Gungans have even heard about the Force.

After a few sharp turns, the medium predator got hold of the Bongo in its jaws. If their ship is disabled, they will no doubt perish in the deep waters. However, before the predator’s Jaws could do extensive damage, it was suddenly released. Revealed to trio was the Behemoth of the Deep, the apex predator of Naboo’s ocean core, and in its mouth lies the hapless body of the medium predator.

Although mostly functional, the Bongo began losing power after the bite it received. The crew of three had to begin emergency repairs in this hostile environment. Search lights had to be deactivated during the repairs.

After some time, their bongo was fully operational again, but as they flicked their lights back on, another medium predator was right in front of them, the type sensitive to light. Being too close to maneuver, Binks thought that this would be their end.

Yet again, the Behemoth of the Deep appeared, and with a powerful thrust, it tore the medium predator right in half, leaving Binks and his two friends free to go.

“There's always a bigger fish.” commented Qui-Gon humorously.

It would appear that there is balance in the universe after all. The gods are indeed fair. While one god would guide the Behemoth to take away Binks parents, another god has guided the same Behemoth to save Binks and his friends twice.

Having passed through the dangerous planet core, the rest of their journey to Theed was very safe, albeit boring, with the trio still being unable to start any interesting conversations.

It wasn’t long before the Bongo emerged in a river that ran through the city of Theed, the human capital of Naboo.


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[To my fellow bloggers: I’m sorry that my story is still incomplete. I have already exceeded our 3000 word quota, and yet, I am not even half way through. I know it’s not very nice to leave you with half a story, so I’ll summarize what I have planned in my outline. This rewrite still follows the basic story of the Star Wars movies, with the twists being mostly in the details]

Theed

Binks, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive in Theed. Binks is amazed at how advanced the human city is. They rescue Queen Padme Amidala from droid army, and try to get off the planet to find help.

Binks, for the first time in his life, encounters a starship: a bongo used for travelling in space from planet to planet at speeds that are faster than light; the one piece of technology that makes colonization of the entire galaxy possible, a technology the Gungans do not have.

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Tatooine

Having had their starship damaged, Binks, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme Amidala, and her entourage are forced to seek help on the nearby planet of Tatooine.

Binks learns that for all the powers of the Galactic Republic, not all humans lead the prosperous lives of the city of Theed.

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Coruscant

After befriending Anakin Skywalker, Binks and company reach their finals destination: Coruscant, hoping that they at last will find help for Naboo.

Binks is truly amazed by the industrial wonders of Coruscant, and its econimic prowess. The entire planet is covered by one big city, with countless skyscrapers that indeed reached the clouds.

However, their journey was futile: the republic could provide no help for Naboo. Binks and company must now return to Naboo empty handed.

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Naboo

Naboo now suffers complete occupation by the droids army. The Trade Federation also found out about the location of Otoh Gunga, and the Gungan city is now abandoned.

Binks knew where the Gungans would go to seek refuge, and once again took the humans to see Boss Nass.

Already, Boss Nass has mobilized the Gungans for war against the droid army so that the Gungons may have a chance at survival. However, even a victory against the droids would be for nothing if the humans of Naboo still continued to complete oppress the Gungan.

Binks, bringing Queen Padme Amidala to Boss Nass, brought some insurance of future diplomatic relations, and also the promise of some human forces to fight as allies against the droids.

For this reason, Binks was promoted to the rank of Bombad General, commanding the Gungan Grand army jointly with his friend, General Tarpals.

Nass’ choice of promoting Binks proved instrumental in the following battle. Coordinating the Gungan/Human joint forces by being able to speak both languages, and being one of the few Gungans with field experience dealing with battle droids, Binks fought valiantly, winning the battle for the Gungans and Naboo (and no, Binks is not a bumbling idiot. He proved himself to be a great general.)

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Aftermath

Having forced the Trade Federation to surrender, and securing much more favourable diplomatic with the humans of Naboo; Binks became a hero of the Gungan.

Not long after, Binks married a beautiful Gungan named Fassa, a niece of Boss Nass, and one of the officers under his command during the battle of Naboo. Binks would go on serving his people, representing them in the council Galactic Republic.

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Epilogue

It might seem befitting that Binks, his fellow Gungans, and their descendants should live happily ever after.

Any person with a some knowledge of Galactic history knows this did not come to pass.

Binks is now remembered as the clumsy senator with a deep accent, who rallied “Dellow Felegates” into giving Chancellor Palpatine absolute power, setting into motion the biggest disaster in Galactic history.

As for the rest of the Gungans, little is remembered of them. They are a people in the Galaxy that no one would ever want to care about.