Cuento en inglés: The Bug’s Stories

After so many years of having her own room, Nerea saw how things changed when
she turned 8 years old.

– Don’t be crabby, Nerea. Grandpa is here just for a bit. When winter is over, he will
return to his house and you can have your room back.
– Sure, but in the meantime, the one who has to sleep with “the bug” is me.

The bug wasn’t a giant lizard, nor a grumpy furry animal, but rather the nickname that
Nerea gave her little brother, Pablo. And, although it had been two years since Pablo
had been her brother, Nerea still did not understand why everyone gave him so much
attention. With how boring he was?! He almost never spoke, walked as if he were a
dizzy duck and cried every few minutes. If he at least knew how to spin a top, or tell
stories, or help you solve math problems!

So Nerea watched in horror as her little colorful bed moved into Pablo’s room.

– You will see how great this will be! I always shared my room with my sister and we
had a great time – her mother tried to convince her.
But Nerea did not see it clearly. She could not compare her fun aunt Rita with this
clumsy crybaby that followed her everywhere and stared at her with those big gray
eyes.
– Don’t look at me like that, bug! If you had a room as beautiful as mine, you wouldn’t
want to give it to Grandpa either.

But Pablo looked at her with his enormous gray eyes and laughed. What is that brat
laughing about? Nerea sighed. That winter was going to be very very complicated.

And so it was at first, especially at night. The bug went to bed very early, and no one
could make but a single noise, much less leave the light on. This was definitely a
problem for Nerea, with how much she loved to read at night! Before, Dad always
used to tell stories, but since el bug had arrived to the house, Nerea had begun to
read the stories by herself. In the beginning, the crabby Nerea had protested a lot, but
later she had discovered that reading storybooks alone was very fun. She liked to use
voices, imitate the characters and imagine that she was always the protagonist. And
now all that had ended!

But Mom, seeing Nerea so disgusted, had a great idea:

– Nerea, why don’t you read the stories to Pablo? That way you can continue
enjoying the storybooks and you will teach them to your brother.
– Bah, what for? The bug doesn’t understand anything.
– Oh, come on!
Nerea had no choice but to begin sharing her storybooks with Pablo. The first nights,
the bug looked at her with his enormous gray eyes and yawned bored. And Nerea
yawned even more bored still. The storybooks of the bug were simple and full of
colors. Some did not even have letters!
– How will I tell a story without words?! What do I do? Invent them?

And that is exactly what she did: inventing the text of Pablo’s stories. That if a fairy
here, that if a sheep goes baaa over there, that if a dog goes woof, that if a naughty
girl sings a song. So, little by little, Nerea started to get her brother to have fun with
them.

– And then arrived a witch with an angry face. Listen, bug, she was very evil and
laughed like this: MWAHAHAHAHA!
– acacacacac!
– No, bug, MWAHAHAHAHA! Let’s see how you can do?
The little boy tried to imitate again and again the laugh of the evil witch in the story,
but there was no way! Even though he could not, it was so funny trying!

And so, between storybooks, passed the winter, and before Nerea realized, Grandpa
grabbed his things and left in return to his house.
– Are you happy Nerea? Finally you get your room back!
But the little girl wasn’t happy. On one hand, she was excited to return to her room,
with her striped comforter, her shelves filled with books, and her green walls; but
there was something that she was going to miss: bug! In all those months passing the
time together and having fun, Nerea had understood why everyone gave him so
much attention: he was an adorable bug!
So, when Dad announced that she could return to her room, her expression was not
exactly one of happiness.
– What happened Nerea? Isn’t this what you wanted? You can finally return to
reading your storybooks before sleeping…
– Yes, but…what about the bug? Who will read his books without words to him?
Upon hearing her say this, Dad understood what had happened.

– Well, you, Nerea. That is why you are his big sister…

And so it was. Nerea continued telling stories to her little brother night after night, day
after day, until the bug was old enough to read them by himself.