Below is an an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Something’s On The Roof, which is part of my soon-to-be released Cuentos Breves En Inglés book. This book features not-so-common English words to expand the vocabulary of the Spanish-speaking English learner. A vocabulary list will be at the end of each chapter, as seen below this one…

El siguiente extracto viene del Capítulo 2 de Something’s On The Roof, el cual es un pasaje de mi próximo libro Cuentos Breves En Inglés. Este libro presenta palabras que no son muy comunes que ayudarán al estudiante de Inglés a ampliar su vocabulario. Habrá una lista de palabras al final de cada cápitulo…

“You guys hungry? You look hungry.”

Chimi and Changa always look at me as though they understand.

“Here’s your favorite:

Moisty Chunks dog food.”

I opened the packet and poured it into their bowl.

Of course they didn’t eat it.

And I could just imagine their thoughts:

“We don’t want that crap! Why don’t you eat it?”

They decided instead to sit and stare at me

while I ate my cereal and toast.

The day was long, and I felt like a zombie from lack of sleep.

I went to work, which is about 30 feet away from my dining room table.

I sat there in my office, staring at the computer screen.

I’ve been writing for a long time now,

but I started doing it full-time about a year ago,

after I retired from the tire shop.

I sat there in my faux-leather chair trying to write my story…

the one about aliens that land in a dry river bed

and slowly take over a small town,

terrorizing people and animals alike.

As I sat there, I couldn’t help thinking about the night before.

What were the dogs barking at?

A coyote? Each other?

I went to the bedroom and sat my high-powered air rifle

in the corner of the room, right next to my bed.

My 9mm Glock 17 was still in the closet if I needed it, but if there is an animal coming into the back patio at night, the BB gun will be enough to scare it away.

I have become more sentimental towards animals in general

since getting Chimi and Changa two and a half years ago,

so killing the little critter would be something I would try to avoid.

I sat down at my HP laptop again and started to write.

This time, a little less worried than before.

“The alien spaceship landed in the riverbed with almost no sound at all. The hatch slowly opened and pressed against the river rocks below, scaring away the

group of young cotton tails that had sat there

blinded by the bright lights of the huge machine…”

VOCABULARY

(Are) You guys hungry?	¿Tienen/Tenéis hambre?
To pour	Verter, echar
I could just imagine	Podría imaginar
Their thoughts	Sus pensamientos
That crap	Esa mierda
The lack of sleep	La falta de sueño
The dining room	El comedor
The computer screen	La pantalla de la computadora/el ordenador
I’ve been writing for a long time now	Llevo mucho tiempo escribiendo ya
Full-time	A tiempo completo
The tire shop	El taller de reparación de llantas/neumáticos
Faux-leather chair	Silla de cuero de imitación
Aliens	Extraterrestres
To land	Aterrizar
A dry river bed	Un lecho seco
To take over	Tomar control de
To terrorize	Aterrorizar
The night before	La noche anterior
High-powered air rifle	Rifle/carabina de aire comprimido
The closet	El armario
The BB gun (ball bullet)	Rifle de balines
To scare away	Ahuyentar
To avoid	Evitar
Laptop	Ordenador/computadora portátil
Less worried than before	Menos preocupado que antes
The spaceship	La nave espacial
With no sound	En silencio
The hatch	La escotilla
Pressed against the river rocks below	Presionó contra las piedras del río abajo
The cotton tails	Los conejos de cola blanca
Blinded by the bright lights	Enceguecidos por las luces brillantes
The huge machine	La enorme maquinaria