As promised the first of two Halloween stories. This one is adapted from a previously published story and made perfect for Swedish schools, Years 6-9.
Click on the links to access the audio, quizzes and debates.
Chapter 1 – A week before Halloween
My parents buy stuff online and from dumb old people – we call them DOPs - and then sell it on for a profit.
It can make good money. Last week Mum and Dad came home grinning from ear to ear. Mum took a couple of plates painted blue and gold from her bag.
‘How much do you think these are worth?’ She asked me.
‘Maybe two hundred,’ I answered.
‘Try two thousand. Each!’ Dad said.
‘And how much do you think we paid for them?’ continued Mum.
‘Not fair,’ I said. ‘It depends where you got them.’
‘We followed a DOP home from the supermarket,’ started Dad. ‘She just bought all the cheapest stuff, so we knew she needed money.’
‘When she answered the door, she was already eating cold beans straight from the tin,’ said Mum and made a face. ‘Disgusting!’
‘She invited us into her lounge and sat on a smelly old sofa. We saw the plates right away on the wall behind her,’ Dad said, smiling at the memory.
‘So, I said we could buy the plates to give her a bit of money so she can use the oven to heat her food. She was worried about the electricity bill!’ Mum laughed. ‘Sitting and eating cold beans in front of a fortune just hanging on her wall.’
‘Too stupid to know…,’ said Dad.
‘Too smart to care,’ I finished. That’s out family motto. You can’t do bad to a person if they are too stupid to realise. You’ve got to be smart to do well in this world and my parents are smart. I’m smarter of course.
‘So how much?’ asked Mum again.
‘A hundred,’ I guessed.
‘Better,’ said Dad grinning.
‘Fifty,’ I tried.
‘We gave her ten pounds for each plate!’ interrupted Mum, unable to wait. ‘Twenty quid! And the DOP even thanked us and gave us a cup of tea!’
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. It really was funny to think of the DOP eating her cold beans when all she had to do was sell a couple of old plates to pay for years of electricity. It’s evolution, right? The weak and stupid die and the strong and smart do well. It’s natural.
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