Forget about us now

7/28/2019 Forget about us now

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Forget about us

Part 1 __________________

It was summer. John was found hanged, dangling from a tree in a field. A

farmer discovered the body early in the morning as he walked to his land. His body

swayed rhythmically in the morning breeze. The creaking of the taut rope, as it rocked

to and fro, joined the soughing of the wind through the treetop and the rustle of the

dead leaves on the ground. The police came a few minutes after the farmer phoned

emergency services. His body was lowered gently to the ground as if it could still be

hurt, placed inside a body bag and into a polices hearse. A forensic photographer,

dressed in a white one piece sanitary suit, snapped pictures of the scene for later

investigation but the suicide note scribbled in careless handwriting on a used envelope

in Johns shorts, made this act superfluous. Lovelorn, John had committed suicide.

Two journalists with tape recorders were talking to a petite policewoman. They

paused briefly as the hearses old engines drone made hearing each other difficult.

The hearse left and the policewoman continued giving an official statement. The

reporters were not happy. Suicides were not reported in the press for fear of a wave of

copycat suicides. The authorities seem to believe that such matters should be out-of-sight and forgotten. But this was a different case. In hours, the story of Johns suicide

would make front page news. But for now the two journalists were not aware of this

and begrudged the pointless work they had to do. They knew that the information

gathered would be filed away and not published. The suicide note read, That what

must be cured cannot be endured. Ill be free now.

(284 words)

Summary 1

1 - In not more than 70 summarise the above passage.

John committed suicide by hanging. He was found by a farmer and the police were

informed. Reporters were on the scene, obtaining a statement. A suicide note was

found, hinting that John had some sort of sickness that only death could cure. 42 words


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Part Two__________________

Forget about us, we never happened. Thats how Alicia broke the news to John.

She quit the game they were playing. She had had enough of the lies and deceit

surrounding their affair. John was married. She was single. Before their first

adulterous kiss, she had made one thing clear to John. Youll never be mine, she

had whispered before she leaned through Johns truck window and kissed him lightly

on his lips. At the time, surprised by her act, he had not taken the import of what this

mean. Deep in his entrails, nestled next to his spleen and pancreas, something stirred.

Maybe it was the rekindling of love but he dismissed it. He liked Alicia a lot but it

was a sort of tender curiosity rather than love. She was slim, sported a black bob and

had dark eyes. He liked her girly gestures of how when she sat, she enjoyed circling

her foot in a clockwise manner or the way she looked at her fingernails before shetamed her stray hairs. He also was comfortable talking to her. John felt that Alicia

could understand whatever topic they discussed. It is like a virus, isnt it? John had

told Alicia one night. What is? Alicia had quizzed. Love, John replied, it finds

its way inside you. Youve never asked for it. It just happens. Inside you, it grows

and multiplies and youve only got two ways out if your love is unrequited. You either

learn to live with the feeling, you somehow force yourself to forget or it kills you.

You could say, you either heal or die of the affliction. At some point in their

whirlwind affair, John had fallen in love but she had not.

The two policemen, a portly constable and a lanky sergeant, showed up at the

address written on the suicide note in Johns shorts. Maybe John had written his note

on the envelope on purpose to aid the police or maybe not. The police were just happy

with the lucky break. Alicias door was closed but not locked. The fat policeman

entered first, while his leaner colleague stayed at the door. Anyone home, he

shouted. He did not get a reply and walked in. Anyone home, he yelled again. He

hoped to hear a reply as he moved from the hall to the living room but did not get one.

Instead he found Alicia on her sofa with visible finger marks round her neck. The

police did not take long to solve the murder especially when neighbours informed

them that Alicia Meilkin was not married.

(434 words)

Summary 02


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In not more than a 100 words summarise Part 02.

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Part 3 __________________

The previous evening John was waiting at Alicias door. She was not surprised to see

him. What are you doing here? she barked. Get lost, Ive already told you its

over, she blurted out. But but I cant go on without you, John muttered. He started

to tremble. I already have another boyfriend and besides, John, let bygones be

bygones. It was fun while it lasted but youre married. What can you do about that?

Ill leave herif you tell me you have feelings for me, Ill leave her. I wont go

home tonight. Let me spend the night with you. Alicia was resolute, Ive already

told you, its over and Im not in the habit of repeating myself. Please let me stay,

he begged. She paid no notice to this and looked in her purse for the house keys. He

grabbed her hand but she shook it away and unlocked the door. To her, he was

emotional flotsam. From an alcove of his mind the thought of her having sex with

another man reared itself. He could see her lying in bed, pleasing this other man, like

she had satisfied him. In a moment of jealous madness, he spun her round and as she

faced him, he throttled her. He squeezed her soft neck as tight as the pain that

constricted his insides. When she collapsed on the doorsteps he came to his senses.

He mistook her agonic breathing as a sign she was still alive. John picked up her body

and went inside. He placed her on the sofa but by this time there were no signs of life.

Wake up, he commanded. Wake up. Come on wake up, please wake up, he

pleaded. But it was no use. He had extinguished her life. Panicked he left the house

and got in his pick-up truck. He wanted to physically distance himself from the event

but there was no way to escape the mental torture. As he drove, he recollected the


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events that led to now. Each thought in his head on its own meant very little. It is akin

to a single frame in a film reel. There is only so much you can analyse. But gather

enough frames and you can make a film. The downside is that memory is strongly

affected by emotions. Like a sepia bath, in which photos are immersed to give them

that sepia tint, each image in his head was tainted by remorse. The film playing in his

head was a depressing romantic tragedy rather than a comedy.

(426 words)

Summary 03

In not more than a 100 words summarise Part 03.

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Part 04 __________________

By now he had driven out of the hamlet Alicia Meilkin lived in. I killed her, he

repeated over and over again as he drove through the night. A majestic oak tree,

silhouetted against the moonlit sky caught his eye and his mind played a cruel

intellectual montage. He saw himself. He saw the tree. He joined these two images in

his head and pictured himself swinging from his neck. He drove about four kilometres

more, stopped the truck and parked it on a side street. At the back of the truck he had a

long length of synthetic rope. Not the ideal material, natural wouldve been better,

he thought as he started his trek to the oak tree. Twenty odd steps away from the

truck, he returned to it and grabbed the first piece of paper he found and wrote what

would become a suicide note. He put the paper in his pocket and started the long walk


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to the oak tree. By the time he got there, rather that dissuaded, he was convinced of

what he was about to do.

The story was sensational. The media swooped on it like hyenas stealing a

carcass from a cheetah. The suicide on its own was no news, a murder held its own,

but a murder connected to a suicide was fantastic. For three days, it was the talk of the

country. But time and memory are inversely proportional. The more time passes, the

less people remember. After four days, it had become old news and superseded by a

story about someone putting up his kidney for sale on eBay and the suicide/murder

was relegated from front page news to page five or six. In a years time, only those

really close to John or to Alicia will mourn the tragic events of that night. In twenty

years, the memory will be even fainter. In thirty, the people holding on to the

memories of this sad tale will have died in turn. Alicia and John will then have neverexisted. That is the nature of remembrance, like a virus and like love, it needs a host to

continue existing.

(358 words)

Summary 04

In not more than 90 words summarise Part 04

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Tasks

01 - Give a heading to each part.

02 - Provide the antonym and synonym for each of the following underlined word/s

which appear in the text.

A - dangling from a tree

antonym - fixed; attachedsynonym - hanging, swinging


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B - The creaking of the taut rope

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C - scribbled in careless handwriting

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D - snapped pictures of the scene for later

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E - Lovelorn, John had committed suicide.

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F - But this was a different case.

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G - enough of the lies and deceit surrounding their affair

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H - either heal or die of the affliction._____________________________________________________________________

I - a portly constable and a lanky sergeant

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J - Ive already told you its over, she blurted out.

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K - To her, he was emotional flotsam.

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L - He had extinguished her life.

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M - each image in his head was tainted by remorse

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N - A majestic oak tree, silhouetted against the moonlit sky

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O - he started his trek to the oak tree

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P - The media swooped on it like hyenas stealing a carcass from a cheetah

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Q - That is the nature of remembrance

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Forget about us now