Speaking and Reading Exercise: 

The sun sparkling in a smile

…..

Chapter 6… Manuela and eternal love, from the book In the land of volcanoes, by edudelcorral

     Completely full of himself, he went out in search of the women. Approaching Mrs. Eloísa, he asked her for Manuela’s hand in marriage. Although he was only sixteen years old, he was so formal and serious, as he displayed such perfect manners, that both of the women were amazed. Finding his way back to Manuela, he explained what had just happened, and then, he asked her to marry him, for as he told her that day:

     “Manuela, I’ve loved you even before we met, and I shall love you, even until after I die.”
Three months later, they married in the Cathedral in León. It was during the wedding banquet after the religious ceremony, that he realized they had run out of rum! Grandfather, in his role as the groom and as the host, ran out in search of more rum for his guests. Because he was in such a hurry, he tripped on the stairs, on the way out, and he broke a tooth, as he fell against the edge of the step. When he had it fixed, he asked the dentist to replace it with a golden tooth.

     That tooth was an essential part of his bountiful smile, from that day on and until the end of his life. Still now, when I think of Grandfather and those days we shared I, in my mind’s eye, but mostly in the bottom of my heart, I picture the sun as it gently sparkles in his smile.

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