Devil’s Paradise - Youssef RZOUGA (popular e readers .txt) 📗

Love I need, it means a lot to me. I’m madly in love with you.
– Is there such a thing as friendship, isn’t it ?
I’ve got no friends Di, nobody except you, but I’m all yours.
Apparently, they are they’re a well-matched pair but...
Listen wellwell! I perhaps said, not no, there’s a slight difference! But there’s a problem. What a big disgrace to lie!
– Excuse me but the man I’m in love with, is not you. Ever since my early childhood, I l’ve loved him. He’s a childhood friend.
– You’re joking!
Whom are you talking about?
I’m eaten up with jealousy.
It breaks my heart. I can’t trust my ears.
She still thinks about him.
I shall never be able to look at her face again.
– I’ll give you one week, no more
– What for? As things stand, love is not for the likes of me. All that doesn’t coincide with my beliefs. It is my way of looking at things. I know. To love is not a crime! But to love, for me, is a risk we have to run and that may well last for a long time.
Furthermore, we’ll have to agree to differ on that.
“ And our love life?” asked wellwell.
She’s no less nervous than him. Weeping eyes filled with tears.
– I hate it when I bother you but…
– The War, both of us saw it.
We live apart! I wish we didn’t . It’s impossible for me to do it Di!
“This is what I suggest: love in small doses,” said Di. “Look, let’s forget about it!”
“But who’s your love?” asked Wellwell.
– S. Something but he was killed during the Gulf War. It was such a real shock for me...
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

On our way home, Di looks wonderfully superb.
She unveiled the whole story to me:
At that time, children and women were dropping like flies. A hideous sight arrested them: Children of five and less were bombarded or trampled to death by elephants. High treason of childhood from every angle. That’s a pretty scandal!
The cost of living is very high there but Babel and other countries are selling cheaply like hot cakes. What a dreadful time we live in! It’s a fact!
What time has in store for us!
A pair of lovebirds is looking for a corner in the garden.
– How old you’ve grown!
Di’s just turned 17.
She admires Wellwell, but…
They make a lovely couple. The boats took a battering from the storm, and the key won’t go in the lock. Times are hard.
CHAPTER -14

A very old man, a mature woman.
The play opens with a dialogue of the deaf
Mr What’s-his-name: “Might is right!!”
Mrs What’s-her-name: but the tart I bake, for whom?
Mr What’s-his-name: The rain is off.
Mrs What’s-her-name: I’m sure I told you, the heart has its reasons.
Mr What’s-his-name: I say! The circus hits town tomorrow.
Mrs What’s-her-name: phew! The dog’s done a mess on the carpet.
Mr What’s-his-name: Would you like an ice cream?
Mrs What’s-her-name: stop it or I’ll tell mum!
Mr What’s-his-name: This lamp doesn’t give very good light
Mrs What’s-her-name: perhaps, perhaps not.
Mr What’s-his-name: what counts is that… but what do you say? My ears are blocked up.
Mrs What’s-her-name: What have you got against the book?
Mr What’s-his-name: There’s an art to making pastry
Mrs What’s-her-name: Err! By the way, have you read this book?
Mr What’s-his-name: It’s him, in his heyday; he behaves as if he owned the place. He’s the architect of his own downfall.
Mrs What’s-her-name: Listen! If you kick me I’ll kick you back !
Mr What’s-his-name: In other climes, other people around here fight with each other, playing cops and robbers or asking for political asylum.
Mrs What’s-her-name: It’s a matter of complete indifference to you
Mr What’s-his-name: Not known at this address
Mrs What’s-his-name: I don’t like you mixing with those people
Mr What’s-her-name: The engine needs some attention
Mrs What’s-his-name: Ouch! The house’s overrun with mice.
Mr What’s-her-name: Come here and give me the kiss of life!
Mrs What’s-his-name: I think so; the euro is strong comparing to the dollar.
Mr What’s-her-name: It’s a crime to waste time like that.
Mrs What’s-his-name: The ones with the long sleeves, what are the children up to? Those children will be death of me!
Mr What’s-her-name: Appearances can be deceptive !
Mrs What’s-her-name: The epidemic has ended thousands of lives.
Mr What’s-his-name: the woman across the road always comes to me for help.
Mrs What’s-her-name: I think so, Television makes people behave like children
Mr What’s-his-name: she’s a woman of few words
Mrs What’s-her-name: Too much television numbs the brain
Mr What’s-his-name: she strikes me as being a fairly well-balanced woman
Mrs What’s-her-name: what a big number of people perished in that war! Many people died in the blaze. What comes next?
Mr What’s-his-name: hey! The oven is self-cleaning, the heart too.
Mrs What’s-her-name: your doctor has forbidden any effort.
Mr What’s-his-name: I’m leaving tomorrow
Mrs What’s-her-name: (She’s laughing), I’m going to have a shower. You can keep your remarks to yourself.
Mr What’s-his-name: why shall I talk at all if you’ve never given me your ears?
Laughter spread through the whole audience. Curtain!
CHAPTER-15

The whole house is asleep. A hand opens the window which looks onto the garden.
In the vicinity of the village, a wolf howls.
Three days in a row, she hasn’t spoken to him still.
It’s a long time since I last saw her. Even as I speak, the village is shrouded in mist. There was a spirit of revolt in the village.
The Di I’m thinking of, I can’t see anywhere. Where’s she got to? Will she come or won’t she?
It looks as if she’s already left once and for all.
The key’s in the door but
Flash-back:
– I’ve given you everything, what more do you want Di?
She smiled oddly. Her eyes filled with tears.
Outspoken to the point of rudeness, Di’s blackmailing him:
– It’s your turn to choose now. Do as you like. When it comes to me, I made my choice. I don’t think any less of you, but… to be on-line or to be off-line that is the secret!
Her heart is pounding.
She’ll never forget his invitation yesterday; it’s like riding a bike, once you learn you never forget.
Flash-back:
– Are you free tonight?
– What for?
– To role-play in a Love scene, at a distance. To lose track of time, to renounce to all sense of reality and to act on an impulse of feelings
– To coexist with Satan, in the same darkroom?
It’s terribly hot.
– But in darkness, it’s paradise. Here’s what you have to do! There’s no harm in trying. You will come to no harm.
– Hello, what’s this?
– By way of pleasant change. Variety is the spice of life. Do you like it?
– Not really, no. You’re getting on my nerves, asking all those questions.
– I can’t see any harm in it.
– It will do more harm than you think.
(No sooner had arrived, one of his victims lit a cigarette, began to laugh, to undress languidly through the webcam and …)
– But how dare you! Violation. Scenes of panic! It doesn’t exactly inspire me but it gives me great cause for concern. It’s heart-breaking. It’s a waste of time.

For reasons best known to him alone, he laughs.
He has an honest face. It falls under the heading of “sphere of influence”.
– It’s worth knowing! Virtual reality. Everything’s connected. It’s the Butterfly Effect. It’s true! It turned out that’s inevitable. I wouldn’t go so far as to say no.
– Really? I didn’t know, ha!, ha! Ok! But within reasonable limits.
The road forks out.
– There is no question of our agreeing to that. I’ve told you hundreds of times. There are limits to my patience.
– You needn’t come with me.
“I’ll do it tomorrow,” he answered.
– But what are you getting at? This train goes to hell. Spider’s web kills!
CHAPTER-16

Gateway of Frankness
– Hi Di! It’s just a few flowers, nothing much! I’m sorry you didn’t like it. Remorse.
– Do you think I enjoy it! I found the story very amusing, ha!, ha! I was expecting the worse. But what lies behind this uncharacteristic generosity? I’d never have expected that!
Between the top step and the bottom step, rise and fall of an empire, it’s the Garden of Eden.
There’s something about you I don’t like. I don’t mean to criticize, but if I could just make one criticism.
On screen, from what I saw, through the half-open door, it’s awful! By the way, it’s no secret.
People like you, send each other postcards, hearts, kisses, cabbages, and other vegetables.
The gold rush: to surround oneself with friends or with beautiful things, to lure a stray gazelle into a trap, to wander about like a fallen soul in the face of the archetypal female, to make up for lost time,
Life is just a game for them. Sexual urges. What’s behind all this?
What more can I say? I’m not saying, it’s not for me to say.
To speak as an expert but the man of the moment or the intellectual in the true sense of the word, was banned from the club. He doesn’t belong anymore to the club of the greats of this world.
You’re never satisfied, Wellwell ! False dawn. All’s fair in love and war, it’s a frequent occurrence.
My heart bleeds for you. That love, in a rush, sideways at a webcam, breaks the crystal heart. I’m worried about your safety. I’m misplacing my trust in you.
You want to drag me down with you? ha!, ha! What are you letting yourself in for? A question mark hangs over the future of the soul.
He hung his head in shame.
– I fail to see what the problem is. We’re not salvages! Wellwell answered.
– Today’s Great War is a virtual war.
– That’s debatable.
– But that’s the sad reality. “Leave me alone!” she exclaimed. “Rather you than me”.
It will soon be time. You can’t see the wood for the trees.
– People like you have as many friends as you. Hey, you lot, come over here! Who else will be there?
– A friend in need is a friend indeed: do re mi!
He gave me a detailed account of his party. I felt sorry for him.
–How much did she offer you for it?
He made good his escape but he can say goodbye to his hope of winning.
– Nothing less than total obedience. What good will that does you? It’s quite of an irksome a job finding fruit in winter.
The car left the road. Suddenly everything fell into place: energy crisis! The engine won’t start off.
– My strength is failing me.
– ha!, ha! As planned. Fuel is getting low to cover a distance of several kilometres. The engine needs some maintenance.
– Forget it!
Trees, in a break with the roots, are shedding their leaves. Thousands of crows destroyed the body root and branch.
– Are the yoghurts still edible? There are signs in the whole wide world that democracy is on the way through facebook, ha!, ha! The world is afflicted with cholera. My goodness! That’s all well and good but wellwell, if you carry on like that, you will need a lot of this so-called Sildenafil citrate! ha!, ha! Before you’ll be in the finals!
CHAPTER-17

“If you’ve got no better thing to do, then read this book, at least. It’s worth reading!” said Ufo.
Props and traps