Das seltsame Buch - Académie de Nancy-Metz

Deuxième prix en anglais, catégorie BTS : Anaïs Schmitt
Don’t Read it
His name is Josh, and he is forty six years old. Today, he is married with a superb woman whose name is
Laura and has three children with her. His life is beautiful, he built himself his big house and he is a
salesman in a famous firm. However, something makes him sad.
This lack comes from his past. Josh was fourteen when he met Milla. They were young, and they were in
love. During two years, they lived a fabulous story, but one day, a piece of news changed all their life.
They were sixteen and Milla was pregnant. Josh was afraid and believed that he was too young to care
for a child and he imagined his parents’ reaction. Just before this, all his friends had already gibed at
him and he preferred to go away. He thought sincerely that she hadn’t kept the child. He lived in his
grandparents’ house eight hundred kilometers from Milla and his past.
He never called her to know what she did and he led his own life in his new city where he met his wife.
During thirty years, he thought a little about it because he believed that he had no child, and hoped
that she hadn’t kept his child. As a matter of fact, recently, he reflected more and more about it. He
wondered if this child had been a girl or a boy, if he or she would have looked like him. But these
questions stayed in his head and he had no answer.
One afternoon, Ryan, Josh’s oldest son who was studying literature, came home with a new book. In his
bedroom, he had more than a thousand books. He loved reading. This new book was entitled “Alone with
mom “. It was written that it was a real story. The author seemed to be thirty years old, and she had
the same eyes and the same mouth as his father. Ryan read the book while remembering an old story
that his father had told him when he was a teenager. A lot of details reminded him of this story. He
decided to keep this story for himself.
One day, Ryan found his father with “Alone with mom” in his hand. . He wondered how this book had
come here. Josh was looking at the author’s photograph. He looked sad. Ryan asked him why. His father
said, “Do you remember my past story?. He answered “Yes” and didn’t want his father to read the book.
He took the book back but Josh didn’t want to let go. He didn’t know what to do.
Josh read it. It was his turn not to know what to do. He had warned him about the book. Now it was too
late.