「故事·听力」I Helped My Grandpa Find His Love (And He Helped Me Too

I Helped My Grandpa Find His Love (And He Helped Me Too

This is Alan, and his grandfather is his best friend. This might sound a little weird to you. He does have friends his own age, but he still really likes hanging out with him.

His grandfather always used to spend a lot of time with him. He was the one among his relatives who made his childhood exciting, by teaching him to do things like riding a bike and playing baseball. Alan still remembers how once, he hit a ball and it went right through the neighbors’ window. His grandpa gave him a conspiratorial look and they hid behind the fence. Mrs. Scott, the old troublemaker who lived next door, was furious about what happened. She hung out of the broken window, screaming loudly that Alan should be glad he was not her grandson, otherwise she would slap him. Meanwhile, both he and his grandpa were laughing. He never told him Alan off for the tricks he pulled, and always acted like he was the same age. This made their time together so much fun.

Now Alan is in high school, and he always has lots of things to do. Homework with extra tasks, a part-time job at a coffee shop, and hanging out with friends have made him too busy to see his grandpa as often as he did before. That’s why he usually gives him a quick call at least twice a week.

Alan’s grandma passed away a long time ago, and obviously his grandpa misses her a lot. One day he had the idea of setting up a social media account for him, thinking it would be fun. It was not an easy task to explain to him how Facebook worked, what he needed a profile for, and how to create a network of friends. But after some practice, he became a pretty advanced user. He found a guy he did military service with, a former neighbor, who he hadn’t seen for years, and even some old classmates. One of them shared a couple of very old photos they had of themselves with Alan’s grandpa which he’d never seen before. One of them was taken on New Year’s Eve, and his young grandpa was wearing a lady's dress, a wig, and a necklace. He looked hilarious! 

One day Alan was leaving work, and on his way to his grandpa’s house he caught site of a girl. He could tell she was new to the area since he’d never seen her before. She was reading a book, and she looked so beautiful that he felt something strange going on in his stomach. He wanted to introduce himself, but on his way towards her he lost his footing and fell clumsily onto the ground. He got up and ran away as fast as he could, hoping she didn’t notice anything.

He ran all the way to his grandpa’s place with just a single thought in his head: “ You fell over on level ground in front of the most beautiful girl on the planet!” He was pretty sure he had lost any future chance of ever meeting her again.

When he saw his grandpa, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He was wearing a brand new suit, brand new shoes, and even a boutonnière – he looked outstanding! “What are you up to, young man?” Alan asked, feeling a little smart alecky. He told him that he was going on a date with a lady he’d met on Facebook. They’d been chatting for a couple of days and she seemed to be very nice and interesting. And she was the one who suggested the date, so it would be totally stupid of him to miss this chance. He wished him good luck, and on his way home he suddenly thought to himself – why don’t I follow in the footsteps of my role model, be courageous, and go talk to that girl!?

The next day he rushed to the coffee shop, hoping to meet her, but she never showed up that day, or the next one. But then some time later, when he had almost given up on the idea of ever seeing her again, somebody touched Alan’s shoulder. Amazingly, it was her. “Hey, aren't you that guy who was recently measuring the length of the floor?” she asked. He turned red in the face all at once. “Don't worry, I almost didn't notice anything,” she said, as she gave him a smile and invited him to a party she was organizing at her place. She said it would be a 1930s themed party, and that there would be dancing. It was only later that day that Alan remembered he was not very good at dancing.

His grandpa and his girlfriend Maggie promised to tell him everything about the 1930s, and to teach him to dance. She turned out to be a very nice lady. He didn’t become Fred Astaire, but he did learn some nice moves, which he hoped would impress Kate – that was her name.So, armed with a load of useful information, he went over to her place. Needless to say, Kate looked like a million dollars, and the whole dancing thing went more than perfect. He did his best to impress her by being a gentleman, as his grandpa had advised him to. And now, there are two more happy couples in the world.