One good thing that has happened during the pandemic has been the ability of Belmont UMC English as a Second Language (ESL) students who have returned to theircountries to still be a part of the program via Zoom. One such student is Nilvani Perpétua da Silva Bugarin from Brazil who participates in a class with Mary Jane Duke via Zoom on Wednesdays. She also Zoomed in a small group with Sue Mather in the fall and winter, and is now with Jan Giordano. Nilvani is a writer and performer, and recently wrote a delightful story about vaccines. Belmont UMC's ESL program invites you to read it.

Portal T23, Danger on Earth

by Nilvani Perpétua da Silva Bugarin

The Fogues were a family of dragons. They lived in a beautiful and charming forest called Recanto Azul that was on planet Rixa5. This planet was known in the Universe for its nature, rich in diversity of plants, animals, and rivers. There were vapors that made its atmosphere colorful and also some magical portals through which the inhabitants transported themselves to other galaxies.

For many years, life in Rixa5 was very peaceful. Families had fun and had lots of parties. The animals of Recanto Azul were all friends and lived well among themselves. The Fogues were friends of the Dicos, a family of adorable little monkeys. Mocha, the only unicorn on the planet, was truly kind and everyone admired him.

The animals were vegetarian.They worked together and planted the seeds of the fruits they ate, so the trees kept multiplying. Dragons flew high and looked for other types of food on the other side of the planet especially a species of plant that gave oval fruits of red color and a peculiar flavor. They were pure protein and the Fogues family loved to eat them.

The animals took care of the rivers and no one soiled the waters. Everyone kept an eye out. After all, they knew about the neighboring planet which had suffered deeply because of such pollution.In Recanto Azul nobody polluted. From the big dragon to the tiny bug, everyone helped clean and preserve the place.

Rixa5 was technologically advanced. The inhabitants knew how to handle electronic devices, such as computers, tablets, and cellphones. There was even a surveillance control system with fines for those who polluted the environment.

Fogues dragons were especially important and respected by all animals. When the cold squeezed, they released fire by their noses towards the sky and soon the flames heated up all the areas where the families of the animals lived.

One day, Theo Dico, the little monkey, was hanging around and decided to take a walk. He ran towards the magical portal T23 that was on the other side of the river and went to Earth, a beautiful and distant planet, inhabited by beings called Terrans. Upon arriving on Earth, Theo felt a heavy atmosphere. He noticed that there were many sick people, and the streets were not as crowded as they used to be. Not really understanding what was happening there, the little monkey returned to his planet.

Theo sat quietly on his branch. Sad and tired, he felt a headache and malaise. He could not smell or taste the bananas he used to enjoy so much and to make matters worse, the poor guy couldn’t stop coughing (cough, cough, cough).

His friend Lanux, a very smart owl, realized he was not well. She went to the tree where Theo lived. Carefully keeping distance, she wisely noticed that her friend was different. She approached, but did not come too close, and asked, “Hi Theo, what happened to you? Are you unwell? Where have you been these days?”

Theo replied “I went to visit planet Earth, I noticed that people were strange, acting differently, wearing something on their faces, as a protection shield and some of them looked tired. I smelled danger and quickly came back home.”

Lanux scratched her ear, pondering about the situation, and realized that she had seen people with these things on their faces before, on a trip she made to Earth a long time ago. Then she said, "Ummm, these are masks. Usually, humans use those when they are doctors, work under risky conditions or if they are sick. I will investigate!”

Lanux went to the magical portal T23 and transported herself to Earth. Upon arriving there, she was impressed with so many people wearing masks and, of course, she quickly managed to put one on as well. Now wearing a mask, Lanux went to investigate what was happening on that planet. It did not take long to find out about a so-called Covid 19 virus that was sickening and killing the Terrans.

Lanux thought about Theo. She was worried about her friend. And now? What was she going to do? Flying over a TV store, the owl heard the news about the coronavirus vaccine in several countries on Earth. She thought and thought, and traveled on the magic portal to the human vaccine laboratory.

She took her tablet out of her backpack and researched this Covid 19 and medicines and vaccines. She needed to learn how to use these resources to help her friend Theo. Lanux used the power of hypnosis and imagination, and transformed herself into a human for a few moments, hypnotized the employees responsible for the sectors and was able to get some medicines and vaccines. She returned to her planet. She needed to act fast.

To the owl's surprise, Theo was very ill, and some other animals were also starting to get sick. Lanux took the material to the doctor rabbits and foxes, excellent scientists from Recanto Azul. They immediately adapted those drugs to be applied to the contaminated animals.

Doctor Dog and his health team took Theo and the other patients to the hospital, where they were medicated and isolated from the rest of the animals. The smart scientists, with the help of Lanux, replicated the vaccines and ran a campaign. "Vaccine for all.Preventing is caring".

All animals on the planet Rixa5 would have to get the vaccine to stop the mutant virus. Fogues decreed a quarantine of six months for any inhabitant, big or small, to access the T23 portal. During this period, no one could go to Earth.

The doctor rabbits and foxes still had a problem. There was a family of venomous snakes that did not want to get the vaccine and furthermore, they induced other animals not to take it. Moca, the diplomat unicorn, went to see the rebels trying to convince them to get the vaccine, but to no avail. He talked, explained, demonstrated by statistical graphs, videos, and news. But the snakes would not agree to be vaccinated. So, Gran, the head of the Fogues family, flew to the snakes' nest. In the distance he blew a huge flame and shouted, “Hail, hail venomous!! The vaccine is for everyone's good! If you don't want to take it, that's fine, but know that you will be exposing other animals to getting sick, that's not cool, right?”

The snakes, afraid of becoming barbecue meat, quickly agreed to take the vaccine.

Theo recovered and the pandemic was contained. Peace once again reigned on planet Rixa5 and in Recanto Azul.

“I hope all Earthlings get the vaccine too, so I can get back there soon.” Lanux said.

Theo added with a beautiful smile, “True, I love going to Earth. it has the most delicious fruits in the Universe, that's why all of us, Rixaeans like to stroll there!”

And so, this story comes to an end.