Percibald Garcia isn’t an actor or voiceover artist. He’s not a teacher or childcare worker. But since May, the 27-year-old architect has been a popular storyteller among some kids in quarantine.
During the pandemic, weeks of confinement—no friends, no group activities—have been dull and dreary, especially for children.
“Almost nobody was looking after the way that kids were experiencing this lockdown,” Garcia says.
For months now, Garcia has taken his “wandering microphone” into the green spaces between buildings in an enormous Mexico City apartment complex. There he broadcasts stories while children listen.
During His time on Earth, Jesus told stories. He often spoke in parables because He knows that stories can reveal truth, overcome barriers, gather people together—and even change them.
Garcia reads stories like El Tlacuache Lunatico (The Crazy Opossum) by David Martín del Campo. He often plays songs by Mexican children’s composer Francisco Gabilondo Soler. Children pop up at the windows of the multistory buildings for the show. A few venture out with parents to sit on the grass or a bench.
“The public plaza has been extremely important in Mexico since the time of our ancestors,” Garcia notes. “It is where people meet, talk, where the life of a neighborhood develops.” The pandemic hit this aspect of life hard, because people have been encouraged not to go out or gather. He calls his reading project “De la Casa a la Plaza” (“From the house to the plaza”).
Garcia believes his readings help to reclaim those shared spaces—and stem the movement to a digital world. “In the last three months, everything has gone online—work, contacts, shopping,” he says. “This is an act of resistance in the face of this ferocious digitalization.”
Rogelio Morales listens from his grandmother’s window. Since March, the nine-year-old has spent much of his time playing video games. “The only thing I go out for is to walk my dog,” he says. “It’s a little boring.”
But of the storytelling, Rogelio says, “It’s nice. We can relax a little.”
Luna Gonzalez came outside with her mother. They listened to Garcia from a safe distance, both wearing face masks. “I imagine what the animals are like,” says Luna. “I get bored at home.”
Rogelio’s grandmother, Maria Elena Sevilla, also sits at the window. “It is not just children he is entertaining,” she says. “It is people of my age too.”
These days, most of his neighbors have cellphones, tablets, or computers. But Garcia wants them to hear the human voice—and thrill in the world of shared tales.
P.S. This is Caro
Wow! That is a cool story Amelia, I like Dare the best to go with Fiona.
@ Belwyn
When are does the thing expire? Is it the end of March or April?
@ Amelia
The name: Uh, I like Dare better, but it seems more like a made up name, so probably Grim.
this is mylee
@Belwyn thats so cool XD !
Fiona’s Name
I think I like Dare better too, and so does my younger sister, but I’m really indecisive and she knows that, so she said I should combine them and have Darriem, take every other letter from both names and leave out the g
@ Amelia
Oh! I like that!
@ Bethy/All
I'm pretty sure it's April. If not, the book is called Running Deer, The Story of a Mandan Indian girl, by Elizabeth J. Robinson, hopefully to be published through Amazon sometime during the first week or two of this May. Farewell, dear friends, thank you ever so much for your help!
@ Amelia B. and Bethy
Yeah, me too!
This is London
❤️ Oh belwyn I will miss you ☹️. Can’t wait to read your book!!! ❤️ -London
This is London
I really like the name Fiona bc I am watching when calls the heart and she is my fav character her last Name is Miller. Idk which last name I like better.
@ All
Ok, approve the acknowledgment list:
Mylee
Bethy
Amelia
If missed anyone or if anyone else wants their name on here PLEASE TELL ME NOW! Thanks!
@ London
Thank you! I'll miss it here! :(
@ Amelia / this is wyn
Wow! that prologue was awesome! i hope you will be able to put more. :D
@Belwyn
i'll miss you ☹️ But I cant wait to read your book, I'll be on the lookout for it
The Journey of Fiona Dare
This is the next part, and it kind of explains the back story of the soul-suckers and why they come.... and when your reading, corpo is Italian for body and Seele is German for soul. For now I'm keeping their last name as Dare, but I might change it later. Feel free to edit, I'm terrible at editing my own stuff because I'm always to attatched to it.
My name is Fiona Dare, and my twin brother is Theodore, Teddy, Dare. We are fourteen years old, and I would like to point out the important fact that I was born first, so I am therefore older and in charge. Before that terrible night we lived with our mother, Liliana, our father, Elgbert, and little sister Cora in the little village of Mireville. My father would come home from his smithing shop with this wonderful smoky smell and soot on his face, which my mother would always tease him about. I remember my mother singing constantly around the house while she was cleaning. She may have been a mess on the outside, but she was filled with joy on the inside. But all that stopped just after Teddy’s and my sixth birthday, now some of you may be wondering if that was when Cora was born, but that was not the case, she was born a year later. My father had to close his shop because he once made a sword for King Fredrick, and so we had to start a bloom berry farm. My mother stopped singing and started taking in laundry work to help pay the high taxes that were imposed upon us. King Fredrick the Wise was killed by his brother Elmar who wanted to take over the throne. Since Elmar killed his own kith and kin, he was cursed. He lost half of himself, of his soul. That is why he searched for the life-suckers and freed them from the Isle of Blogg, their prison. When he released them there were only three, but he made more. He would tell people they could have fame, glory, power, and a place in his court then invite them to a feast. At the feast he would serve them a goblet of strong wine mixed with life-sucker saliva. After ingesting that much spit, you become one of them after a slow and painful transformation. The people who transform do not do it unwillingly, they have a deep desire to be great, powerful, and even higher than The Creator himself; they invite the transformation. Elmar sends them to certain houses each night to do their dirty work. They suck the soul, feelings, and thoughts out of a person and transfer them into a labeled jar. Leaving the body for the Goolah’s to pick up in the morning, the part left is alive, but just barely. The person can still move and work, but they do not have any true feelings left. You see, when a life-sucker slurps someone, it puts a little bit of itself into that person, so they just have the will to follow orders. The people are in a corpselike state until the king speaks the word to them, what that word is, only he knows, it is a type of dark magic that he discovered when he chose to kill his own flesh and blood, then they will become his corpo, or servant. The Goolah’s are small creatures, no more than three feet tall, who have bark like skin, large ears, long toes, and clawed hands. They used to live happily and peacefully in the woods until Elmar came and killed their leader, therefore becoming their new leader and forcing them into slavery. The Goolah’s load the corpos into wagons and pull them to the Ashkalaz Castle, to Elmar, who uses them to serve him. Nobody knows what they do but it is probably something dreadful. The life-suckers transfer the part they suck out, the Seele, into labeled jars. The reason they do this is because Elmar could only live half a life because he became half a person. He stays alive because he drinks a little from each jar every night to live a little longer, but Seeles cannot sustain him forever. There is a prophesy that says that one person’s Seele will make him live forever if he finds that person’s corpo and merges with it. Nobody has a clue who that person is, but everyone dreads the day when Elmar finds him (or her).
@ Bethy S and Desarose (Sorry for the late reply!!!!)
Bethy: Thirquill is Brill's full name. Thanks for telling me you liked it!
@ both of you
If I had my way, I would have included more trajedy and a scene with Kain and Brill at the training ground, having Kain learn from a fellow soldier about the Mountain Nation's past.
@ Desarose
I didn't know Carnelian was in Revelation! Maybe it is...
@ Belwyn
So does this mean that this is your last day??? I'll miss you so much!!! But I can't wait to get your book! I'll try to leave a review on Amazon, hopefully you'll know its me!
There are a lot of other names of people on here, but I don't know if they helped, (or if they want to be on there) but Riley, Nadia, and Desarose did. Maybe London, Elijah, and Caro. But again, maybe they don't want to be listed. (Sorry if any of you other didn't want that up).
(Oh wait, I re-read your comment! You'll get to stay! Hurrah!:)
@ Amelia
I have a hard time revising and changing my story too!
1. 'Theodore, Teddy, Dare.' Too many commas. Change to Theodore--Teddy--Dare. Or just say something like, "but we\I all call him Teddy".
2. 'We are fourteen years old' so they're twins? Bc you kept saying brother and sister, so I didn't know they were twins. Could you make it more clear?
3. 'and little sister' previously you said our, so maybe add in an our.
4. 'Mireville. ' So they live in a not-so-nice place?
I have to go, and sorry if I offended you! I'll say more later! I liked the piece a lot!
this is Wyn
Here is the next page of Cloverson’s Secret:
Then the party began. Aspin almost fainted. Hundreds of squirrels poured out of the city gate and into Tree Circle (which was were the party was being held). Maple left his side and ran to help a crippled squirrel find a comfortable chair. Aspin just stood there for a second not knowing what to do, but then he decided that he should probably do something productive and headed to the punch stand and began filling cups for the squirrels who sauntered by. It didn’t take very long for the party to be in full swing and they were about to start a dance. Oh how Aspin loved to dance. He looked wistfully at all the happy squirrels who were skipping and twirling with big smiles on their faces and wishing that he was with them. But he had gone to that punch stand and apparently that meant was going to have to stay there. Aspin’s gaze left the cup he was filling and fell on Maple who was talking to a very old squirrel. “This party was made for young boars like you to enjoy,” a kind voice said behind him. Aspin jumped and spun around. “ Oh, hi Mrs. Oak. Do you need a drink?” Aspin said awkwardly holding an already filled cup to Mrs. Oak.
@Wyn
That's really good!
@Bethy
1. Ok
2. I did put twin brother before theodore, but I have been known to be unclear in my writing before
3. I'll add that
4. 'Mireville, well to one side of the town is this huge swampy area, so that's why it's called that. You don't really learn that until later, because they aren't really in the town since they're on the run
Thank you so much for the edits, I'll take all the help I can get
Link
so I found a scan to see whose writing style you've got, and you search : I write like. It'll look like iwl on the link above
Pass the mashed potato-aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So many comments! How can I keep up?
@Ameilia
WOW! I love it! Truly an eye-catcher!
Is Fiona the person? (Oh wait, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to spoil it!)
@Wyn
Cool! So, just a question. why does Aspin seem nervous when giving Mrs. Oak a cup?
@Belwyn and Wyn
It expires the end of April, right? :( So soon...I am going to miss you both....
@Bethy
Hm....I re read it, and you're right. That was a hard line to figure out how to put! But I sort of don't know if it has to be changed, in a lot of poetry I read some of the lines are like that...what do you think? Does it have to be changed, or not?
@Caro
Sadly, no. My stomach still says no to anything and everything:( It gets very rebellious sometimes! But I think I discovered the cause so I'll be alright pretty soon...hopefully.
@Riley
Ok, that makes a little more sense! The recurve is the smaller one, right? If so then that's the kind I used and the kind Maple used. Thanks for that it was very helpful!
@Lissa
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's one of the jewels on the gate.
Got to go, hope I haven't forgotten to reply to anyone!
Pass the mashed potato-aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So many comments! How can I keep up?
@Ameilia
WOW! I love it! Truly an eye-catcher!
Is Fiona the person? (Oh wait, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to spoil it!)
@Wyn
Cool! So, just a question. why does Aspin seem nervous when giving Mrs. Oak a cup?
@Belwyn and Wyn
It expires the end of April, right? :( So soon...I am going to miss you both....
@Bethy
Hm....I re read it, and you're right. That was a hard line to figure out how to put! But I sort of don't know if it has to be changed, in a lot of poetry I read some of the lines are like that...what do you think? Does it have to be changed, or not?
@Caro
Sadly, no. My stomach still says no to anything and everything:( It gets very rebellious sometimes! But I think I discovered the cause so I'll be alright pretty soon...hopefully.
@Riley
Ok, that makes a little more sense! The recurve is the smaller one, right? If so then that's the kind I used and the kind Maple used. Thanks for that it was very helpful!
@Lissa
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's one of the jewels on the gate.
Got to go, hope I haven't forgotten to reply to anyone!
@Dessie
I think she might end up being the person, but I’m going back and forth between a few of my characters.....
Welp I'm going on vacation
Welp I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks so.....don't add 30 more pages..pelaseeeeee! Bye!
@N&M.A
We'll try!! have fun.
@N&M
That’s going to be hard XD Enjoy!
@All TypeWriters
@Amelia: I really like it keep going! I like Dare as a last name too.
@Belwyn: Oh that is too bad it has been fun having you on here! If you would like to put my name on there you can, but just do it Riley, no D or anything please! (Privacy reasons, as I am sure you understand!) Or you could just put "All my friends from Worldteen" or something down that line to make sure you encompass everyone without giving away their names. Just a thought.
@Dessie: Uh, well, the recurve it really long, like sometimes as tall as the person shooting it. The compound is smaller and more compact. Sorry I wish I could talk to you in person and show you! :)
@Wyn: Really good! Maybe after 'Oh how Aspin loved to dance' put an exclamation point so it looks like this 'Oh, how Aspin loved to dance!'
@Not Available: Have a gigantic load of fun!!!!! We will try not to!! XDXDXDXDXD But no promises! There is already a whole new half a page from when I got on this morning! XD
this is mylee
Belwyn i will miss you so much .... Goodbye... *sobs*... I can't wait to read your book . p.s. also add London to the list of ppl.
this is mylee
Love and miss ya'll so much
------- Mylee .
@ Mylee S.
Ok, I'll put London on!
@ Riley D.
Yep, I understand, I'm thinking about putting something like, 'And to Bethy, Mylee, Amelia, Riley, and all my other friends at WT, thanks for your help and support.' Something like that, Idk.
@ N&M. A
Have fun!!!!!!!!!! Tell us when you come back!
@ London & Mylee
Wait...are you leaving?
Which was eaten first? Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes?
Desarose: I mean, I just don't really get it...but that makes it more mysterious...unless it is grammatically incorrect.
Lissa: Is this scan online?
Amelia,
5. 'this wonderful smoky smell' there should be a comma after "wonderful".
6. 'She may have been a mess on the outside, but she was filled with joy on the inside.' Is this referring to the mother or the house? I'm assuming it's the mother, but it might be good to make it clearer.
7. 'Teddy’s and my sixth birthday,' (1 instead of "my" have it be "mine". (2 this sentence gets very long and is a run-on sentence, and is hard to follow. So, change the comma to a period.
8. 'now some of you' probably you should put a comma in after "now".
9. 'she was born a year later.' Make this a new sentence.
10. 'My father had to close his shop because he once made a sword for King Fredrick, and so we had to start a bloom berry farm.' I'm sorry but, this sentence makes so sense to me. Their father closed his shop bc he made the king a sword had to be a bloom berry farmer? What? Can you please explain?
11. 'his brother Elmar who wanted' put in a comma after Elmar, and probably brother.
12. 'He lost half of himself, of his soul.' I'm confused by the "of his soul". Do you mean he lost half of his soul?
13. 'in his court then invite them' put a comma in after court, I think.
14. 'life-sucker saliva.' Saliva from a life-sucker, or saliva that will suck your life? Also, you might want to give them a different name then just "Life-Sucker", to make it less confusing. Also, could you taste it?
15. 'unwillingly, they' perhaps add a for before they, after the comma.
16. 'Leaving the body for the Goolah’s to pick up in the morning, the part left is alive, but just barely. ' Okays, so this a Number Four -Ing Opener, and you have to have the word after the comma doing the inging. Bc right now it means the part is leaving. (2) I know you say who the Goolah are later, but you might want to put it up earlier, so the reader knows what you are talking about.
17. 'life-sucker slurps someone, it puts a little bit of itself into that person, so they just have the will to follow orders.' I am pretty sure I know what you mean, but maybe you could make it clearer.
18. 'a corpselike state until the king' put a comma after "state".
19. 'what that word is, only he knows, it is a type of dark magic that he discovered when he chose to kill his own flesh and blood, then they will become his corpo, or servant.' Can you try to find a way to break this down into two or three sentences?
20. 'The Goolah’s are small creatures' you don't mean possessive. Do you want it to say "the Goolahians"?
21. 'to the Ashkalaz Castle, to Elmar, ' maybe change the "to" to "where Elmar rules..." and change the rest to go with it, bc right now it is a little weird.
22. 'Seeles cannot sustain him forever. ' Does this mean that unless he can find the certain seele he will die eventually?
23. How does she know all of this? Is it common knowledge?
24. Where does she have time in her life to write this?
It was really good, I hope I don't make you feel bad. Sorry if anything I said is unclear or if it has typos, or is to hard too read. I'm really interested to see how this will turn out! By the way, GREAT NAMES!!!!! :)
this is mylee
no we are not leaving i was talking about bye to Bel and Wyn
@Everybody
Man, I'll try to join this discussion, but I prob won't be able to keep up with it lol
Here is a poem I did, what do y'all think?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1froybwDgAWx_txA1egeDJciHQwq8N7D1s8ID...
P.S. This is Caro
I finished allllllll of LOTR! And I'm starting Hunger Games! Bye Belwyn! I'll look for your book!
@Caro
Wow good job! I don't remember where you asked this but yes I am doing government. It is kinda fun! I have my lessons and stuff and then a side book about Ronald Regan's Spiritual Life. LOL I kinda noticed that Tommy never comments! XD
@ All
Ok, guys,...........YES!!!!!!!!!, we are still here!!!!!!!!!
@Belwyn
Yay!!
@ Dessie / this is wyn
Well, Mrs. Oak kind of scared him and plucked him out of his thoughts so he was acting a little nervous.
@ Amelia / this is wyn
Thanks
@ Riley / this is wyn
Okay, that makes sense. I'll make that an exclamation point.
@Bethy S
Yes, this scan is online. However, I don't think it is very accurate because my friend and I both took it and it said we both wrote like Agatha Christie.
P.S. This is Caro
@Belwyn, if I find your book I'll read it, and leave a comment and at the end I'll write, -the author of The Lives of Cabbage and Potato so that you'll know it's me. @Riley, yeah! I don't even know if he reads these anymore! If he doesn't maybe I'll change my username.. Hmm... :)))))
@Caro
Haha yeah! Then you wouldn't always have to put "P.S this is Caro" XD How many years apart are you and your brother?
P.S. This is Caro
@Riley D, we are 5 years apart, but if I change my username I'll let you know.
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