The Adventures of Isabel and Rosa with a Spanish Intro.

A simple fun story about 2 friends and their adventures with a Spanish intro.. The entire story is in English.

The Adventures Of Isabel And Rosa

A Story by Earl Schumacker

 A transformation of life circumstances 

Spanish Intro:

Las Aventuras de Isabel y Rosa

UNA historia de Earl Schumacker

 UNA transformación de las circunstancias de la vida los sábados iban y venían como un reloj. Éste sería completamente diferente en muchos niveles. Isabel y rosa son las mejores amigas. Van de compras cada fin de semana en el mercado de Apocalipsis en Opa-Locka. Esta semana se irían como vendedores. Ambos invirtieron $50,00 cada uno para poder instalar un par de tablas viejas en el mercado al aire libre. Tienen que traer sus propias mesas y bienes para vender. El Apocalipsis no es más que un tazón de polvo, una vieja parcela de tierra abierta en medio de la nada que consiste en tierra amarilla y piedras. La gente vende de todo, desde productos comestibles y pescados de oro a frutas y verduras. No es de extrañar, usted puede adquirir armas de fuego o comprar un barco si tan inclinado.

Rosa e Isabel compraron un viejo autobús escolar. Quitaron todos los asientos; convirtiéndolo en una cáscara vacía en la que podrían llenarlo con equipo y cosas para vender en Apocalypse.

El amigo de Isabel poncho pintó el autobús de color rosa caliente y verde neón con coloridas mariposas, margaritas y arcos iris, adornando todo de arriba a abajo para darle carácter. Claramente se destacan en una multitud y en el aparcamiento del mercado sería un faro para el éxito. No podía dejar de verlo brillando, brillando bajo el rico sol de Florida.

Tuvieron que salir de casa muy temprano para establecer sus exhibiciones antes de que llegaran las multitudes. El viaje en coche es un poco lejos, así que el café era el primer orden de negocios para las chicas. No hace falta decir que llegaron tarde. La fortuna estaba a su favor. UNA tormenta de Hale gigante con vientos de la fuerza del vendaval explotó de fuera del sur con muy poca ADVERTENCIA. Golpeó el mercado humilde muerto encendido con exactitud del punto del perno. Daños considerables de las piedras Hale el tamaño de las naranjas pequeñas impactó esa región inmediata. Se devastaron las carpas, los vehículos y las mesas que acababan de ser puestas en la grieta del amanecer.

(English version from the beginning)

Saturdays came and went like clockwork. This one would be completely different on many levels. Isabel and Rosa are best friends. They go shopping every week end at the Apocalypse Market in Opa-Locka. This week they would be going as sellers. Both invested $50.00 each to be able to set up a couple of old tables in the open air market. They have to bring their own tables and goods to sell. The Apocalypse is nothing more than a dust bowl, an old plot of open land in the middle of nowhere consisting of yellow dirt and stones. People sell everything from grocery goods and gold fish to fruits and vegetables. Not surprisingly, you can acquire guns or buy a boat if so inclined.

Rosa and Isabel bought an old beat up school bus. They removed all the seating; making it an empty shell in which they could fill it with equipment and things to sell at Apocalypse. Isabel's friend Poncho painted the bus hot pink and neon green with colorful butterflies, daisies and rainbows, adorning it all about from top to bottom to give it character. It would clearly stand out in a crowd and at the market parking lot it would be a beacon for success. You could not help but see it glowing, glimmering under the rich Florida sun.

They had to leave home very early in order to set up their displays before the crowds arrived. The drive is a bit of a distance so coffee was the first order of business for the girls. Needless to say, they were late. Fortune was in their favor. A giant hale storm with gale force winds blew up from out of the south with very little warning. It hit the humble market dead on with pin point accuracy. Considerable damage from hale stones the size of small oranges impacted that immediate region. Tents, vehicles and tables that were just being set up at the crack of dawn were devastated.

Extensive damage was done to the permanent cloth and plastic canvasses, which were on display there; set up by the owners of the land to aid many of the individual vendors. Under normal circumstances they were meant to block out the sun, protect peoples goods and to protect them and the visitors from the rain. Today they were of no use. Most of the support poles and canvasses were destroyed beyond repair. The white projectiles falling from the sky ripped through them like paper. Most of the items on the tables were destroyed or damaged, including many of the tables. Cars and trucks lost their windshields and the windows were all broken. Many dings and dents were left behind on the vehicles as reminders of the force of nature. Many people had to be hospitalized for extensive life threatening injuries inflicted by the storm. No one used the term tornado but it was on every-bodies mind.

By the time Rosa and Isabel got there the damage was done. The storm had passed. The show must go on. The poor vendors had to pick up the pieces and go on. This was their livelihood. This was their survival. They had no choice. The girls drove in to the flea market just in time to witness the aftermath, the devastation and to brighten up the day with their glowing carnival like bus.

They wasted no time in setting up their tables and signs side by side to do business. The ground was slippery with remnants of the melting hale stones. The sand had turned to a thick uncomfortable mud, a soupy slurry, difficult to get around in. They both wished they had thought to bring along rubber boots for the occasion. Surprisingly, things got back to normal by noon time.

Isabel brought her large display of red ripe large tomatoes to sell. She had a large variety of them to place front and center on her stand. Some were yellow. Others were a deep orange color. She had Italian plumb tomatoes and cherry ones that go good in salads. The most popular ones were the large red beef stake Ones from New Jersey. She even had medium green ones, imported from Costa Rica which are great for frying. They were popular with the Asian and Spanish crowd

Rosa set up her display next to her friend with large ripe pineapples and fresh bananas that she had imported from Guatemala and Costa Rica weekly. Orchids were and are the most inexpensive commodity produced and exported from Costa Rica. She had phenomenal deals worked out with growers there, men that she has known for years who help her to cut out the middle man and make pure profits with selling directly from the farms. Orchids became very popular with the shoppers at the market.

Some time had passed and the girls became well off. Rosa purchased a veranda in Indonesia near an active volcano. She was able to live there six months out of the year because the market had a very short season of profitability and was closed for most of the year.

She had a farm and house built on her land. Earl, her slave boy would be flown in from America to work with the horses and sheep during the rainy season. Rosa bought a few horses for her riding pleasure. She kept chickens for fresh eggs and she even bought exotic peacocks. Her favorite one was named after her favorite servant boy Earl. It was a male with a gigantic display of fan like feathers spreading out in brilliant blues and bright aqua marine greens.

One of the few remaining places in the world were cannibalism still occurs is in Indonesia. It was outlawed there in the sixties but some of the primitive tribes did not get that memo. They don't read or write so they still consume human flesh when they get the chance. They say it taste just like chicken.

One Sunday, very early morning, a tribe of dark skinned marauders came onto Rosa's estate without warning and certainly without invitation. The natives had given up poison darts, bows and arrows and spears years ago. The Americans equipped them these days with modern weapons of mass destruction at a cheap price. Arms dealers seemed to be operating everywhere in the world these days. Anything for a buck as they say.

These little brown men were armed to the teeth with large automatic rifles loaded with large bullets to do bad things. Rosa woke up early. She was having her morning coffer when she spotted the invaders creeping up on her but they were still at a distance so she quickly took cover immediately in a hidden crawl space in the wooden floor.

Earl the peacock was the first to go. They shot his head clear off and stuffed his body, feathers and all into a large canvass bag. When they entered the house they stole silverware, dishes and a bottle of single malt whiskey. They also made off with two of Rosa's horses and a female piglet. The invasion only lasted for several minutes. The house and barn were shot up pretty good and riddled with bullet holes but fortunately they did not burn the place down or find Rosa. Who knows if she might have ended up on someones menu.

Apparently Earl was an exotic endangered species and in season so they shot him dead. Now he is on the menu, soon to be between two slices of bread.

The colorful fan feathers from the peacock would end up as a headdress for the tribal king or leader. Peacock breast meat was in high demand. It would be roasted over an open fire then Earl would be served as sandwiches with diced small home fries on the side. Only the king, his family and the witch doctor would be permitted to eat these specialty Earl delicacies.

Rosa finally emerged from the hidden crawl space after some time and after she felt the danger had passed and the loud shooting and noises ceased. She witnessed the destruction and devastation with sadness but was happy to be alive. Later on she would be more disturbed about her expensive bottle of apple cider being stolen than the lose of her favorite pet. She still had Earl, the ranch boy around. It is hard to get good help. Fortunately for him his work season had ended. He flew back to the states a few weeks earlier to clean Rosa's home in Florida.

All that remained of Earl the peacock were little fragments of his blown off head scattered about the yard. She placed them in a shoe box and buried it under the yum-yum tree in a close by pasture.

It was hard to figure out if Rosa was more disturbed about the stolen bottle of cider or her dead bird. She hated the thought of those savages enjoying a peacock meal, her pet, her friend, over a glass of her finest cider. It was time for her to move on.

Isabel had purchased her own secluded island somewhere in the south pacific ocean. She officially named it Maria Dulce, (Sweet Maria.) Sugar cane grew wild on the island so it was an appropriate name for the place. There were no inhabitants so she had to start from scratch. Construction workers, electrical engineers and even road builders had to be hired to create a livable environment for herself and her servants. She had a few electrical scooters flown in on her private helicopter so she and her company could get around conveniently on the small land mass. She hired a full time pilot to be on call 24 hours a day for medical emergencies and doing odd chores for her like shopping for supplies on the main land and for any and all unforeseen contingencies that might crop up.

Solar panels were installed to give her endless electricity. The electric scooters could be plugged in nightly to the generators so she would always have instant access for normal transportation needs on the island. She also bought the 4 little Eyelet islands near by. She would use them for hiking and fishing. Jet skies made them easily accessible. The farthest islet was a mere minutes away by boat.

There was a sound reason why and how Isabel had access to all these extravagances that most people can only dream about. Several years ago she sold off her collection of rare Spanish coins she had acquired or inherited from an elderly relative who had passed away while living in Sri Lanka. The coins were extremely rare and insanely valuable. Isabel was sad for the relative but happy at her new found fortune.

She sold off her homes in Florida and the French Riviera to buy the island. She sold the magic multicolored bus, all of her supplies, equipment and vegetables to begin her new life of leisure.

When Rosa called her friend to tell her all about the problems she was experiencing in Indonesia, Isabel was shocked. She immediately invited Rosa to stay on her island. She would have a cabin built for her near her estate and she would be given her own parcel of land free of charge. Rosa took her up on the offer.

Weeks after Rosa sold her veranda in Indonesia and settled in to life on Island Maria Dulce, her former home was destroyed by the active volcano. It expectantly erupted and completely wiped out all life for miles around, leveled all buildings and man made structures for hundreds of miles around. You would have never thought that any inhabitants ever lived there. The molten lava and ash covered every square inch of that region turning it into a wasteland.

Once Rosa moved in to her new home, which was situated only about a mile away from Isabel's mansion, she would visit her friend by scooter and have afternoon coffee and lunches with her.

The servants quarters where about two mile away from them situated on the southern shore. Isabel always kept a young servant girl from India to live with her in the main house to take care of small chores and cleaning. There were always dishes to be done and meals to be prepared and served. The servant stayed in her own apartment downstairs.

One of Isabel's favorite pass times was to visit an old cave she found a while back. She loved setting off sticks of dynamite inside the cave and running like hell after she lit a fuse on them. The explosions were massive and thrilling. Who knows? Maybe one day those explosions might expose gold or precious metals or gems.

Rosa had some chickens and small sheep helicoptered in from the mainland. She loved her fresh eggs and the sound of miniature sheep bleating in the morning. It made her feel like she was back in her homeland.

There were no real natural predators that could hurt them. Monitor lizards however became a nuisance for her chickens. It turns out that these lizards like eggs and in particular, chickens and their eggs for breakfast. As a matter of fact they will eat them at any hour of the day or night. Chicken wire and some more fencing would have to be installed.

In addition to Isabel's natural love of explosives in the form of dynamite, she also had a proclivity for hand grenades. Once you pull the pin on them you could throw them much further than a stick of dynamite. She and Rosa would set them off for hours on end just outside Rosa's fenced in area to scare off monitor lizards and other unwanted creatures of the night.

After several months of fun and playing in the sun the girls decided to have a hotel and casino built on one of the near by eyelet islands. It would be a nice change of pace. They could play games and make a profit from visitors at the same time. They made plans to have a shopping center and restaurant built there also. Rosa wanted to name the eatery “The Peacock Inn.” (Earl Sandwiches would be their specialty.) Isabel would name the hotel “Hotel Amanda.” Life is good when you have the proper currency. Those ancient Spanish coins sure did come in handy.

Author's Note

The whole story is in English. It has a Spanish intro. Enjoy.