READING I

THE FUGITIVE

Some decades ago in a small town next to a beach on the gulf coast of Florida,there was a very young boy called Finnegan “Finn” Bell. Finn was an orphan and lived with his older sister, Maggie. One day he went to explore near the shore. An escaped convict suddenly popped out of the water and subdued him. The stranger made Finn promise tobring back food and medicine and a bolt cutter to destroy the iron shanks in his leg. The following day Finn did what the man asked; then the convict unexpectedly tried to make Finn take him to México by boat. When they were on their way, the police seized the small boat. The convict hid on a buoy, and Finn‘s boat was towed back to shore. The next day, Finn saw on the news that the convict was Arthur Rogers, a former mobster and his sentence was the death penalty.

Young Finn had an uncle; his name was Joe. Uncle Joe worked as a repairman and Finn was his helper. Oneday, Ms. Nora Stevens, a veryrich lady, asked Uncle Joe to come toher mansion to do some repairs. The name of the mansion was Paradiso Perduto. Ms. Stevens was a bit crazy because several years before, she was left standing at the altar by her fiancé. Ms. Stevens had no contact with anyone outside her mansion and she wore the same clothes every day. Uncle Joe was finishingthe repairs and meanwhile, Finn was walking around the house. He then met young Estella in the garden. Ms. Stevens saw them interacting and called Maggie to ask her to let Finn be a playmate for Estella.

So Finn started going to Paradiso Perduto regularly. One day Ms. Stevens asked Finn to dance. He said he did not know how to dance. Ms. Stevens was disappointed but she felt intrigued when he said he could draw very well. Ms. Stevens forced Estella to sit for a portrait, which Finn drewon an old piece of wallpaper. While he was drawing, Ms. Stevens warned Finn that he would fall in love with Estella and she would break his heart one day. After the portrait session, Estella accompanied Finn to the door. On the way out, she paused to take a drink from a water fountain and politely offered him a drink from it as well. While Finn drank, Estella managed to give him a tongue kiss.

Several years passed, Maggie ran away from home and Joe raised Finn alone. Finn went to Paradiso Perduto every Saturday, where he learned to dance with Estella. She occasionally flirted with Finn but her behavior was bizarre. One day they went to a party together. Once they got there, Estella started to seduce Finn and they began kissing. Then she suddenly left, saying that she was very busy that night. Despite Estella`s behavior, Finn felt more and more attracted to her.

The next day, when Finn went to Paradiso Perduto, Ms. Stevens told him that Estella left to study abroad in Europe. Finn was considerably up set. For the next seven years he resolutely put Estella and Ms. Stevens out of his mind, along with other things like his art. He focused on helping Joe out with his fishing business.

One day, a lawyer came to Finn and told him that he had a client who liked Finn`s drawings. The lawyer gave money to Finn so he could travel to New York and do anexhibition in an art gallery. Finn and Uncle Joe were astonished at Finn`s luck, especially because the lawyer did not say who his client was. In the end, Uncle Joe convinced Finn to go to New York saying that it was the art capital of the world. When Finn arrived, he immediately started to draw again, since he had no pieces to put on exhibit. He sat down in a park drawing everything he saw and discovered that he still had his painting skills. He took a break to get a drink from a water fountain and while he was drinking, Estella appeared and kissed him (the same way she had kissed him years before in Florida). Next she invited him to afternoon tea with her at a high class club.

Finn arrived to tea with Estella and some of her high class friends. He only had eyes for Estella. Suddenly Estella introduced her fiancé, Walter Jones. Finn made up an excuse and left abruptly among the laughter of Estella`s friends. Some days later, Finn woke up in his hotel room and saw Estella standing next to him. When he expressed surprise, Estella asked him draw a portrait of her. While he prepared his sketch pad and charcoal, Estella removed her clothes. Finn drew many sketches of her naked in different positions. Estella suddently put her clothes back on and left saying that she was very busy. Finn was tired of Estella`s games, so he went after Estella and asked her why she always acted in such a strange way. Estella looked sad; she only said her Aunt Stevens trained her to act that way.

The lawyer showed up again; he moved Finn to a big studio where he could work on his art more comfortably. Finn quickly filled up the studio with his artwork as the opening date of his gallery drew nearer. One night, after an important event, Finn followed Estella to a Chinese restaurant. Finn asked Estella to dance. They danced for a few seconds and then left the restaurant. Estella’s fiance was surprised but did not do anything. Once on the sidewalk, they ran for Finn’s art studio and slept together.

Finally, the opening night of Finn’s gallery show arrived. Finn was hoping to see Estella there but she did not arrive. Finn decided to go to Estella’s residence but he did not find her. Instead he found Ms. Stevens. She told Finn that she came to New York for Estella’s wedding. Finn felt devastated. Ms. Stevens said thet she warned him when he was a child. At this, Finn told Ms. Stevens that she broke his heart, the same way her fiancé did all those years before. Ms. Stevens started to cry and apologized; Finn left her there. He returned to his studio and found a strange bearded man wanting to see him.

The strange man was Arthur Rogers. Finn was incredulous. Then Finn remembered the man was a criminal and asked him to leave. Rogers asked him to accompany him for a coffee. While they were walking to get a coffee, some strangers were following them. Rogers saw two of his enemies on the other side of the sidewalk. The hoodlums crossed the street with the intention of hurting Rogers and his companion. Finn and Rogers escaped by entering  the cafeteria. One of the two men entered the cafeteria with a gun in his hand and targeted Rogers, later they escaped from the place. As Rogers was bleeding in Finnn’s arms, he told Finn that he was his father and also benefactor. Finn requests help from the person in charge of the cafeteria, he tells him to call an ambulance. Rogers had seen Finn’s drawings in the boat and decided to pay for the lawyer, the gallery, the study, the plane ticket, and even bought every single piece that Finn had at the gallery making Finn a rich man. This was in return for the kindness that Finn showed him when he was a child and because he was his son and some how he wanted to compensate the time that he didn't share with him and his sister. The ambulance arrived and Rogers was taken to the hospital. Rogers lived and he left without saying a word, just a letter that said "Good-bye and thank you".

Finn decided to go to Paris and Rome to study art. He became a famous painter in his own right and came back to Florida to say hello to his Uncle Joe. While he was talking with his uncle he remembered the mansion Paradiso Perduto and he asked about Ms. Stevens and if she still lived. Finn went to visit Ms. Stevens, on the road he met two children who looked very similar to Estella when she was a girl. When he arrived at the mansion Ms. Stevens looked at him with eyes full of happiness but with bad news; that Estella had died some time ago in a traffic accidentalong with her husband leaving two children.Finn collapsed completely, he lost his encouragement for an instant but he decided to take care of Estella‘s children as if they were his. Ms. Stevens agreed because she was already a very old woman and at any moment she could die and the children would be alone. From the bottom of his broken heart and his soul,Finnn forgave Estella for everything that she did to him in the past and in spite of the years and the damage, he loved her. Finn said goodbye to Estella from the distance looking at the colored horizon of sun and sea.