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The Adventures of Yumi and her Amazing Friends
(The version you didn't read in New Horizon 1, amended by Jennifer Califf)
The Cast:
Yumi Hayashi
Ken Suzuki
Paulo Silva
Sarah Robinson
Ann Green
Tom Robinson
Yoko Robinson
Unit 1 (Pg. 14, NH1)
Yumi: Hi. I'm Yumi Hayashi. I'm nominally the main character in this story, although by the end of it I'm pretty much eclipsed by the other characters.
Ken: Hi. I'm Ken Suzuki. I'm Yumi's friend, and the requisite Japanese boy in this story.
Paulo: Hi. I'm Paulo Silva. I'm from Brazil. I also have blond hair and blue eyes, just so that you can remember that I'm a foreigner, though in reality very few people in Brazil have natural blue eyes and blond hair.
(Pg. 15, NH1, Captions)
Sarah Robinson
Ann Green
Tom Robinson
Yoko Robinson
Together: We're all minor characters and the author of this work didn't think it was worth wasting space to allow us to introduce ourselves.
John: At least you had your picture in the front of the book. I have a bigger part than Yoko and Tom, and I don't even get that much.
(Pg. 16)
Ken: Excuse me. Are you Ms. Green?
Not Ms. Green: No, I'm not. But I am a foreigner. You can tell because I have blue eyes and blonde hair.
Ken: I'm sorry.
Not Ms. Green: So am I. If I was Ms. Green, I'd have more than two frames in this story. (to herself) I need a new agent.
(Pg. 17)
Yumi: Excuse me. Are you Ms. Green?
Ms. Green: Yes, I am.
Yumi: I knew it! There aren't THAT many foreigners in this town. (wink)
(Pg. 18)
Yumi: Good morning, Ms. Green. I'm Yumi. I'm the title character of this story. Just so you know.
Ken: I'm Ken.
Ms. Green: Good morning. Nice to meet you.
Yumi, Ken: Nice to meet you, too.
Yumi: Welcome to Heiwa. It's a friendly place where even the native Japanese students speak perfect English with no accent.
Ms. Green: Thank you, though I actually requested a different prefecture and I'm still a little annoyed that I got stuck here in the middle of nowhere.
(Pg. 22)
Ms. Green: Is that a factory?
Yumi: No, it's not. It's a public bath.
Ms. Green: Oh, a public bath. I went to one of those once. (shudder)
Yumi: What happened?
Ms. Green: (mysteriously) I'd rather not talk about it.
(Pg. 23)
Ms. Green: Is that your school?
Ken: Yes, it is.
Ms. Green: It's a nice school. Relatively speaking.
(Pg. 24)
Yumi: Ms. Green, this is my friend Paulo. He's from Brazil.
Paulo: Yes, don't be fooled by my fair complexion.
Yumi: (continues) Paulo, this is Ms. Green. She's our new English teacher.
Ms. Green: Hi, Paulo. Nice to meet you. Boy, am I glad there are other foreigners in this school.
Paulo: Nice to meet you, too. Since I already speak English, class is a breeze for me. I look forward to sleeping though it.
Yumi: (whispering confidentially to Ms. Green) Paulo's kindof a dweeb, but he's a nice dweeb.
Ken: I'm still here.
(Pg. 28)
Ms. Green: Hello, everyone. I'm Ann Green. I'm from Canada. Do you know this flag?
Paulo: No, I don't. (Everyone in class laughs at him.)
Yumi: I know. It's a Canadian flag. (Yumi sticks here tongue out at Paulo).
Ms. Green: That's right. Do you know this leaf?
Ken: Yes, I do. It's a maple leaf. (Yumi and Ken high-five while Paulo shrinks down in his seat holding a book in front of his face.)
Paulo: I knew that . . ..
(Pg. 30)
Ms. Green: In Canada we speak English and French. How about in Brazil, Paulo?
Paulo: We speak Portuguese.
Yumi: Paulo, you speak English and Japanese, too.
Ken: Ms. Green, do you speak Japanese?
Ms. Green: (showing off) Sukoshi.
(Pg. 34)
Yumi: I like Ms. Green's class very much. Her class is very interesting.
Paulo: I think so, too. Especially the part when she told us about her previous jobs as a dancer and an actress.
Sarah: Who's Ms. Green? I don't go to the same school as ya'll, remember? It's a little hard for me to figure out what you're talking about sometimes.
Paulo: Our new English teacher. She also has blond hair and blue eyes.
Sarah: Obviously a foreigner. Where's she from?
Ken: She's from Canada.
(Pg.36)
Ken: Sarah, do you know Mario?
Sarah: Yes, I do. He's very popular in the United States. Or at least he used to be before Playstation and Pokemon began to dominate the market.
Yumi: Oh, really?
Paulo: Mario is not so young, but he's very cute.
Yumi: Oh? Ummmm, okay Paulo, whatever you say. How old is he, Ken?
Ken: I don't know. Maybe about thirty-five.
Paulo: Let's see, his first appearance was in Donkey Kong, right? When did that come out - in the early 1980's, right? I think 35 is pushing it a little - there's no way he existed in 1965. Oh, did you mean the -apparent- age of the character? I thought you meant . . .uh, nevermind.
Yumi: (whispering confidentially to Sarah) Paulo is a dweeb, but he's relatively harmless.
(Pg. 42)
JBurger employee: (boredly) Next, please. Welcome to JBurger. Would you like to try one of our super special combo meals?
Paulo: No, thank you. Two hamburgers and two colas, please.
JBurger employee: Large or small?
Paulo: Small, please.
JBurger employee: For here or to go?
Paulo: For here.
JBurger employee: You want fries with that? For an extra thirty yen, I can supersize your order.
Paulo: Uh, no thanks.
JBurger employee: Here you are. That's six hundred and forty yen, please. Thank you.
Sarah: Oh, I'm starving! I can't wait to eat!
Paulo: Oh, did you want something too?
Sarah: . . . . . (looks coldly at Paulo)
Paulo: (laughs nervously) heh, heh. . . . Uh, here, why don't you have one of my hamburgers and we'll go sit with Yumi and Ken.
Sarah: . . . . .
(Pg. 44)
Sarah: (Looking at Ken) Do you have any plans for next Sunday?
Yumi: No, I don't.
Sarah: (Glances sideways at Yumi with an annoyed expression, then turns to Ken again) How about you, Ken?
Ken: Next Sunday? No.
Sarah: Let's go to my uncle's. My aunt and uncle are scientists. They have some interesting machines.
Paulo: (oblivious to Sarah's interest in Ken) All right. Let's go. I like machines.
Sarah: (sighs and mutters something under her breath)
(Pg. 50)
Paulo: What does your aunt do?
Sarah: (resignedly) She studies computers.
Yumi: Does your uncle study computers too?
Sarah: No, he doesn't. He's a rocket scientist.
Paulo: Does he make rockets?
Sarah: (stares at Paulo for a second in disbelief) Yes, he does. (half mutters under her breath while thinking to herself, Paulo remains oblivious) No, he's a rocket scientist who flips burgers at JBurger. What do you think? Jeez. (suddenly she sees the bus stop sign out the window) Oh! This is our stop.
(the bus passes the stop just as she rings the signal)
Sarah: Oh! Too late. I guess we'll have to walk a little.
(Pg. 51)
Ding-dong
Sarah: That's strange. They don't answer. (looks at Ken and thinks to herself) This was supposed to be romantic, and instead it's turned into a school field trip. (sighs) Oh well.
Paulo: Hey, what's that?
(Pg. 52)
Paulo: That doesn't look like a rocket.
Sarah: (thinks to herself) Oh Lord . . . yeah, like my uncle just leaves rockets lying around the house. (speaks out loud) Maybe that's his new machine. (Looks at Ken and is struck by a sudden burst of inspiration) Come on. Let's look inside. (while Paulo and Yumi go into the machine, Sarah tries to stop Ken) Ken, let's go into the other room while Paulo and Yumi look at the machine.
Ken: But I want to see inside the machine too. (walks inside)
Sarah: (sighs) Boys. . ..
(Pg. 53)
Ken: Hey, what's this big yellow button?
Sarah: Stop! Don't push it!
Together: OH, NO-
(Pg. 58)
Sarah: (wakes up first and looks around the machine, speaks to herself) Okay, so maybe Ken isn't the brightest guy in Japan. (Looks at him and smiles to herself) But he's awfully cute when he's asleep.
Sarah: (stands up and walks over to Ken) Come on! Wake up!
(the other two wake up gradually, Ken is still out like a light. Sarah starts shaking his shoulder)
Sarah: Ken, wake up sleepyhead!
Ken: But Mom, I don't wanna go to school today.
Sarah: KEN!
Ken: Huh? What? (blinks his eyes, finally waking up) Where are we?
Sarah: We're in the machine.
Yumi: Let's get out.
Sarah: Wait! Don't open the door! You don't know what's out there!
(Yumi opens the door anyway, and Sarah backs up against the wall, fearful of what might happen. Yumi walks out, closely followed by Ken and Paulo.)
Sarah: (listening) Well, I don't hear any screams, so I guess it's safe. (she walks out)
Paulo: Look at all the trash!
(Pg. 59)
Paulo: Maybe we're in another world.
Yumi: Maybe we're in New York City!
Ken: Maybe we're dead and this is Hell. (all three stare at Ken and he shrugs his shoulders) Or maybe not.
Sarah: Look at this date!
Newspaper (dated Sept. 21, 2030) headlines: International Mars colony project suffers financial setbacks! Human clones demand equal rights! Violence erupts in the Middle East!
Yumi: No way!! If this is the year 2030, then that means that I'm 43 years old!
Sarah: (brightly) At least you look really young for your age!
(a gruff voice calls out to them from nearby)
Hey!! What are you kids doing in the landfill area! Don't you know it's dangerous!?! Get out of here now!
Sarah: Oh, man! We're going to get in trouble.
Ken: There's a city over there. Let's go.
Yumi: Good idea.
Paulo: I don't really like standing around in a junkyard myself. It doesn't seem very sanitary.
(They wander out of the landfill and into the town. Sarah starts to fall behind, but notices strange men staring at her from doorways as they pass, and she rushes to catch up to the others.)
Sarah: (fearfully) Guys, I don't think this is very safe.
Paulo: (looks at the neon bar signs, scantily dressed women standing on street corners, and burly bouncers) Yes, I think maybe we aren't in the best part of town. (A couple of women catch Paulo's eye and giggle as he walks by. He swallows nervously.)
Yumi: Are you sure we aren't in New York?
(Suddenly a man comes out of a bar. He looks at the four kids with a strange expression, and approaches them).
Man: Excuse me.
Sarah: (panicking) Oh, crap! I knew something like this was going to happen! I don't wanna die!
Yumi: Sarah! Calm down!
(Paulo and Ken protectively move in front of the two girls in a gender stereotypic, though in this case, not unappreciated, role.)
Paulo: What do you want?
Man: What's your name?
Paulo: Me? I'm Paulo Silva.
Man: Why are you here?
Paulo: I don't know. We're in trouble.
Yumi: We're from the twentieth century.
Sarah: (aghast) Yumi! Don't tell him that! We don't know anything about this weirdo. Besides, why should he believe us?
Man: Oh, my goodness! Do you know me?
Paulo: No. (to the others) Do you know him?
Ken: No.
Yumi: No. (aside) Did he just say "Oh, my goodness?"
Sarah: No, nor do I want to. (Pulling on Yumi's arm) Come on, let's get out of here, please?
Man: But I know you.
(startled, the four kids stare at the man, and without even realizing it they slowly start to back away)
Yumi: R, really?
Sarah: (whispering) On my signal, run like hell!
Paulo: Why do you know us?
Man: I'm Paulo Silva, too!
All: (stunned silence)
Paulo: Oh, my goodness!
Ken: Wait a minute! If he's Paulo. . . and you're Paulo. . .but how can there be two Paulos? Is one of you a fake Paulo? A Paulo pretender. But, if Paulo of the past is in the future, and meets his future self, then can his future self go back into the past and meet Paulo of the past? But isn't the past our present? Or is the present in the future? (Paulo stops and his shoulders sag, speaking miserably) I'm so confused.
Yumi: Don't think so hard Ken; you'll hurt yourself.
Sarah: Wait a minute! How do we know that you're really who you say you are? How can you prove that you're really Paulo Silva?
Man: (scratches his head) Well, let's see. I know! Yumi, you have a birthmark shaped like a cat on your left thigh!
Yumi: (turns bright red)
Ken: Yumi, is he right?
Yumi: I don't want to hear any more! God, I can't believe I've been defending this dweeb.
Paulo: Hey, I'm not a dweeb!
Man: Yeah!
Sarah: Shut up, Paulo!
Paulo and Man, together: Sorry. . ..
Yumi: I want to go home!
Ken: Can't we all just get along?
Mr. Silva (Man): Okay, fine. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. But as long as you're here, why don't we go visit your old school.
Sarah: Excuse us for a minute, would you? (They walk a few meters away so that he can't hear them talk)
Sarah: (to the other kids) So, what do you want to do?
Paulo: The time machine isn't working. If we're going to go back home, we have to find help to fix it.
Yumi: I don't trust him.
Ken: Don't worry, Yumi. As long as we all stick together, we'll be okay.
Yumi: Well. . . .okay.
(They go back to the man)
Sarah: Okay, we'll go with you. But if you try anything funny, we'll scream.
Yumi: Yeah!
Mr. Silva: Let's go!
(Pg. 67)
Mr. Silva: I'm a teacher at your school now. I teach English and Portuguese. Every student studies three languages. We have no school on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. School is over at twelve o'clock. After school, some of the students have lunch, and then study with computers.
Ken: Wow! Say, Mr. Silva, can I ask a question?
Mr. Silva: Sure, Ken. Ask away!
Ken: Okay! What am I doing now, in this time?
Mr. Silva: (hesitantly) Well, um, that is. . ..
(Pg. 68)
Mr. Silva: Ah! This is your school.
Ken: (disappointed) You didn't answer my question.
Sarah: Look at all the bikes!
Mr. Silva: We come to school by bike. We don't use cars or trains very often. They use too much energy.
Ken: Kickin'! Who's bike is this?
Mr. Silva: It's mine. And that old one is Ms. Green's.
Yumi: Ms. Green's? Don't you foreigners ever go home?
Ms. Green: Well, hello! Welcome back to school.
Paulo: Hey! Ms. Green!
Mr. Silva: (whispering) Ms. Green is a little senile. Just humor her.
Ms. Green: Ken! Yumi! Why were you late to class this morning?
Yumi: Ummm, sorry about that Ms. Green.
Ken: Yeah, sorry.
Ms. Green: Hmph. Well next time, don't be late. (looks at her watch) Oh, my! Look at the time! I have to run. I have to go to a meeting of the Canadian Liberation Front. See you later!
(Ms. Green leaves)
Sarah: Canadian Liberation Front? What's that?
Mr. Silva: It's a long story. Just wait a few years and you'll find out.
Yumi: That's nice. More importantly, is there anyone here at the school who can fix the time machine?
Mr. Silva: Not yet. Can you wait until this evening? Well, I mean, it's not like you have a choice or anything.
Paulo: What do you mean?
Mr. Silva: Well, I've already lived all this once, so I already know what's going to happen. But I won't tell you. It'll be a surprise.
Ken: That's true, though. If Mr. Silva is here with us now, then that means that we must be able to get home eventually, or else Paulo wouldn't grow up to be Mr. Silva who's here with us now. Or something like that.
Sarah: (beaming at Ken) Wow, Ken! That was brilliant!
Ken: (blushing) Thanks.
Paulo: I'm getting a headache.
Yumi: Come on, guys. We passed a park on the way here. Let's go relax until this evening.
Mr. Silva: (smiles knowingly) Have fun! I'll see you when you get back.
(Pg. 74)
Yumi: Look! Up in the sky!
Paulo: It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's . . ..
Ken: . . .heading this way!!
Sarah: What is it?
Ken: I don't know, but it's coming down.
(Pg. 75)
Paulo: Let's go!
Sarah: Do you really think this is a good idea?
Ken: Could this be what Mr. Silva was talking about?
Ken: What's that? What's it doing?
Yumi: Maybe it's an alien.
Sarah: Listen! It's talking to someone.
Paulo: What's it saying?
(Pg. 76)
Ken: Achoo!
Sarah: Ken! Cover your mouth when you sneeze! Jeez!
Alien?: Who's there?
Paulo: Hey, it speaks English!
Sarah: No shit, Sherlock!
Paulo: Are you an alien?
Not an Alien: No, I'm a scientist. I'm on my way to the moon, but my spaceship isn't working. (falls over) Uggh!
Yumi: It looks like your spaceship isn't the only thing that isn't working.
Sarah: He's not moving.
Ken: Is he dead?
Yumi: Paulo, go and call a doctor!
Paulo: O.K.
(five minutes later Paulo returns)
Paulo: Umm. Do you know where there's a phone?
Sarah: Dammit Paulo! I'll go!
(Pg. 82)
Man: Thanks for helping me out back there. My name is John.
Paulo: You're a foreigner, aren't you?
John: What gave me away?
Paulo: Blond hair and blue eyes.
John: Of course.
Yumi: Are you all right now?
John: Yes. Thank you. Now I can walk. Look!
Yumi: Good.
Sarah: (impatiently) Yes, that's nice. Can you help us? We can't get back home.
Ken: Something is wrong with our time machine. Can you fix it?
(Pg. 83)
John: Oh, no! Do you have a time machine already? I'm making one now.
Sarah: Apparently, it was something my uncle was working on.
John: I can't believe it. I've been working on this thing for the past seven years, and someone beat me to it. What year did you say you were from?
Sarah: 2000.
John: I wasn't even born in the year 2000! (miserably) It's just not fair.
Yumi: What's not fair? I found out that I'm going to have a relationship with a guy I don't even really like, and there's nothing I can do about it!
Paulo: Yeah, and I found out that I'm going to turn into a complete nerd before I'm 50.
Ken: And I can't even find out what's going to happen to me!
Sarah: Paulo, you're already a complete nerd.
Paulo: Hey!
John: Let me look at your time machine, and I'll see what I can do.
(Pg. 84)
John: O.K. Now you can go back home.
Sarah: Great! Thank you very much.
John: But let's go to the moon first.
Paulo: In your spaceship? Are you kidding?
John: Don't worry. It's all right now.
Yumi: Is it really safe?
John: Yes, of course.
Ken: Are you sure?
John: Trust me.
(Silence)
Ken: Well. . ..
Sarah: I don't know about this.
Yumi: Still. . ..
Paulo: Why not?
Ken: That's easy for you to say, since we already know that YOU aren't going to die.
John: All right, let's go!
(Pg. 85, 88-89)
(They travel to the moon. The trip is uneventful)
Paulo: I'm a little disappointed. I thought that going to the moon would be the high point of this story.
Yumi: Yeah, it does seem a little anti-climatic, don't you think?
(Pg. 92)
Sarah: Thank God, we finally get to go home.
Ken: I'm ready.
Four: Goodbye.
Mr. Silva and John: Goodbye.
Ms. Green: Say hello to me for me!
(The four smile and nod. Then they get in the time machine, fasten their safety belts, and head back to the past. Once there, four very sleepy students disembark)
Paulo: Man, that's some jet lag.
Tom: (coming in and talking to his wife) And Yoko, did you notice that even though I had brown hair in the front of the book, my hair is blond now?
Yoko: That's because you're a foreigner, dear.
Tom: (noticing the kids) Oh, Sarah, you're here! We went shopping for lunch, just like you asked us to.
Yoko: Goodness! We're late. Your uncle always takes too much time.
Tom: I'm sorry, Sarah.
Yoko: Sarah, what's wrong? Are you all right?
Sarah: We went to the future! We just got back.
Tom: The future?. . . Oh, no!
Yoko: Tom! Didn't I ask you not to leave your machines plugged in when we aren't home?
Tom: I'm sorry, Yoko, honey.
Yoko: Last month alone our electric bill was over 50000 yen!
Yumi: Um, maybe we should leave.
Ken: Yeah, I'm exhausted.
Yoko: And how would we explain to their parents if there were some sort of accident? We don't have THAT much insurance!
Tom: Look, I'm sorry. It'll never happen again.
Paulo: Goodbye, Sarah. Have a nice day.
Sarah: Bye.
Yoko: I'm not going to argue with you about this anymore, Tom - I'm telling you. Leave your machines at work where they belong.
Tom: Yes, dear.
Sarah: Um, Uncle Tom? Aunt Yoko? I'm going home now.
Yoko: Oh, I'm sorry. Sarah, what happened to your friends? Why don't you stay for lunch. We bought your favorite!
Sarah: Well. . . okay.
(Pg. 94)
Ms. Green: O.K., class. Let's begin. When did the first astronaut land on the moon? Yumi, do you know?
Ken: Hmmm? I thought this was English class. . ..
Paulo: Yumi, Yumi, wake up!
Yumi: Yes? Did I go to the moon? Yes, I did. . .Oh, and "Hello" from you.
Ms. Green: What?!. . .Ken, how about you? Ken!
Ken: Did I go to the moon first? No, I didn't. I went to the future first, and then. . .
Ms. Green: Oh, you're both dreaming. Did you go to bed late last night?
Paulo: It's a long story. But you might want to visit Canada now, while you still can.
Ms. Green: ??
Ms. Green: Nevermind. I don't want to know.
THE END
Yumi: The End? But what about that message from Mr. Silva in the future?
Paulo: Well, you can read it if you want. It's on page 97. It's pretty boring though.
Sarah: Yeah, and it doesn't really add anything to the story.
Ken: No way am I breaking up that time machine though. Not until I find out what happens to me. I refuse to believe in destiny, or fate, or any of that crap. And I refuse to believe that we can't change the future.
Paulo: But our present is Mr. Silva's past. If we change the future, won't that create a paradox?
Yumi: This whole story is one big paradox.
Sarah: Ken?
Ken: Yes?
Sarah: Um, would you like to go to a movie or something sometime?
Ken: (blushing) Um, yeah. That would be fun.
Paulo: There's a new film starting this weekend that I really want to see.
Yumi: (grabs Paulo by the arm and drags him away) Come on, Paulo. We need to talk.
THE END (for real)
Any questions or comments?? Email me at jcaliff@ev1.net
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