UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA LICENCIATURA EN ESPAÑOL E INGLÉS

NACIONAL LITERATURA ANGLÓFONA 2- GROUP 1

FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES Valeria Martínez Berdugo
DEPARTAMENTO DE LENGUAS Short Story

THE NEXT IN THE LIST

Dear friend, who is reading this text, my advice to you in this moment is to stop and wait

for two or three minutes to think and reflect if you really want to get involved into this story. I

already know that if decide to move on, you will not be able to stop ever again… So, be careful.

My life changed when I was in the literature class, my professor told me that it was curious

to have a Desdemona in the classroom; I obviously did not understand the reference, my mother

always tells me that Desdemona was a name full of meanings and that one of them was bravery.

Notwithstanding, I have not been capable of believing all of the things that have happened to me

this last semester. Thenceforth, at the beginning of the class the professor announced that we may

studied Shakespeare because he is considered the father of the English literature. It was

astonishing for me. Then, I took advantage of the time and get a jump on work, letting him guide

my path while reading some of their magnificent works, and the one that engaged me the most…

Othello.

At the very beginning, its plot was developed with Roderigo and Iago, and I got scared

because two of my best friends at the university are named the same! Is it a coincidence? – I

thought- but I cannot stop reading, I want to figure out if Othello could sort out his issues (the

marriage with Desdemona or the infidelity told by Iago) if in the end Iago could achieve his goals

to take revenge from Cassio, or if the love between Othello and Desdemona could surpass Iago’s

meanness. Afterwards, I kept on reading at the University’s library and I found out that Othello

saw Bianca yelling at Cassio accusing him of giving her a handkerchief of another woman. After
the overcasting Iago’s words, Othello decided to kill Desdemona due to the speculations and

rumors about her betrayal. At that moment, something interrupted my reading: a letter fell off in

front of me with the title The Next in the List I started to read it, and suddenly… I got trapped in a

spiral of sheets of paper.

Time passed by -or at least that is what I felt- I woke up in the Cyprus Island in another

epoch, the civilians who lived there called me “queen”. Many knights were around me, they were

talking about the disagreement between Italy and Turkey. Things were confusing, I saw different

people and a girl named Emilia told me that I had to get dressed because my husband was arriving

at the Island and I had to welcome him wearing my best clothes. Then… I remembered, the letter,

I opened it again and read it carefully:

Dear friend, who is reading this text, my advice to you in this moment is to stop and to wait

for two or three minutes to think and reflect if you really want to keep on in this story. I

already know that if you move on, you will not be able to stop ever again… So, be careful.

I know who you are Desdemona, this is you new task: I saw you were interested in the

literature class and how you devoured Othello; as you know this story has a tragic ending,

now your mission is go there and change the situation, take care because if you make

mistakes Othello is going to kill you. This has the purpose of saving British literature, now

it is all in your hands.

THE PROFESSOR.

Thereupon, I unique way to get away from here was by accomplishing my mission. In this

sense, the first thing that I had to do was to look for Iago and try to get to know what his plans

were. Therefore, I had to turn myself into a girl from the middle age. They were completely

different from me. After some practice, I could act like them, so I was ready to look for Iago, I
knew I had to avoid Cassio at all cost. While I was tracking Iago down, I remembered that Bianca

needed to know that the handkerchief was for her, but I mixed it up with my essence, I was not

been luck at all. I could not find anyone, the castle was unknown for me, but Iago lives in it, so of

course he knows every single corner of it. Then… I had a magnificent; consequently, I

remembered that many writers and authors describe the setting of their stories, and I could get

there because I had the skill of travelling through the pages. As a result of this, I ended up in scene

I act II of the play.

Now, I have two choices either destroying Iago’s plan or looking for Bianca and convince

her that the handkerchief. Subsequently, to find Iago was easy because I knew that he has with

Roderigo; I was hidden at the back of the wall, listening to them, thinking, creating and preparing

what I could do. Thereupon, I could use all my literary knowledge to defeat Iago; so, I created a

simile among the lines; the idea was to get Iago fall over in the marvelous story of love between

Othello and Desdemona, then I wrote “Iago, the enemy of all, who wants to take revenge of

Othello left his hate grow more and more; nevertheless, he noticed that his hate for Othello was as

strong as the love that both Desdemona and Othello has for each other”, so… I wait.

Later, I see the changing in Iago so, he realized that he was not going to be able of

defeating his reputation with Brabantio. Thus, he decided to change his plans and use Brabantio to

do it. He decided to gossip about Othello and his role in the disagreement, going back from Cyprus

to find him in order to liberate the island. When I listened to it, I could confirm that he was laying,

but I have forgotten Roderigo and now he was against me. Now, it is up to you to deal with the

angriness of Roderigo. I gave the letter to you and I know that as you took the literature class with

me, you have the knowledge to deal with it. After saying this, I blinked and I notice that I had

finish reading the novel.