Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch
One World English Course 2 (2021) pg. 124-128
| Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch | |
|---|---|
| だいすきだよ、ハッチさん | |
| Details | |
| Word count | 537 |
| Book | One World |
| Grade | 2 |
| Year | 2021 |
Mr. Hatch was tall and thin and he did not smile.
Every morning at 6:30 sharp he left his house and walked eight blocks to work at a shoelace factory.
At lunchtime he sat alone in a corner, ate his cheese sandwich, and had a cup of coffee. Sometimes he brought a prune for dessert.
After work he made two stops: at the newsstand to get the paper, and at the grocery store to buy a turkey wing for his supper. "He keeps to himself," everyone said about Mr. Hatch.
One Saturday, when Mr. Hatch stepped onto the porch, he saw a package.
Mr. Hatch tore the brown paper off. Inside was a heart-shaped box— all red with a pink bow on top. It was filled with candy. There also was a little white card. It said, "Somebody loves you." He then remembered that it was Valentine's Day.
Mr. Hatch wondered and wondered. At last he exclaimed, "Why, I've got a secret admirer!" He laughed for the first time in his life.
At lunchtime on Monday Mr. Hatch sat in the middle of the cafeteria. He spoke to everyone and passed out chocolates from his heart box.
He started to help people, too. When Mr. Smith at the news didn't feel very well and had to go to the doctor, Mr. Hatch offered to watch the stand for him. When the grocer Mr. Todd was worried about his daughter, Mr. Hatch went to look for her and brought her back.
After supper, Mr. Hatch baked brownies. When people came around his house, he gave them brownies and lemonade. Mr. Hatch played an old harmonica and everyone danced.
And so the days and weeks went by. Then one afternoon Mr. Goober, the postman, came to his door. His face was very serious. "I made a mistake some time ago," he said. "Do you recall the package on Valentine's Day? I'm afraid I delivered it to the wrong address."
Mr. Hatch fetched the empty heart-shaped box and returned it to the postman. He also gave him the little white card.
Alone in his living room, Mr. Hatch sighed. "Nobody loved me after all."
The next day he went back to his old routine land stopped talking to anyone.
Everyone whispered, "What is wrong with Mr. Hatch?"
Mr. Smith told everyone how Mr. Hatch watched his newsstand for him, and Mr. Todd told everyone how Mr. Hatch found his little girl.
All the children in the neighborhood remembered Mr. Hatch's wonderful brownies and lemonade. And most of all his laughter.
"Poor Mr. Hatch," they said. "What can we do?"
Then Mr. Goober announced, "I have an idea."
On Saturday morning Mr. Hatch woke to a bright and sunny day. He put on his old overalls and went out to the porch.
He couldn't believe his eyes. All over the porch were red and white hearts and pink bows. There were boxes of candy on the chairs and yellow streamers from the ceiling. And sticking up out of his mailbox was a shining silver harmonica.
The front yard was filled with people. Happy smiling people. They were holding up a huge sign with hand-painted letters. It said: EVERYBODY LOVES MR. HATCH.
