Red Marble

By Arman Berra

Salih, a very successful son with his superior intelligence... No one could have known that the consequences of Salih's family deciding everything in his life would be like this... Who knew how bad it could be to limit an intelligent child to playing marbles so that his success would not decrease...

Everyone loves marbles, just like Salih... So, can we love marbles that are painted with a red liquid that you don't want instead of paint? Could his family love... Could he love...

His family thought he would play marbles like an ordinary child... Here is an enjoyable section written with literary flavours, from the life of Salih, who does not yet know that sometimes he can lose even when he wins a game, and a family who experiences the consequences of this.

His family could not have predicted that Salih, whom they thought would always be with them, would change the entire equation and turn their lives upside down. But they didn't know, maybe their lives could have been better than turning them upside down, do you think that's what happened in the book?

"Red Marble", which does not compromise on humor and action despite its emotional depth, is a work that will add value to your time.

Good reading.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arman Berra
• Release date: Jun 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215109083

Arman Berra

Arman Berra writes to write fiction that has never been written before. He decided to become a writer when he realized that the books he was reading were becoming more and more similar.He completely destroyed dozens of his stories to write better ones before releasing his actual books. He completed his development with his writings that he did not share with anyone for 10 years.As of 2022, he has started to share his works with his readers. The highly acclaimed author spends all his time writing fiction, due to the positive feedback he receives.He also accelerated his work to support his works in different languages.You can contact on linkedin or twitter account.

Book preview

Arman Berra

Red Marble

Copyright © 2023 by Arman Berra

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

First edition

This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

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Contents

Red Marble

Preface

Copyrights

1. Marble

2. Letter

3. Quest

4. Room

5. Metal Box

6. Imagine

7. Saw

8. Visitation

9. Organic

10. House

11. Investigation

12. Explanation

13. Awareness

14. Memories

15. Awakening

16. Childlike Signature

17. The Semiha’s Speech

18. Chernobyl

19. Association

20. Emlook

21. H-Single

22. Cargo

23. Wall

24. Van

25. First Dinner

26. Fly Birds

27. Airport

28. Cell

29. Dreamcell

30. in Vienna

31. Notary

32. Alaturca

33. Guest

34. Akif

35. Dernet Online

36. Telephone

37. Pigeon

38. Artist

39. Felt

40. Centre

41. Enfil

42. Ladle

43. VIP

44. Sergistra

45. Psychologist

46. Visit

47. End

Thanks

Red Marble

Preface

I should start by thanking you for giving my book a chance.

Thank you very much.

More importantly, because reading has a place in your life.

I also offer my respect and respect…

You and many readers like you…

I’m glad to have you…

Reminding

As for any writer, the hard part is

We can learn your thoughts after reading

Excited wait for your comments…

Your comments sometimes be happy and write

It helps increase our motivation.

Sometimes it’s for us to learn a lesson.

It is a very valuable development key for every writer.

With today’s technology

You can easily submit your comments

Don’t spare us

I hope.

Request

Whether you like it or not, I’m curious about your opinion.

If you like the book, share your comment on the platform where you downloaded it.

It may also help other readers,

more people

You can give him/her a chance to read this book.

If you have negative findings and recommendations in this regard,

[e-mail]

You can share via .

will represent our country

world famous,

until he became an author whose books were made into movies,

each of your returns

worth its weight

will be a guide

Don’t forget.

Thank you in advance.

Books

Copyrights

Copyright © 2023, All rights belong to Arman Berra, who wrote the work and has full authority over all rights.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher.

It is illegal to copy, post on a website, or distribute this book in any other way without permission.

Arman Berra Official Contact Address

[e-mail]

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and events depicted in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or places is entirely coincidental.

One

Marble

When he made it a habit to win every single game of marbles he played, life began its first lesson. It was then that he realized for the first time that even when one wins, one can lose. Gone are the days when he enjoyed winning. That marble sack, the symbol of his success, had lost its former meaning. He was so successful that almost everyone swore never to play marbles with him again…

He had to understand that a person can be on the losing side even while winning, as this 14-year-old child. Life had begun to tell him some truths through his success in his favorite game… While having talent and superior skills is an advantage in many situations, he didn’t know that it would be the source of his life’s biggest problems.

Even when he was only 7 years old, it would have been enough for everyone to remember his name once, even if he was a friend or relative who came to visit their house. He would not forget even the details that no one could pay attention to. A guest visiting for the first time could remember whether he likes tea without sugar or whether he likes it with sugar, without thinking about it. During the next visit of the same guest, he would remember that if he knew that he was drinking his tea without sugar, he would have been too confident not to even allow a sugar bowl to be placed on the tray. He was never wrong even in small things that could be overlooked.

When her mother first noticed this, she knew that their life would not be normal. It had not occurred to them that these skills, which every parent would want in their child, could radically change the lives of both their children and their families. They never knew that when these talents in the child, combined with the family’s ambition for success, the equation would be reversed, and these positive advantages would turn into disadvantages.

It was morning, and her mother called, as always.

-Salih, wake up Salih, wake up Salih… You’re running late for school…

He called out from the door before entering the room, caring that he had breakfast before going to school. On the one hand, he was calling from his door to wake him up, and on the other hand, he was checking so that the cigarette fritters cooked on the stove would not burn.

Despite many attempts, Salih continued to sleep, and he was starting to get angry at this comfort. The fragrant scent of tea spread all over the place, and she was patiently waiting for the cigarette fritters she prepared carefully to be cooked until they were fully browned. On the other hand, he did not neglect to make some burns on purpose. He knew that Salih liked slightly burnt spring rolls better, and he would cook a few of them by burning them, just so he wouldn’t look for burnt spring rolls around the corner. Finally the cigars were cooked, breakfast was ready.

They had a detached house, and the house’s garden, which is not in many homes, provided a great opportunity for this passion of his father, who was obsessed with organic farming. Kerem already knew from the smells coming into his bed that breakfast was being prepared, but he was waiting for the right time to get up. He just did a rough calculation. He set the countdown of the clock and, closing one eye, fell asleep again with deep snoring as if he would sleep for days.

His mother came to Salih’s room door again.

-Come on, Salih, get up, we have very little time left, you will be late for school.

He guessed that Kerem had already set his watch to get up by calculating with the smells coming in. He knew he had arranged for breakfast to come as soon as it was on the table, especially on a day when he was making rolls, taking advantage of the bedroom right next to the kitchen. Therefore, he did not care for her at all, continuing to prepare the breakfast table.

While Kerem was sleeping in a coyote sleep, he also knew that the time was shortened by the sounds he heard in the background. When he put the glasses on the table and left the tea spoons inside, the sound that was made showed that the tea was now brewing. In order not to be too hot, his wife would put the tea in the glasses and let it cool. Thus, the smell of tea would increase even more and cover his room, helping him to be more motivated to wake up. It was just as he had predicted, a smell of tea mixed with the smell of the spring rolls as they were fried in oil. Time was running out…

Finally the clock started to ring. He knew the steal would be 30 times. He was going to do a reflex test again. At the very last 30th ring, he would suddenly get out of bed and put on the clothes he had prepared from the evening in 60 seconds, and in the remaining 30 seconds he would wash his face and sit at the table. At the 30th second, he jumped out of the bed with the ringing sound, the quilt on him took off, and after coming out from under it, he slowly fell back on the bed with the wind resistance. He went to the sink, washed his face with plenty of water and managed to wake up well. When he stepped into the kitchen, his wife Aslı saw that the same Casio plastic watch was waiting for him with the seconds at face level.

-Congratulations, my dear, you calculated correctly today too.

-Thanks, of course, I also congratulate you my dear, you have improved a lot. It is admirable that you calculate my calculation times just like me and reach here. I congratulate you very much.

They laughed, breakfasts were always a joy for the family in the single-storey high entrance country house overlooking the organic garden with folding glass. It was a tradition that everyone got tired of and they couldn’t prevent Kerem by looking at his organically grown crops and telling them with unnecessary details.

Looking at Kerem sitting at the table in his suit, it had nothing to do with Kerem who had just been sleeping blindly. While he was sitting at the table with his intellectual appearance as if he was ready to give a speech in English on world brotherhood, his focus was on breakfast like every classical Turkish man. He took the watch in his hand again, to Aslı,

- Won’t you make your last move to wake ours?

-A little while… They laughed. Aslı took a cigarette from the table and put it on a tea plate. In order to increase the effect, the unique smell of cottage cheese and parsley began to spread in the smoke from the hot spring roll, by cutting it in the middle, accompanied by spices. Kerem readjusted his watch. 3 minutes 42 seconds… Aslı took the plate, put the door of Salih’s room in the window next to it and came back. 32 seconds was the time it took for his wife to go there and put the plate down. The remaining 3 minutes and 10 seconds were the time when Salih couldn’t resist the smell of the cigars, woke up, washed his face and reached the table. Aslı was trying to come back to the table with her confidence in her most effective weapon and complete the deficiencies. After putting the jam-like ready-made breakfasts in the cupboard on the table, breakfast was now ready. At that time, Kerem kept his eyes on Salih’s room door as he wondered if he had guessed the time correctly with great excitement.

-I guess you won’t be able to guess correctly today. I think he was very sleepy, I have called so much since morning and he never moved.

-She can’t resist it. You used your most effective weapon, after all. Aslı, you know that the smell of spring rolls is much more effective than the lifting power of water.

-I wake up to the day really faster thanks to your bad jokes, I hope so, let’s wait and see.

The countdown continued, there was no movement at the door of the room.

-I think Salih will mislead me today. I remember now, it was a little quiet yesterday. I didn’t get involved much because I was bored. Besides, there were exams I had to read, so let’s talk and find out what’s going on.

-You always have a job. You certainly do not take care of such a child as he deserves. Maybe he will be more successful by studying more, but you are always busy, you always have a job.

I know, but there’s nothing more natural than being intense. Also, I can’t be comfortable with my chances of becoming a department head increasing. Sorry it has to be like this for a while. Let it grow a little more, it’s doing well for now, everyone from the very successful school says positive things. Let these busy periods pass, I will take care of him much more.

-Time passes so that he can grow up a little more. I think we’re running late.

-But Aslı, why don’t you care if you talk to me? You see, this is not my pleasure.

-I’m sorry Kerem, you know my profession as a nuclear power plant engineer I have a big responsibility. When I come home, I do the housework. I check their homework every day, I keep track of whether their lessons are working well. I listen to the summary of whether he has read a book or not and I control it. In other words, I make a great effort in case he is lazy and makes these things incomplete. Unfortunately, I cannot do more than that. That’s why you need to tighten it. Yes, he does very well in school, but why not do better. Why not be the manager of a power plant instead of being an engineer like me. Luckily he no longer plays marbles, which is the best development. This is a great opportunity for him to work harder.

Yes, it caught my attention too. I look at the bag of marbles every day and it just sits there. Not playing anymore?

-I don’t know why, I don’t care. He hasn’t been interested in his marbles for a long time. He doesn’t even want her to see them. I don’t care why, this was the development I was most happy with.

Yes, I’m really happy about that. How hard he was trying to get permission from us. He finally realized that it was a useless business. Well done to my smart son.

-Yeah, we wouldn’t have wanted to. He’s completely turned off from playing marbles. Sometimes instead of studying at one job, he sits on that tree and reads a lot of books. However, he should devote more time to scientific subjects that he needs to learn. I’ve been bothered by this issue for a long time, and it wouldn’t be right to give a penalty because I haven’t warned it yet. Let him rest until you lighten his chores. Then we increase the pressure necessary to study more. How lucky our families did not encourage us to study like this. If they did, I would definitely be the switchboard manager. It’s destiny, but I believe it will be my son.

-Aslı how many times have we talked, I want my son to be the rector. I left a little blank, you focus too much on scientific things, kid. Reading books is also very important for being a rector. Please do not put pressure on the child about this. Even if we are going to do it, let’s do it so that he reads more books. He will become a rector and in the future he will not be a part of a professor like his father.

Aslı and Kerem were developing ideas on building the future of the child in their own world. Aslı went to the door of the room and shouted for her to wake up, but she was too distracted to see the deficiencies in the room. The periodic table on the wall, the world map, the maps with the planets, the map with the moon phases, and how many other science-related things were hanging on the walls. They were too focused on their current work to notice it.

Waiting was not the solution, Salih was not coming. In the end, she had to go to her room. He walked into his room and shouted, Get up, Salih, you’re going to be late… while he lifted the duvet. All of a sudden, he stared at the pillows that Salih had placed on the bed so that they would think he was sleeping. He had taken care to place the pillows according to their height. He was too well prepared to think of any other possibility except that Salih would sleep on the bed. When Aslı got up at night, she thought she was sleeping in her bed every time she looked to check if the top was open. However, Salih had already left the house.

There was a letter in the bed. Aslı didn’t want to believe it, the tears she couldn’t help but started to fall from her eyes drop by drop…

Two

Letter

He opened the letter and began to read, with trembling hands, with tears dripping onto the paper. He was trying to massage his chest with his other hand as his heart tightened as he read. All his veins were constricted, and he was finally speechless. He was trying to ask Kerem for help, but his voice was not coming out. Her breathing was choked up during her efforts, she couldn’t take it any longer, and her head began to spin. The increasing dizziness made him lose his balance and fell to the ground.

It was unfortunate that he fell to the ground and hit his head on the coffee table. The nosebleed had begun. During all this, Kerem was happily waiting for his son and wife to arrive in the kitchen. He thought that they would live an ordinary day where they would have breakfast together as usual.

As Kerem’s countdown was complete, his clock started to ring. Usually, he was counting down, but this time, he couldn’t match his estimation of his wife’s return time. He took a few more sips of his tea, continued to sit looking at his garden where he grew organic food. He wondered how heavy his sleep was. He relied on the ace, sometimes she would lie down with him for a while to wake him up. He had assumed that today was such a day again. He wanted to evaluate the waiting time. While he was drinking his tea on the table, he made up a math problem to keep his mind busy and started scribbling to solve it. The problem he wrote was a 2nd degree equation with 3 unknowns that he made up in his head. He used to write a very difficult equation, and a single equation would sometimes work for months and reach a solution. Until that question was resolved, no one could delete it from the table. It was an unwritten rule that that question should not be deleted.

While sipping his tea, he was trying to solve the question with a pencil on the white table. The table top was full of scratches as he had tried these solutions many times before. Even though it was early in the morning, he liked to solve problems enough that it was usual to tire him with these questions. The only thing he forgot was that he had already slept late yesterday and was more tired than usual. He was bored because no one came anyway, his mind had succumbed while trying to solve the question on top of that tiredness. He lost his sense of time and slowly closed his eyes. Now he was completely away from that moment, and he had gone from slumber to full sleep…

Half an hour passed, and the wristwatch began to ring again. He opened his eyes as soon as he knocked. This sounding alarm meant the last alarm to leave the house. He looked around, the water under the tea boiling on the stove over low heat, covered the kitchen with steam. The teas on the table had already cooled, and the glass in front of him had overturned and fell to the ground.

Nobody had come. He finally realized there was a problem. When he entered the room, he was shocked by the sight.

He couldn’t understand the pillows he put on the bed so that his son would not be understood. When he saw his wife fall to the ground, he immediately put a pillow under his head and stuffed his nose with cotton wool. He was just unconscious, rubbing his wrists with cologne. He was slowly coming back to himself.

He noticed the letter lying next to his hand.

He took the letter in his hand and began to read.

"My dear family, I have the advantage of being a very successful person thanks to my innate skills thanks to your genetics. To date, I have shown outstanding success in many areas. This success has reached an interesting level in such an interesting field that no one plays marbles with me anymore because of my success in the marble game. As a result, my success has become my worst enemy. This little incident was like an example of the life I would live in the future for me…

It’s just like nobody comes to our house. Our financial situation is good, you do important work and you are important people. But among these possibilities, you are convinced that living a lonely life and financial means will make you happy.

A game of marbles that I play on

Reviews for Red Marble

[Targetman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I bought and read this book from another platform. A successful book. When I saw it while looking at a book, I didn't want to leave it without commenting. I advise.

[Enes Ünsel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A book every parent should read. Thank you very much for such a story.