Aboy named Fabian has to move to live in Heredia, C.R. He is sad for he has no friends there. Things luckily change for him when he has to create a mask for masquerade day.

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Discovering Maskoween
Once upon a time, there was a
child named Fabian. His family was
from Desamparados, but they had to
move to Heredia. At the beginning,
he felt sad because he had to leave
behind his friends. His father told
him not to be sad for he will make
new friends in the new town.
When the school year began, Fabian was a shy
boy. Sometimes he did not play with anyone
during recess, and during classes; he remained
quiet. He felt that the town and school were
not for him because he did not have any
friends there. He wished he could go back to
Desamparados where he would be with his
friends again.
Emilia, his English teacher tried to help Fabian to
feel more comfortable at school, but all her
efforts seem to be not enough for he continued
to be sad. As October began to approach, his
English teacher had an idea. She had found out
that Fabian liked to celebrate Halloween a lot, so

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she thought that might be an opportunity for making Fabian happy
again.
On a school day, she gave the class an
announcement: “Students, we will work
on a project about Masquerade day in
Costa Rica”. She continued, “You will
have to create your own masquerades
using a character that you choose. All
the classes will participate in the
masquerade´s contest that school is
having in October. You have 2 months
to prepare everything you need”.
As the teacher was speaking, she saw
Fabian´s eyes. They turned wide open and
sparkle. He was so happy about the project
that he could not hide his emotions. At
the end of the class, he went to talk to his
teacher, and he told her, “Teacher, I want
to make a beautiful project, but I do not
know how to make a masquerade”.
His teacher told him not to worry. Everything he needed to do was to
run a research about the masquerade tradition and create his masquerade
based on the character he liked most from the research. Also, he would

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need his parents to help him getting the necessary supplies to prepare
the project and present it to the class.
That day, Fabian ran to his house as fast as he could. When he arrived
home, he told his parents how happy he was. He asked them to tell him
what masquerades were, and how to create one. His father sat with him,
and using the family-pictures album
he explained to him how Heredia was
in the past when his grandpa lived
there.
Fabian learned that in Heredia,
people decided to celebrate Halloween
in a different manner. They did not
want to have the usual costumes and
go asking for treats or tricks. They
made their own costumes and go out
to the streets to dance with them
together.
Fabian was so excited. He believed
that there was only one way to celebrate Halloween. He did not know he
could participate in creating a masquerade, and he did not think he could
go out to streets in the middle of the day to dance and have fun. So he
began his journey by sitting and asking himself, “Which character am I
going to create?” He spent 1 week watching T.V. and reading news
papers until one Saturday morning he had an idea. He thought he likes
to create “doña Merry”, and he decided he will make her a masquerade.

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The next Saturday, he went to the “mercado” where he got the
materials he needed for the project. He bought newspapers, glue,
painting cans and clay. He asked his father to work with
him. It was a long process, but at
the end, the masquerade was ready!
Fabian and his father worked hard,
and the final product was amazing.
As weeks passed by, Fabian
cleaned the mask; he watched it
every day and wore it inside the
house. He was waiting for show and
tell his mask to his class and the school. When the day arrived,
his parents walked with him to school. He got dressed as “doña Merry”,
and put the mask on. When the music was played, all the students began
dancing with their masks at the “cimarrona´s” rhythm. Teachers and
other classmates figured as the contest judges.
Fabian ran and danced so
much that at the end
he was exhausted. Then
all students explained
one by one their masks
to the jury. Fabian
talked about his mask;
he said he liked “doña
Merry” very much. He

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believed she was funny and he used to make fun of her jokes with his
friends when he lived in Desamparados. The English teacher and his
classmates liked Fabian’s masquerade so much that he got many
applauses.
Fabian was the winner that day. He could not believe it. He was
very happy for his mask and for him. At the end
of the show, Fabian’s classmates came along. He
made new friends that day, so he was even
happier. Before leaving the show, the principal of
the school surprised him. He called Fabián in front
of the school and told him he would participate in
the town´s local parade. He and his mask were
VIP guesses.
Fabián went to the parade; his parents went
with him. His friends from Desamparados went to see him, and the
classmates from his school went too. He could see all of them while he
danced. He was happy now. He was not sad anymore. He had gained new
friends, and he had enjoyed the “mask-o-ween” very much.

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A few weeks later, Fabian was walking with some of his new friends
in school, when they passed by the library. He did not pay attention to
it, but his friends cried happily, “Fabi, Fabi, look at the library. There is
your mask! Look at your mask!” He ran to the library, and there he saw
it! His mask was at the school´s library. They were showing it very
proudly. It had a label that said: “This is the mask of a brave student.
He believed in masquerade day, and from now on, the school will
celebrate mask-o-ween in his honor”.
The End
“This is the mask of a brave student. He believed in
masquerade day, and from now on, the school will
celebrate mask-o-ween in his honor”

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Reference List:
Illustrations taken from:
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 http://us.123rf.com/450wm/denispc/denispc1211/denispc121100153/
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