Ready rocket go!

ready

rocket

go!

Estevão Azevedo illustrations Ana Matsusaki

ready

rocket Estevão Azevedo

illustrations Ana Matsusaki

Copyright © Estevão Azevedo, 2021 All rights reserved to EDITORA FTD S.A. Rui Barbosa, 156 — Bela Vista — São Paulo — SP Zip Code 01326-010 — Phone (0-55-11) 3598-6000 www.ftd.com.br CONTACTS director Ricardo Tavares de Oliveira publishing manager Isabel Lopes Coelho foreign rights Tassia Oliveira foreignrights@ftd.com.br

Estevão Azevedo was born in Natal (RN) in 1978. With a Masters in Brazilian Literature from the University of São Paulo (USP), he is a writer and editor, and the author of a short story collection titled Never the Boy´s Name (Nunca o nome do menino) and Time to Spread Stones (Tempo de espalhar pedras), which was a finalist of the Oceanos award, was chosen Book of the Year by the São Paulo Literature award, and was published in Italy and Portugal. He is also the author of the critical essay The Erotic Body of Words: a Study of Raduan Nassar´s Work (O corpo erótico das palavras: um estudo da obra de Raduan Nassar).

Ana Matsusaki is from São Paulo (SP) and has lived since 2008 in Curitiba (PR) in her studio-house. With a degree in Graphic Design, she has worked for Brazil´s major publishers, and illustrated over 15 works. In 2020, she published her first book as a writer, The Heads Collector (A colecionadora de cabeças).

To all those who venture out into worlds made up of imagination and know that a stumble is a good impulse for the jump.

It all started when Yolanda decided to build a rocket.

Feeling excited, she dragged an armchair from

the living room into the backyard. She scaled the

armchair, took on the brave position of a pilot on an interplanetary mission and issued the command:

“One, two, three… Ready, rocket, go!”

7

But the rocket did not move from its spot.

Yolanda told the stuffed parrot that was watching it all the way from down there…

“Oh oh oh! Something is missing.”

It was difficult to push such a heavy armchair.

She took advantage of the fact that she was

there without actually flying to stretch out her arms and legs a little to rest. She dreamed of

the stars, the comets, suns, moons and planets inhabited by funny beings.

9

Feeling rested, Yolanda did not even think of giving up, and climbed down to continue on with her project.

She carried her little drawing table with great

effort and installed it on top of the armchair. It

was a small little table, but it was very good, and it certainly seemed destined for some glorious achievement.

Yolanda climbed up the armchair, went up on the table and, balancing on its top, issued the order:

“One, two, three… Ready, rocket, go!”

11

But there was no way, the rocket just would not take off. She looked pensively at the parrot and asked:

“Is our rocket just too small for such a giant task?”

Yolanda did not know how to answer her own

question but decided to draw a really long and

imposing rocket, that was more prepared to reach the altitude of her dreams.

13