The Carver Family
The first part, in bold, it not from me: the exercice was to write de rest of the story. So remember: in bold, no from me, in "normal", from me ;)
The Carver family have just moved to a very large, old and rambling house. It is the evening of their first day there. They are tired after spending the day moving and unpacking boxes.
At last, the whole family gathered on the porch and sat on the steps of their new home for a well-deserved rest, gazing at the red sun that was settling over the sea as the afternoon came to an end.
'That's enough for one day,' Mr Carver announced. He was covered in soot and cobwebs.
'It will take us a couple of weeks to get the house in shape,' Mrs Carver added. 'At the very least.'
'There are spiders upstairs,' Alice said. 'They're enormous.'
'Spiders? Wow!' cried Emma. 'What did they look like?' 'They looked just like you,' replied Alice.
'Let's have a peaceful evening, please,' their mother interrupted them, rubbing the bridge of her nose. 'Don't worry about the spiders, Alice. Max will kill them.'
'There's no need to kill them; Max can collect them and put them outside in the garden,' said
Mr Carver. 'They're nature's creatures and deserve their day in the sun like the rest of us.'
'I always end up with the heroic missions,' muttered Max sarcastically. 'Can the extermination, I mean, relocation, wait until tomorrow?' 'Alice?' his mother pleaded.
'I'm not sleeping in a room full of spiders and goodness knows what else,' Alice declared. 'No matter how deserving they are.'
'Oh, you're such a baby,' said Emma.
'And you're a monster', replied Alice.
'Max, before your two sisters start scratching each other to death, will you get rid of the wretched spiders?' said their father in a tired voice.
Max went inside the house, ready to wipe out its previous lodgers by all means possible. As he climbed the stairs to the upper floor, he saw the glittering eyes of a cat watching him steadily from the top step. Perhaps it had been left behind by the previous owners. It certainly seemed to be at home, guarding the upper floor like a sentinel. He stopped for a second, then resumed his climb. He was not going to be afraid of a stray cat; he would not give it the satisfaction. As soon as Max went into one of the bedrooms, the cat followed him.
The wooden flooring creaked softly under his feet. Max began his spider hunt in the room facing south-west. He examined the floor carefully. After the cleaning session, the room was reasonably dirt free and it took Max only a couple of minutes to locate his first target – a fat spider marching from one of the corners in a straight line towards him. The creature must have been about three centimetres long and had eight black, bristly legs, with a golden mark on its body. No wonder Alice had panicked. There was no way in the world he was going to pick up that thing and carry it to the garden.
Max reached out his hand to grab a broom that was leaning against the wall and got ready to slam it down on the spider. He was steadying himself for the kill, when suddenly the cat pounced, opened its jaws and devoured it. Max let go of the broom and looked at the cat in astonishment. It threw him a malicious look, swallowed the spider and left the room, presumably in search of its next course.
Max walked over to the window. Beyond the yard, behind the fence that surrounded the house, was a field of wild grass, and about a hundred metres further on was what looked like a small enclosure bordered by a wall of pale stone. The vegetation had invaded the grounds, transforming the enclosure into a jungle from which emerged what seemed to be figures: human figures. In the twilight, Max had to strain his eyes to make out what he was seeing. It appeared to be an abandoned garden. A garden of statues. Max was hypnotised by the strange vision of the figures trapped in the undergrowth, locked inside a walled garden that reminded him of a village graveyard. A huge, metal gate locked with chains secured the entrance. In the distance, beyond the enclosed garden, was a thick forest that seemed to extend for miles.
'What a place to explore!' thought Max.
During dinner Max ate silently, he was preoccupied with his thoughts about the place beyond their garden. He was intrigued to know what lay beyond the locked metal gates. He wanted to explore, in spite of his fear, he decided to go to discover this strange garden tomorrow afternoon, when the sun still lit / lights the day.
" I hope the spider is dead," said Alice when she put her fork in her mouth.
" Yes, it is" assured Max, as he came back to reality.
" Good. Thanks brother."
He whispered a little « You're welcome » and he returned to his thoughts.
But he was very impatient to explore the place so he decided to go that evening, despite the darkness.
After dinner, he announced to his parents :
" I will go for a walk along the street.
-Good, said his mother. Remember, come back before midnight.
-I won't go to a party mother. I will only will go for a walk away.
-Of course Max. I say it in case you meet one or two teenagers...
- I don't want to meet anyone, I just want to walk. I will certainly come back quickly. »
Mrs Carver smiled while Max rolled his eyes. He got up.
He crossed the yard, looking at the garden which his mother began to plant. She loved planting to decorate the garden. He arrived in front of the fence and as he climbed to pass a nail caught him and ripped his skin open. He felt pain shoot up and he saw that blood was dripping from the cut. He saw later that it was a nail that was hanging from the wood. He swore to himself for not observing the environment around him. His mother will ask millions of questions to know how he had hurt himself. While he was thinking of an excuse, he crossed the field of wild grass, swearing when breambles left red traces in his skin. It was very difficult to make his way through the high grass and he thought it was better to return home, but he had gone too far to go back now.
He arrived in front of the enclosure locked by a huge metal gate. But it was low too, so it was not difficult to climb over the enclosure.
Away, all before him spread the garden. The sun was going down and soon night would set. The moon lit the place with his icy white light. An owl's hoot rang out and resounded through the stone's statues. Max was filled with fear, but he continued to walk quickly through the thick brambles. He didn't like this place. The human figures seemed to stare at him. He could hear whispers in the wind. He noticed that he was walking in the garden without thinking. He didn't very much like this place and he wanted to get out straight away. But his body continued to advance. He did not have control over his body. He howled but he knew his parents couldn't hear him. How did he get here ? Max panicked. When he arrived at the centre of the garden, he took control of his body, and ran back to the gate but he felt like gluey hands were winding up his ankles and they held him down. Max fell down onto the ground. He tried to catch with his hands the grass but he was being dragged toward the obscure forest behind. His howl resounded through the imposing trees and he disappeared into the darkness.
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I hope my writing is good, do not hesitate to point out faults and give your opinion :) Thank you for reading !
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