Complete the table of verb forms
| groan | groaned | groaned |
| shake | ||
| raise | ||
| be | ||
| nod | ||
| come | ||
| see | ||
| fall | ||
| stare |
EFLshorts
Short stories for EFL learners
Reading comprehension for The Happening (Ch16)
Look again at The Happening (Ch16) and decide if these statements are true or false.
1. Alan’s mother was asleep for less than an hour.
2. Barlow came to see Alan’s mother while she was asleep.
3. Barlow visited Alan’s mother twice.
4. A soldier was with Barlow each time he visited Alan’s mother.
5. When Alan heard footsteps he recognized them.
6. Barlow was carrying a gun.
7. Alan took the weapon from Barlow.
8. Alan’s mother shot Barlow.
Vocabulary for The Happening (Ch16)
Match the words from The Happening (Ch16) with the meaning
| to groan | to go inside |
| to enter | to go towards |
| to nod | to make a noise that indicates unhappiness or pain |
| to approach | to take quickly |
| to notice | to look at something for a long time |
| to grab | to see that something is there, to become aware of something |
| to stare | to show approval |
The Happening (Ch16)
Mum groaned when I gently shook her. ‘Are you okay?’ I asked.
Slowly, Mum raised her head and looked at me through tired eyes. ‘How long was I asleep?’
‘A while – hours.’
Mum felt her arm. There was a red mark where the needle had entered it.
‘We have to get out of here,’ I said.
Mum nodded her head. ‘I know. I know.’ She thought for a moment. ‘Has Barlow been to check on me?‘
‘Twice,’ I replied.
Mum sat up, her eyes brightening. ‘Does he come alone?’
‘Not the first time – a soldier came with him – but the second time he was…‘ As I spoke a metal door banged and footsteps approached our cell. It was Barlow: I now recognized the noise of his small steps. ‘It’s him,’ I whispered.
Mum lay back down on her bed and closed her eyes. ‘Trust me,’ she said quickly.
The door opened and Barlow came into the cell. He was alone. He didn’t even look at me. He went straight over to mum. I noticed that he was wearing a holster and I could see the silver steel and brown handle of a pistol. He picked up mum’s left hand and felt for her pulse. He looked at the watch on his wrist shaking his head. He looked bored. I saw mum open one eye slightly. She moved like lightening. She sat up, grabbed at the pistol and pushed Barlow away from her. Barlow fell onto his backside, his short legs flying upwards pointing into the air. He made a small yelp when he landed and then lay perfectly still. He stared at the pistol pointing straight in his face.
‘Alan,’ said mum calmly, ‘close the door.’
© eflshorts.com
A murder story in ten shorts chapters for EFL learners
Ch1
Mr. Green picked up the bird gently. ‘How are you today, my dear?’ he asked. He looked at her black and white face. Usually, her eyes were bright, and she held her head high. Today, her eyes were dull and her head rested against his hand. The bird’s name was Sally, his favourite. She didn’t always win races, but she always came back home. Last year, in a race in Scotland, a snowstorm killed many of the birds; and in the end, only four returned. Sally was one of them. Mr. Green looked away. From the top of his building, there was a good view of the city’s streets, but there was no one on them. He turned to the vet beside him.
‘Soon, all my birds are going to die. Then I’ll have nothing,’ Mr. Green said.
The vet stood with his back to the other sick birds. A strong wind pulled at his clothes and hair. He felt sad: Mr. Green was an old man with no wife or children, and he loved his birds.
‘I can bring medicine for them,’ he said. ‘Do you want me to do that?’
‘Of course I do,’ said Mr. Green angrily. The vet nodded. ‘It’s expensive.’
‘Don’t worry about the price. I can pay,’ said Mr. Green, but he didn’t look at the vet’s face.
The vet said nothing. He knew Mr. Green was lying.
Ch2
Downstairs in his small flat, Mr. Green sat at his kitchen table. He thought about Sally, the vet and money for the medicine. ‘What am I going to do?’ he said sadly. In his hand, he held a letter from his bank. He stared at the number at the bottom of it: there was just £20 in his account. He thought about his brother Albert. ‘Perhaps I can get some money from him’. But then he thought again. ‘No, he isn’t going to give me any money. He isn’t talking to me.’ Suddenly, the letterbox opened and closed noisily. ‘Another bill!’ thought Mr. Green. He put down the letter from the bank and went to the door. On the carpet sat a white envelope. He tore it open angrily and read it. Then he read it again. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
Dear Mr. Green,
I am writing about a job at Birnam Wood School. Birnam Council is happy to offer you a job as a janitor at the school for the summer holidays. The school is empty right now so your job is to make sure everything is secure. Can you start immediately?
Yours sincerely, Malcolm Thane
Mr. Green was so happy. He was a good janitor. He had lots of experience and he enjoyed his job. ‘Now I can make some money and save my birds,’ he thought. He called the vet and told him the good news. Next, he went to his neighbour, John. His son was happy to feed Mr. Green’s birds for a few weeks.
Ch3
They entered Birnam Wood School’s car park at 8.30 in the evening.
‘£12 please,’ said the taxi driver. Mr. Green had a twenty-pound note in his pocket. He paid the taxi driver and took the £8 change. ‘Best of luck with the new job,’ said the driver.
‘It’s only for a few weeks, but thanks anyway,’ said Mr. Green. He watched the taxi climb the small hill up to the east gate and turn right towards the distant town. Soon the noise of its engine disappeared completely and he was alone. He turned and looked at the school’s east building. Its rows and rows of empty classrooms stared silently back.
To his left, on a red sky, he saw a chimney. He began walking towards it. Soon, he reached two buildings. Out the top of the large one, the chimney rose high into the air. ‘The boiler room,’ thought Mr. Green. Next to it, there was a small, square building. A few days before, a single key had arrived in the mail. Now he took that key from his pocket, opened the door and switched on the light. Inside was a dark room with a small bed and an electric cooker. Next to the door, there was a key ring with several other keys on it. There was also a window, but it was small and high up. Next door, in an even smaller room, there was a toilet and a sink. ‘Well, at least it is clean,’ Mr Green said, taking some soap and a towel from his bag. He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. He thought about the food that he had in his bag. ‘I must make some dinner soon,’ he said sleepily.
Ch4
Mr. Green opened his eyes. The room was dark. He looked at the bright hands on his watch. It was 3 o’clock in the morning. Something was wrong. Why did he wake up? Did something happen? He tried to remember. Was it a bad dream? Was it his usual dream? He didn’t think so. Above him, at the small window, there was only darkness. Was he hungry? He thought about making a cup of tea – that always made him feel better. He was about to stand up when there was a knock at the door. Mr. Green’s heart jumped. He didn’t move. A minute passed, then three more.
‘Stupid old man,’ he said. ‘You imagined it. You are still half asleep. What you need is a nice cup of tea.’ He swung his legs off the bed and reached for the light switch.
THUMP!
Mr. Green jumped. There was someone at the door. He hit the light switch. His eyes opened wide: the door’s handle was beginning to turn.
‘Who’s there?’ he shouted. ‘Who’s there?’ he said again. Was this real? He had only one choice. He grabbed the handle and pulled opened the door. There, at his feet, lay feathers.
Ch5
Mr. Green put his pipe in his pocket and watched the morning sun climb above the east building. He thought about last night and the feathers. ‘Probably a bird hit my door and flew away,’ he thought. Anyway, it was not important. Today was the first day of his new job. He went into the small room next door. Taking out a brush, a shovel and some bags, he walked over to the east gate. ‘Just look at all these leaves,’ he said to himself. ‘It’s time to clean up this place.’ He put his pipe and matches on a windowsill and started sweeping. He worked hard and after two hours, there were eight piles of leaves. ‘I can put the leaves into bags later, but first I need a drink.’. He went back to the boiler room and had a long, cool glass of water. On the way back to the east building, he heard something. Was it laughter? He reached the east building and turned the final corner towards the car park. He stopped and stood still. The piles of leaves were not there. Instead, the leaves were all over the ground again. He looked around. ‘Who did this?’ he shouted.
No one answered. He turned and reached for his pipe and matches. Gone. Where were they? Now he was really angry. ‘What’s going on?’ he shouted. ‘Who took them?’ Suddenly, he saw something in the classroom in front of him. He knelt down and crept up to the window. Slowly, he raised his head and stared into the dark room. There, at the back of the room, he saw someone, but only for a second. ‘Hey!’ he shouted, ‘Come back here!’ and he ran to the main east entrance. He pulled the door. It did not open. Taking out his keys and unlocking it, he found himself in the middle of a long corridor. It was long and dark with lots of doors. Ahead of him, stairs rose to the first and second floors. He listened carefully but heard only his own breathing. ‘I want my pipe,’ he said to himself. ‘Where did that kid go? He must be here somewhere.’ Suddenly, someone laughed. It came from a classroom nearby. He stepped up to the room’s door – and the door swung slowly open.
‘Who’s in there?’ he said.
But the room was empty.
Ch6
That night, Mr. Green had his usual dream.
In the dream, it was 8.41am two years ago. He was at Crosslanes primary school and again the playground there was full of noisy kids. He watched them run, laugh and play. ‘They have nothing to worry about, nothing at all,’ he thought. Then he saw Mr. Allen, the Year 5 teacher, on his bike. As usual, he wore a white helmet and a bright red jacket. He cycled past the football matches and crazy games and stopped at the bike shed. Mr. Green nodded hello.
‘Not long to the holidays now,’ said Mr. Allen and got off his bike. He pulled off his helmet and put a chain around the bike’s front wheel.
Mr. Green smiled and closed the door to his janitor’s office. The office was next to the bike shed and he and Mr. Allen often talked there in the mornings.
‘Are you going anywhere nice?’ asked Mr. Green. ‘Joan and I are off to France for a bit of cycling,’ said Mr. Allen and finished locking his bike.
Joan was Mr. Allen’s wife. On rainy days, she brought Mr. Allen to school in their big, red car. Mr. Green didn’t know much about her but he knew that she worked at Birnam Council and that she liked jewellery. He often saw her wearing long, silver earrings and big, expensive rings.
‘Does Joan enjoy all that cycling?
‘She loves it,’ said Mr. Allen and laughed.
‘Not too many hills, I hope!’ said Mr. Green.
Mr. Allen smiled. ‘Just a few small ones! And how about you? Are you going anywhere for the summer?’
Mr. Green shook his head. ‘I have my birds, and anyway I must watch this place.’
Ch7
Mr. Green woke up. Outside, a bird sang loudly at the small window and flew away. He looked at his watch. It was 6 a.m. He pulled the blanket off and stepped out of bed. He felt tired and sad: he always did after that dream. He didn’t feel hungry and he didn’t want breakfast. He needed to work and take his mind away from the past. He thought about his job now. ‘What can I do today?’ he thought. Then he had an idea: the boiler. ‘I’ll start the boiler.’ It was always a good idea to start a boiler for a little while, even in summer, to make sure it was working well. He dressed quickly and went next door.
Inside the boiler room, the huge machine sat silently. There were many buttons, but Mr. Green used one of these machines when he worked at Crosslanes primary. He began pressing some of the buttons and soon the machine was working. ‘It seems fine, but perhaps it needs to run for 24 hours,’ he thought to himself. Closing the boiler room door behind him, he stepped outside and looked up. Black smoke from the boiler rose slowly from the chimney and darkened the clear air. Inside his room again, he sat on his bed. An image of Sally, his favourite bird, came into his head. ‘I wish there was a telephone here,’ he said to himself. ‘I could call John and find out about her.’ Next door, the machine for the boiler made a deep hum and the bed shook a little. He looked up at the little window. Beyond it, the sky was clear and blue, but there was one small, white cloud. He stared at it. He did not have a mobile phone but he wanted to call his neighbour, John. Suddenly, he had an idea. ‘There must be a telephone in the school’s office,’ he said, feeling happy for the first time that morning.
Ch8
Outside, he walked to the west building and pulled out the keys. He chose a small one and put it into the lock. There was a ‘click’ and the door opened. ‘That was lucky!’ he said. Inside, there was another door. He pushed it open. There was a corridor and some stairs. ‘Usually offices are upstairs,’ he thought. He climbed the stairs.
On the second floor, he found more empty classrooms and a staff room. ‘No phone here,’ he said and continued to the third floor. There, at the top of the stairs, sat a reception desk with offices behind it. There was also a black leather sofa and four chairs around it. He walked up to the desk and saw a red phone. ‘Great,’ he said and picked it up. He listened. There was no tone. It didn’t work. He slammed it down and looked for another in the offices. But for every phone, it was the same: no tone. None of them worked.
He sat down on the black leather sofa. ‘Now what?’ he said to himself. ‘I don’t have a mobile phone and there isn’t a public phone around here. How can I….’ He stopped and stared. He could not believe his eyes. There, on the little table in front of the sofa, was an old newspaper from two years ago. Mr. Green recognized it immediately. Above a black and white photograph of the burned classrooms, the headline said, ‘Teacher Killed as Fire Destroys Classrooms’.
Mr. Green stared.
There was another picture – of Mr. Green. The headline said, ‘Janitor questioned by police over fire.’
‘Where did this come from? Why is it…?’ shouted Mr. Green, but he didn’t finish his question. The sound of footsteps stopped him.
There was someone on the stairs.
Ch9
Mr. Green jumped up from the sofa. ‘Who’s there?’ he said.
The footsteps stopped.
A cloud passed across the morning sun and the room darkened. Suddenly, Mr. Green felt cold.
‘Don’t you know me, old man?’ said a low voice from the stairs.
‘Who are you? Is this some kind of joke?’ He tried to sound strong but he couldn’t. He wanted to walk over to the stairs but his whole body felt weak.
‘Who am I?’ asked the voice angrily. It paused. ‘You know me…don’t pretend you don’ t.’
‘What do you want? Tell me!’ shouted Mr. Green.
The voice spoke again. ‘Do you dream about it?’ it asked.
Mr. Green felt ill. There was a pain in his chest. He sat down on the sofa. ‘Yes…’ he whispered, ‘I dream about it all the time.’
‘It was your fault. The emergency exit door didn’t open. You didn’t repair it. That was your job!,’ screamed the voice.
‘It wasn’t my fault. It was an accident….’ Now the pain in his chest was terrible. Suddenly a small, dark object flew through the air and landed on the ground next to Mr. Green. He looked down at it and began to cry. It was the body of Sally, his favourite bird.
Ch10
Detective Inspector Duncan stepped out of the police car. It was another beautiful morning and already it was quite hot. He looked up at the deep blue sky. In the distance, high up, he saw some tiny shapes. Slowly the objects grew larger. ‘Racing pigeons,’ he said finally. ‘Where are they going?’ Suddenly, the birds turned away and flew towards the west at full speed. He watched them go and soon the sky was empty once again.
‘Sir? The sergeant is waiting for you upstairs,’ said a constable.
Detective Inspector Duncan nodded. ‘Back to work,’ he thought and climbed the stairs to the third floor.
‘Morning, sir,’ said the sergeant there.
‘Good morning,’ replied Inspector Duncan and stared at the body on the sofa.
‘We found him a few hours ago,’ said the sergeant.
‘How did he die?’ asked Duncan.
‘The doctor said heart attack, probably.’
‘Who is he?’
‘His name is Green, sir. I found a letter in his pocket and there’s also the newspaper.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Duncan.
The sergeant pointed to the newspaper on the table and the photograph. ‘It’s the same person,’ he said.
‘I see,’ said Duncan, ‘and how did we find him?’
‘The school’s headmistress called us. She saw smoke from the chimney and came to the school.’
‘Smoke from the chimney?’
‘Yes, sir. Mr. Green started the boiler.’
‘How do you know?’
‘We found his clothes in a room next to the boiler and we found keys to the boiler room in his pockets.’
‘So was he the janitor here?’
‘Well,’ said the sergeant, ‘that’s the strange thing. The letter was a job offer and it came from a Mr. Thane at Birnam County Council. We called the council but Malcolm Thane doesn’t work for them. There is no Malcolm Thane. The letter’s a fake.’
‘That is strange,’ agreed Duncan. ‘We have a dead man in an empty school. We have a fake job offer and we have a newspaper from two years ago with a picture of Mr. Green in it.’ He scratched his head. ‘We even have a dead pigeon….so where did he get the school keys from?’
‘We don’t know, sir. Usually the keys are with the headmistress and Birnam Council.’
The inspector breathed in deeply. ‘Do we have any witnesses?’
‘Not really, sir.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Coming here, the headmistress said she almost crashed into a car. It came from the school car park,’ replied the sergeant.
‘I see. Did she get the license plate?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Did she know the driver?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Can she tell us anything about the car?’
‘Yes, sir. It was red.’
‘Anything else?’ asked Inspector Duncan.
‘Yes, we found this on the stairs,’ said the sergeant and held up a clear plastic bag
‘Whose is that, I wonder?’
The sergeant did not know. Inspector Duncan took the plastic bag from him.
Inside it was a long, silver earring with a red stone in the centre.
© eflshorts.com
The Happening (Ch15)
Where was my mum? Days passed and still there was no visit from her. Time moved so slowly. I slept, I woke up, the guards brought me food, doors banged, dogs barked, I stared at the walls, I worried. Then another day would begin. When my door opened and two soldiers pulled me to my feet, I guessed that more than a week had passed. They took me to a laboratory where Barlow and my mum sat opposite each other at a table.
‘Alan! Come in and sit down,’ said Barlow, smiling. I took a seat and looked at my mum. She didn’t even look at me. She looked tired. Her hair was a mess and she had black rings under her eyes. There were handcuffs on her wrists and marks on her face. ‘Your mum didn’t want to help me, Alan,’ said Barlow, his smile disappearing. ‘And because of that, things took a little time.’ Barlow stared hard at my mother’s bowed head; then he leaned across the table towards me. ‘Do you know you are special?’
I didn’t know what he meant.
Barlow stood and went over to a row of test tubes. ‘You don’t, do you?’ he said. With his back turned, he picked up a tube that held a green liquid.
I looked at mum but she kept staring at Barlow, a look of horror filling her eyes.
Barlow held the test tube up. ‘This,’ he said, ‘was made from your blood. I haven’t named it yet, but I will.’ He picked up a syringe and filled it with the green liquid.
My mother was sobbing, quietly.
‘My dear boy, you hold the key to…everything. Thanks to the little chat I had with your mother, I know that she injected you with T-Vax9 and then something happened, something…extraordinary.’
Barlow slowly walked over to my mum. He nodded and the soldiers who brought me took hold of my mum’s arms – one each – and lifted them onto the table. Barlow rolled up her sleeve. ‘Alan, your blood made its own antidote to Taxin. You don’t need T-Vax9 – not like I do, not like your mother does. He’s a special little fellow, isn’t he?’
My mother stared at him, her eyes wide with fear.
Barlow squirted some of the liquid out from the end of the needle. ‘It’s taken some time to develop and now I need to test it on a human.’ Barlow looked at me. ‘And who better to test it on than the person who started all of this?’ Swiftly, Barlow plunged the needle into my mum’s arm, emptying all of the green liquid into it.
© eflshorts.com
The Happening (Ch 14)
Match the words with the correct meaning
| harvests | fruit, vegetables and cereals grown for food |
| starvation | tiny drops of a liquid in the air |
| the truth | carried in the air |
| crops | a disease can spread |
| a spray | the fully grown crop |
| infectious | correctness, without lies |
| airborne | death from a lack of food |
Reading comprehension for The Happening (Ch14)
Read The Happening (Ch14) and decide if these statements are true or false
a. Alan’s mother worked for a company called Foodchem.
b. Alan’s mother developed Taxin to help stop starvation.
c. Taxin decreased harvests.
d. The food companies used their own scientists to develop a vaccine for Taxin.
e. The food companies developed T-Vax9.
f. Alan’s mother stopped Barlow from telling the world about T-Vax9.
The Happening (Ch14)
‘I want to know the truth mum,’ I said. ‘Dad is dead: no more lies.’
My mother looked at me. For a while she said nothing; then she spoke. ‘It all started at FoodChem – the company I worked for,’ she said. ‘Taxin was a chemical spray that I was working on…People were dying all over the world from starvation. We believed Taxin was the answer.’
‘What did Taxin do?’ I asked slowly.
‘It increased harvests – by two hundred, three hundred percent. Everything grew twice the size and there were two harvests a year from one field. It was amazing but…But after we sprayed the crops and tested it in some places around the world…’
‘Like in Brazil?’ I asked remembering the little town that mum told me about.
‘Yes, like in Brazil,’ nodded mum. ‘That’s when we realised that there was a problem…People started to die. It was horrible – bleeding from the eyes and mouth. It was so quick, so infectious and because of the crop spraying it was airborne too. It some drove animals crazy…’
‘Like the dogs,’ I said angrily.
‘I tried to make things right. I made an antidote for Taxin: T-vax9, but the food companies didn’t wait. They only thought about profits. They had their own scientists, and they thought they had their own antidote. They were wrong. They tested Taxin on open fields; then their antidote failed.’
She looked at me.
‘So why didn’t you tell everyone about T-vax9?’ I asked. ‘Why didn’t you help everyone?’ I looked at her. The answer was written on her face.
Barlow.
Reading comprehension (The Happening Ch13)
Look again at The Happening (Ch13). Are the following true or false?
1. Alan took a sample of Dr. Barlow’s blood.
2. Alan was in his cell when he spoke to Dr. Barlow
3. Alan met his mother before he entered his cell.
4. Alan’s mother was waiting for him in his cell.
5. The guard who took Alan to the cell was tall.
6. Alan is not affected by Taxin.
7. Alan’s father gave Alan’s mother T-vax9.
8. Alan’s father was immune to Taxin.
Vocabulary for The Happening (Ch13)
1. Match these words from Ch13 with their meaning
| Word | Meaning |
| immune (adj) | not wide |
| a syringe (n) | able to resist infection because of natural defenses |
| worried (adj) | an object with a long, thin needle and a body for giving injections |
| a sample (n) | anxious |
| narrow (adj) | a little of something larger |
The Happening (Ch13)
Barlow took a sample of my blood with his syringe. The blood looked thick and a bright. ‘Okay’ he said to a tall, quiet soldier. ‘Take him away.’
The soldier led me back to the cell and locked the door. Inside, Mum was waiting for me. She stood and hugged me; then we sat on the narrow bed. ‘I am so sorry,’ she said.
‘Is it true?’ I asked her. ‘Am I immune to Taxin?’
Mum bit her lip and tried to stop the tears from spilling from her eyes. ‘Yes,’ she finally said.
‘And dad?’
Mum shook her head. ‘I gave him T-vax9. Before the lab closed, I took some.’
‘What about Dr Barlow?’ I asked. ‘What does he want?’
Mum looked worried. ‘We have to be very, very careful,’ she replied.
The Happening (Ch12)
They came into my room during the night – two soldiers and Barlow.
‘Don’t be frightened Alan… we don’t want to hurt you,’ said Barlow and brought a syringe from behind his back. The two soldiers held me down and I felt a sharp pain in my arm. The room spun for a second; then everything went black.
*
‘Don’t hurt him… please I beg you.’
It was mum’s voice. She had her hand on my head. I still felt dizzy. I kept my eyes almost closed and lay perfectly still. I could see that I was in the lab again. I was lying on a table.
‘I don’t want to hurt him,’ said Barlow, ‘but we need your help.’
‘I am helping you!’ shouted my mum.
Barlow laughed. ‘Please, Alice – I am not a fool.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’ My mum’s voice sounded unsure. Her hand moved away from my head.
‘I believe your husband also survived. Is that correct?’ There was silence for a moment and then Barlow continued. ‘Isn’t it strange that three people in the same family survived…without a vaccine.’
Barlow crossed the room. I could feel him close to me. I kept my eyes closed and didn’t move.
‘Is there something you want to tell me, Alice?’
Silence.
Barlow continued. ‘You know, we worked together on Taxin for years. You were the best scientist there – always out in front, always leading. For years, we tried to find a cure. I thought it was useless, impossible. People wanted to give up but then you discovered T-Vax9… an amazing piece of work.’
‘I’ll make it again,’ my mum said. ‘You have everything I need here. Just don’t hurt us. I can make…’
‘SHUT UP!’ Barlow screamed. ‘Don’t pretend you don’t know. Don’t pretend that you are surprised that T-Vax9 stops working after the twentieth injection.’ Barlow was breathing heavily and his voice shook. ‘I’ve seen them die, Alice. ALL of them. After the twentieth one, they all DIED!.’
‘But there is plenty of time. We can work on a new version of T-Vax9…’
Barlow gave a strange laugh. ‘No, there isn’t plenty of time. You see, I just took my 19th injection.’
The room went silent for a moment.
‘So, I will ask you again – and I want you to think carefully before you answer. Did you find a cure for Taxin and use it on yourself and your precious son?’
Copyright: Eflshorts.com
The Happening (Ch11)
‘Your co-operation is very valuable to us, Alice…’ said Dr Barlow, closing the cell door slowly. ‘And I am sure your son is very valuable to you.’
I looked at my mum’s face. I didn’t understand. What did he mean? My mum looked scared and angry, her eyes wide and red.
‘You have ten minutes. That’s all,’ he said and slammed the door shut. We sat on the narrow bed in my cell listening to his footsteps. When there was silence, my mum spoke.
‘Promise me you will be strong,’ she whispered.
I nodded.
‘I have to tell you…things. You have to try and understand…’
‘Who is he?’ I asked. ‘Why did he bring us there? What does he want?’
My mum took a deep breath. ‘I worked with him at the university. He and I worked on something called ‘Taxin’.’
‘What’s that?’ I asked.
‘It’s a disease. It appeared suddenly in a tiny village – Taxin – in southern Elysia. It killed almost everything there, apart from the dogs. The Elysian government quickly put the area into quarantine – nothing and no one could go into the village and the deaths stopped. The government sent samples of the disease to many universities around the world. Dr Barlow and I began to research it…’ My mum started crying. She looked in my eyes. ‘But then the disease suddenly began to spread. It started killing people. Hundreds, thousands, millions…’
I didn’t understand.
My mum looked me in the eye. ‘The disease began killing again…but not in Elysia.’
I still didn’t understand.
‘It was Barlow,’ said my mum. ‘Barlow released Taxin.’
Simple, compound and complex sentences – The Happening (Ch10)
1. Complex sentences
A complex sentence has a ‘connector’ (a ‘subordinating conjunction’ to be precise) such as ‘when’, ‘if’, ‘although’, ‘because’ and ‘after’.
Look at this extract from The Happening (Ch10). What is the ‘connector’ in it?
When it saw me, its legs shook violently
2. Complex sentences can also have adjective clauses in them. An adjective clause has a subject and a verb in it. An adjective clause describes the noun next to it.
Look at this extract from The Happening (Ch10). Can you find the adjective clause?
When my mum turned and saw me, she dropped the clipboard that she was holding and came running
3. Simple and compound sentences
Can these two extracts be made simpler?
Look at #1 again. It could be two simple sentences: The dog saw me. Its legs shook. Alternatively, it could be a compound sentence joined by ‘and’: The dog saw me and its legs shook.
Look at #2 again. Can you make it into simple sentences? Can you make it into compound sentences?
The Happening (Ch10) vocabulary
Match the words from The Happening (Ch10) with their meanings
| 1. Camouflage | a. To go into |
| 2. Violently | b. A kind of material often made from cows |
| 3. To echo | c. After some time |
| 4. Leather | d. An object that holds paper |
| 5. Bloodstains | e. A pattern with colours that help people hide |
| 6. To enter | f. Forcefully, with strength |
| 7. A clipboard | g. The marks that blood leaves behind |
| 8. Eventually | h. To make the same sound again and again |
Picture activity – The Happening (Ch10)
Match these words from The Happening (Ch10) with the correct picture
camouflage
glasses
a laboratory
a clipboard
The Happening (Ch10)
A soldier dressed in a camouflage uniform entered the room and pulled me to my feet.
‘Come on,’ he said simply.
He took me into a long corridor. On both sides of it, there were many other metal doors. We walked down it, our footsteps echoing. At the end, he unlocked a door and we entered another corridor. This time, as we walked along it, dogs barked and scratched at the doors. ‘Where am I? Who are you? Where is my mum?’ I wanted to shout. I didn’t even know if it was day or night. We eventually stopped at the end of the second corridor and a door opened.
Inside was a laboratory. It was full of glass tubes, strange bottles and benches. In the middle of the room, on a metal table, a dog lay on its side, its face towards me. When it saw me, its legs shook violently. It was only then did I notice it was tied down with thick leather straps. I could see that its eyes were red. It snarled and showed its long white teeth. On the other side of the dog, a woman in a white lab coat was standing with her back to me.
‘Dr Veron,’ said the soldier loudly.
When my mum turned and saw me, she dropped the clipboard that she was holding and came running. ‘‘Alan! Are you okay? Have they hurt you?’ She hugged me tightly.
‘I feel a little strange – they gave me an injection.’
The smile disappeared from mum’s face. ‘An injection?’ She stared at the soldier. ‘What kind of…?’
‘Don’t worry Alice; it wasn’t Taxin,’ said a voice from behind us. I turned around. A small, fat man with white hair and glasses had entered the room. He was smiling broadly and holding out his hand. `You must be Alan… correct?’
I stared at him, at the red marks on his white laboratory coat.
‘I’m Dr Barlow,’ he said.
I knew that I was looking at bloodstains.
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Vocabulary practice for The Happening (Ch9)
Match the word with the meaning
| a. narrow | 1. to feel pain |
| b. concrete | 2. to close noisily |
| c. to hurt | 3. a machine for cutting |
| d. to bark | 4. to move quickly |
| e. to slam | 5. can’t see it |
| f. to echo | 6. not wide |
| g. to recede | 7. to make a noise like a dog |
| h. invisible | 8. to become less |
| i. to rush | 9. a hard stone |
| j. chainsaw | 10. to hear the same sound again |
