I took a candle* with me into the corridor. It was very dark. The light* from the candle was weak*. I was not happy. I was alone, tired and cold. I could not stop feeling afraid. The old people’s words worried me. I didn’t think it was true. I was not a child. But here – alone in the corridor – the thought of a ghost was very real. I walked up the dark corridor and held the candle in front of me.
The dark was all around me. I could not see the doors to the other rooms. I wanted to get upstairs. Slowly, I put one foot out and took one step at a time. I took my time. The steps up were wooden and made noises when I went up them. There was another corridor upstairs. I knew the red room was on my left – but where?
‘Not far now,’ I thought. I stopped and listened. Did I hear a noise? The dark moved closer to me and the light from the candle nearly went out. I put a hand around it. I could not let it go out. Shadows* moved around in the dark. A noise. I stopped again and listened but there was nothing. I moved on. I was a little afraid now. The dark did it to me. I wanted to sing or talk, to do something to break the quiet. I tried this and very quietly sang a little song. My voice sounded very loud in the dark, quiet corridor. It made me feel more alone and afraid, so I stopped. I moved slowly forward and looked at all the doors. I held my candle up to the doors. I needed to find the door to the red room quickly. Just then, in the dark, a white face looked out at me from the black shadow. I stopped. Was it a ghost? I took out my gun.
‘Who is there?’ I said.
No answer.
Again, I slowly moved forward with my candle. The face came out the shadows but had no body. It was a picture – a picture of an old man’s face on the wall! I nearly laughed and put my gun back in my pocket.
After about a minute, I found the correct door. I stood in the shadows and waited before I opened the door. Why? I do not know the answer. Was I afraid? Perhaps. I stood and looked at the wooden door and did not move. It was a long time before I was ready. Then I opened the door. Here it was: the room of ghosts. Was this true? I was about to find out.
I went into the red room.
GLOSSARY
*candle – a wax object that we burn in order to get light
*light – brightness, the opposite of dark
*weak – not strong
*shadow – a dark area behind or below an object when the object stands in front of a light
EFLshorts 