English III Jade Maciel de Moura Carneiro

The mystery of the abandoned house At the end of a small dimly lit street, there was a modest house, made of wood, which had belonged to a lonely old lady. Now this house belongs to spiders and rats, or more than that ... to the ghosts. This is the story that haunted the neighborhood: they all believed that house was haunted. Some people were confirmed to have heard strange noises coming from inside the abandoned house, and also some more had seen figures, and the question was whether that was the ghost of the former owner or if there was some other bigger mystery. Amid much hype, George, a very brave boy, and his sister, Lucy, were to the famous abandoned house. They took a backpack with a lot of equipment in case something goes wrong and they need help. Filled with courage and determination, they mounted their bikes and went to their destination. Arriving there, they were still some time standing in front of the house, that has no fence or yard. The courage of the beginning now gave way to a fear, a tension that almost made them cry, but breathing deep, these children entered the residence without an owner, as explorers who find an uninhabited land. The house was almost completely dark inside, full of spider webs; there were still some antique furniture, already very worn by time. Lucy, who was contemplating the strange house, accidentally bumped into a table, and brought down a small picture frame without a picture. The sound of the object hitting the floor did George flinching, very scared. They continued walking, and suddenly heard again the sound of an object falling. The boy, now thinking it was her sister again, began to give her a sermon, but the girl swore it was not her, and she was almost crying because she was getting scared with the mysterious noise. The children, that by now were very frightened, walked slowly into the kitchen. The lantern dim light was sustained on the trembling hand of George; his sister was going back, looking at all sides, with eyes wide open. Another strange noise, and suddenly, an old pot that was covered with spider webs plummets to the ground, making a terrible

metallic roar. The children cried, and Lucy grabbed his brother, as he directed his shaking flashlight toward the fallen pan. Another strange noise, and several glass cups covered in dust broke down. Lucy covered her face with her hands, ready to cry, but George insisted that she opened her eyes. Fearfully, she did so, and had a nice surprise: both she and her brother watched, stunned, the agent of all the confusion, the mysterious being that causes so much chaos and daily scares people. Poor children, so frightened because of what people say. They hardly knew that the major cause of so much hype about the horror of the wooden house was in fact an innocent little cat, who was playing happily in the house that the animal already considered his.