In class, we studied crime fiction, and wrote (the beginnings of) detective stories as collaborative tasks. Here’s one story, written by Lisa, Kiria and Salomé:
The man of Silverlake
The mysterious house in Silverlake was dark, its huge windows as empty as a dead man’s eyes. It was isolated near a lake in a dangerous forest. The garden was full of weeds because the rich man who was living there was too old. He was called James Mc Cartey but nobody knew his real name. They just called him “the man of Silverlake”. Some people had already seen him outdoors but only during the night : he might have been searching for something but nobody ever knew what.
One day, two men came at James’. With them, there was a little girl. They knocked on the door and shouted : “Mr Mc Cartey ! Are you here ? We absolutely need to talk to you !”. He didn’t answer because he was astonished to see that somebody knew his name. He didn’t make noises so the two men thought he wasn’t at home. They tried again everyday during one week, until he decided to open the door, in a horrible creaking :
“ Are you James Mc Cartey ?, asked the first man.
James didn’t answer, so the man showed him the little girl :
– Here is your grand-daughter. Her parents had disappeared : your son is dead. I’m sorry but you’re the only family that she now has. She must stay here with you, you do not have the choice.”
So he accepted without saying anything.
During one month, he didn’t talk to her but one day, she really wanted to go outside even if she knew that she wasn’t allowed to. She asked her grand-father many times and he finally accepted to go out with her. They had been walking near the lake for two hours when the little girl suddenly stopped :
“ What happened ? Why are you stopping ?, asked James.
– I saw something strange in the lake.”
She recognized the bodies of her parents and cried :
“Dad ! Mum !”
James was very touched and sat on a bench, under which there was a little sheet of paper. He read it and was terrified to see that his name, the name of his son, and the name of his grand-daughter were written on it. What a chance for him to be an old detective… He promised her grand-daughter that he would find what happened and who did this horrible thing.
