14+Level+Senior+9

= = = = =learning about online stores [|More Information]This is the page for the level 9 e-story "Tales of Mystery and Imagination"=



Instructions

 * First person** - Read the opening sentence of the story below. Now come up with some ideas about how the story might continue. You can make notes on paper if you think it will help you. When you have your ideas organised, click on the 'edit this page' button above and then continue the story below. Remember to add your name and class at the end of contribution, ready for the next person to continue your story.


 * Next person**- Read what the previous person or people have written. Now come up with some ideas about how the story might continue. You have ten minutes to do this. Your teacher will monitor what you are doing and help you at this stage. You can make notes on paper if you think it will help you. When you have your ideas organised, click on the 'edit this page' button above and then continue the story below. Remember to add your name and class at the end of contribution, ready for the next person to continue your story.

Beginning of the story
"My friendship with Mr William Legrand began many years ago. He had once been wealthy, but a number of misfortunes had made him poor; and to avoid the shame of his situation, he had gone to live at Sullivan’s Island, near Charleston, South Carolina. He had built himself a small hut, and was living there with and old servant called Jupiter, when I first met him. He was an educated man and had unusual powers of mind which interested me greatly… "

Continue here:

Mr William Legrand was a fifty-year old man who was polite and had a kind, generous and genteel personality. At first glance, I saw a tired-looking man standing close to a long, sandy cliff next to the palm trees. He had dark hair which was greying around the edges. Mr Legrand had dark, unexpressive, blue eyes. He had a strong constitution for a person his age. The fifty-year old was very tall and quite thin, as he looked like he had not eaten much lately. William was wearing a black hat with a white ribbon around it. The middle-aged man was also wearing a black trench coat, which was very old. Consequently, the soles of which flapped when he walked. The man's overall appeareance contrasted with the lonely island he lived in.

The beach was long and solitary and with some tufts of grass here and there. The sun shone down on the beach harshly, making the atmosphere very hot as the heat rose in waves above the sand. The sea was calm and the small waves looked like long white ribbons.The hut was built at the end of the beach near two lonely trees on a mound, which were wind-swept. The tree trunks were twisted and their possible shadows were unexistant as it was mid-day. At the back of the house, there was a small field, where there were different crops such as lettuce, tomatoes and carrots. The hut was small and it was built of wood panels and the roof was made with palm leaves. The small building was square, with two little doors, one at the front and the other at the back. The hut also had one big window at the right hand side of the house facing the sea and there were two steps in the front of the door.

As I was walking to towards the hut, I suddenly saw a bent figure coming around from the back of the hut. He was Mr. Legrand's butler, Jupiter. Jupiter, although a seventy-year old man with a life of contrasts on his back, grey haired and an old wrinkled face is, at first sight, what he seemed to be: a seventy-year old man. As the butler was dressed in a ragged jacket, with trousers which were torn and dirty at the hem. The old servant was also wearing a pair of well-worn shoes which were muddy because he seemed to have been working in a field. He was clutching some used white-dirty gloves and a rusty shovel.

As I already knew, Jupiter was a lonely man without any children or a wife who had only dedicated his life to looking after Mr. Legrand. In this way he had shown his loyalty to Mr. Legrand

Mr. Legrand was a very succesful and important businessman who owned a bank. Already, at that time, he was not a normal person. Even then, he had had supernatural powers which had actually made him rich. As a matter of fact, he could predict the future. However, what he did not know was that not only did he have supernatural powers, but many more people did, as well. Due to the fact that other people also use their powers, he lost his position. On the morning of the 27th of October, a young man entered the bank asking for Mr Legrand.

Once he had reached Mr. Lagrand's office, the strange man, who surprisingly knew about Mr. Lagrand's powers, tried to force the bank director to pay him under the table as blackmail or he would give Mr. Legrand's secret away. Unaware of what could happen, Mr. Legrand refused. Upon hearing that, the strange man left, promising himself that he would take revenge.

Five days later, when Mr. Legrand arrived at the bank, he discovered, to his amazement, that all the money in his secret safe had been stolen. The only thing visible in the safe was a note which said: " I told you I would take revenge and this is only the beginning... hahahahahahaha".

After the first misfortune, another more devastating one came. Not one week had passed before his wife had decided to leave him. She confessed she had met someone else who could make her much happier. She had made the decision to take their son and leave him. Later, he would discover that his wife, Antonella, had been seeing that man for two years before she even spoke, but, now, Mr. Legrand who was no longer rich, wasn't needed him anymore. The day his wife left him, he had found a note which read  I told you this was only the beginning. Mr Legrand was sure it had been his wife's lover but he could do nothing about it, he had better leave forever.

At that moment, Jupiter, who had been a loyal servant for more than ten years, was watching him from ther corner of the room. Jupiter, who knew everything about the situation Mr. Legrand was going through, asked him what he was going to do. The fifty-year old man answered that he was leaving for a destination unknown because he didn't want his son to know anything about the disgrace. He felt ashamed. Little Tony, his five-year-old son, who had always been very proud of his father, would be deceived if he had found out that his father had been abandoned by his wife who had left him penniless. Jupiter, not thinking twice, had offered to go with his master, no matter where he went. It was such a beautiful moment that Legrand had broken into tears. Then, they left the city together and flew to a lost island in the Pacific.

At last, I had reached his hut. Actually, I couldn't believe I had finally found him. From my childhood, I remembered him as a reach gentleman but mainly as one of my best friends. Nervously, I knocked at the door and Jupiter asked me kindly why I was there. Confused, I stood there and stared at him. Soon, I realised that it was Mr Legrand's house because I heard a voice that sounded familiar to me at background. "Jupiter, who dares to interrupt my private tea hour!" William came towards me as he continue to moan. At that moment he saw me. The cup of tea he had in his hand fell to the floor and he ran towards me. Then, after the following emotive greetings and after expressing our surprise about how fast time had past, I explained to him the reason for my visit. His first reaction was to refuse the interview. In the end, he accepted being interviewed gratefully and I started to ask him questions: - Your life has changed a lot as I can see. What has happened to your wealth? - Many things have happened to me, my old friend. - What does Antonella think about your new way of life? - I would prefer not to rememeber her, please. Sorry, but I don't feel strong enough to talk about my past. We should continue the interview another day, if you don't mind. - Well, no problem, I didn't want to upset you and I won't ask you any more question in order to not disturb you. DIANE'S CLASS

I stayed for a few days in the guest room while Mr. Legrand was getting prepared for his interview I was definitely getting my interview done. I tried to get back to the subject several times during those days but the answer was always the same "I am not ready to speak about my past yet". I was always wondering what could have happened to such a great man to destroy him like that. He who once owned one of the biggest banks in the whole country. Who had done this to him? Would he be able to get back what he had once owned?

I spent the whole night wondering about the correct answer. Finally, dawn broke, and as the sun rose, my queries disappeared: I decided to give him the cure without his knowledge. I owned him. So I began my search but I didn't expected to find what I found next to the kitchen door.

It was unimaginable. I started to think that I was not on a desert island any longer. A plane had crashed and a military pilot was injured and crawling all over the kitchen. The Third World War had just broken out and was haunting the island. Suddenly the co-pilot left the plane skiing, nothing made sense. I rushed back towards the hut looking for Mr. Legrand, but my surprise grew as I stared at my friend fighting on a table against a man more or less his age with pillows. I had surely lost my mind.

Suddenly... Dawn´s Class