Vocabulary: A Frightening Event

Possible Scenarios

a nightmare
a practical joke
a night exploration
met an alien
a haunted house
found a bag of bones
sighted a UFO
an eerie encounter
a home-alone experience

Venues

a run-down house
in an old rubber estate
at the scene of the murder
at the edge of the plantation
at the end of a deserted road
in the midst of an old housing estate
on a quiet stretch of road near a vegetable farm
hanging precariously at the window ledge

When

at dusk
in the evening
in the fading twilight
at night
during a storm
at the break of dawn
on a rainy day
early in the morning
on a hot, humid afternoon

What We Saw

a burnt-out shell of a house
flitting shadows at the windows
charred walls and blistered ceilings
rambutan trees laden with ripe, red fruit
families of spiders swinging from their webs
an old hut on stilts surrounded by a tall fence
a large, rambling mansion with overgrown plants
tall grass, overgrown plants and broken flower pots
blooming frangipani trees, heavy with milky white flowers
a dilapidated house with boards nailed across the front door
piles of broken bottles and empty tin cans, useless junk of all kinds
broken windows, a rusty old tricycle and piles of yellowed newspapers
a maid hanging precariously to the edge of the window ledge, screaming for help frantically.

What We Heard

a cat wailing
a creaking door
an owl hooting
an unnerving silence
a dog howling miserably
soft moaning and groaning sounds
soft whispers echoed through the rooms
a thumping sound came from an unhinged window
the wind whistled through the cracks in the walls
the sound of footsteps came from the room above

What We Smelt

a foul odour
stench of urine
burnt smell of charred remains
the fragrance of the frangipani flowers

What We Felt

my blood froze
my stomach knotted up
paralysed with fear
tightness in my stomach
head started to spin
dry mouthed and trembling
my hair stood on ends
heart pounded loudly/furiously
my heart beat quickly
sticky caresses of many spider webs
a gust of cold wind made me shiver despite the noon day heat

What We Did

shrieked in fear
clenched my fists tightly
shoved my fist into my mouth
shone a torch at a startled cat
my hands grabbed a lump of a spongy, sticky object

Here are some ways to begin:

Each time I heard the song ‘Ghostbusters’, I was reminded of the time when Timothy and I went ghost busting for fun.

I swore I saw a face at the window but Joe and Razif did not believe me. That was the reason we ended up sneaking into the abandoned house later that night.

The haunted house stood silent in the midst of a clump of overgrown bamboo trees.

Here are some ways to conclude:

After that eerie experience, we gave up playing ghost busting. I still have an occasional nightmare but after a while, I forgot the details of the event until I was asked to write this composition. I hope the nightmare will not return.

We hurried into the busy street without once looking back at the quiet building, conscious all the time that there was someone at the window on the second storey watching over our departure. Needless to say, I never went back there again.

It seemed like we had been wandering in the house for a very long time. I was surprised to find that after all that heart-chilling adventure, it was only two o’clock in the afternoon.

When we reached home, we could not wait to tell our parents what happened at the old house. They were curious but were displeased with what we had done. We had to promise them that we would not trespass into other people’s homes again.

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