Please be informed of an amendment made hereby that the name of the writer of the book review entitled ‘Star Wars Episode III’ published in the Quillette (Vol.25) should be Lau Chun Him, Jonathan (S.4A). Please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience or confusion caused.

    What are ghosts? Everyone has his/her imagination on ghosts and everyone has his/her different types of ghosts in his/her mind. One may think that ghosts are beautiful while another one may think that ghosts are terrible ; some people may think that ghosts are grudging and offensive while some others may think that some ghosts are quite conscientious.

    Actually, ghosts are the products of human imagination. In the world , there are many things beyond explanation that people thus regard as the supernatural or ‘ghosts’. In a sense , ghost stories are very entertaining and amazing because they arouse our interests in exploring the world beyond the reality.

    To stimulate and enhance our creativity , we include many ghost stories in the English section of the Quillette this year. All the ghost stories are brilliant and thrilling. For instance, ‘A ghost in a hospital’ expresses the imagination about the ghosts at the hottest place of ghost stories --- hospital. Also ‘A haunted school’ describes the scary story which happened in the school! They are creative, unbelievable, and supernatural. But all of them are showing the imagination world of the writer.

    Ghost stories are the essence of writing. They absolutely show the magical power of words. They attract people to become immersed in their world and use words to figure out their world of imagination. Now, let’s start to explore the supernatural side of our world!

    Today, I went to Sai Kung for an adventure camp. Our campsite was in a remote mountain village. It was not easily accessible. We reached our destination at 7 o’clock in the evening. There were black clouds sailing in the dark sky. The sky was gloomy. The village was nearly deserted. The abnormal stillness caught our attention.

    After we had settled down, six of us sat on a path of grass together. There was a rather sepulchral atmosphere around us. Although our group leader cracked a joke to try to lighten our spirits, it didn’t work at all. Suddenly, the dead silence between us was broken by the sound of footsteps on the path. Everyone seemed to shake with tension. Our group leader looked pale. We could tell by the look on his face that he must see something horrible. He began to scream and cry. The rest of us were too frightened to do anything to help him. We were all shocked by his terrible expressions. He rushed to his bag and took out a knife. We ran away for fear that he might kill us.

    Unfortunately, I slipped and fell on the ground. No one helped me to my feet. I burst into tears. He approached and pointed his knife at me. I shouted for help. . . .

    At this moment, I heard the ringing of my alarm clock. Oh! What a terrifying nightmare it was! I got up and went to school.

    Ten years ago, there was a beautiful house. Many lovely children lived in that house. One night, a fire broke out. Nobody went there again. People said that they saw children sitting near the house and cried.

    Many people said that the children were ghosts. Garfield heard that, but he didn’t believe that there were ghosts. He went to the house with John and Jack. They went to the house at Halloween.

    They pushed the door open and got into the house. The door suddenly closed. It was so dark inside. They heard some children cry. They searched for them everywhere. They found a child near the door at last. Garfield asked that child what happened.

    ‘I can’t leave my mother here although I’ve died already. My mum was still under a heavy beam. She can’t go out. Help !’ the child begged.

    Garfield, John and Jack helped the child ghost to remove the wood. His mum came out and the child ghost disappeared.

    People never heard children cry anymore.

    Kenny was a fireman. He always had to work at night. Therefore, he always felt very tired.

    One day, he got up at 5 : 00 a.m. He had only slept for three hours. That meant he slept at 2 : 00 a.m. He felt very tired. “If I don’t need to go to work, I will sleep until 11 : 00 a.m. !” “Oh ! I feel very tired indeed !” Kenny said.

    Kenny put on his spectacles and he went to the toilet and brushed his teeth. Suddenly, he saw something white flying very fast. He felt scared but he said to himself, “There is no ghost in the world. Maybe I am so tired that my vision blurs.” After that, he went to work by bus.

    At 1 : 00 p.m., Kenny had lunch with his friends who were his colleagues as well. After he had lunch, he went to the toilet. Then he went back to the canteen to wait for his friends to finish their lunch. Oh ! He saw the white flying object again ! He felt scared but he could not see it after a second. “Oh my god ! Don’t follow me ! The ghost ! Run away from me !” Kenny was shivering with fear.

    At 2 : 00 a.m., Kenny went back home. “I felt very tired ! The ghost ! Don’t irritate me anymore ! I am a good person ! Please don’t approach me . . . .” When he was having a shower, he saw the white ghost again.

    After one minute, however, Kenny no longer felt frightened. Instead, he laughed aloud. Do you know why ?

    This is because when he looked into the mirror, he saw that there was some rice stuck on his glasses. There was no white ghost. It was only some rice which accidentally stuck directly in front of his glasses. He had mistaken the rice past as a white ghost ! What a silly man Kenny is !

    It was a hospital in a city. It was very old and it had not been repaired for a long time. Ella, an experienced nurse had been working there for over two decades.

    One day, she received a photo she had taken with her colleagues. She looked at it and her face turned pale. There was a sharp yellow arrow pointing at her in the photo! Frightened by the photo, she threw it onto the floor. Later that night, she was found dead in the hospital. Being hit by a sharp knife, she was found lying in the corridor with the strange photo in her hand. And there was a patient’s record right beside her. Since there were no footprints next to her body, no one knew who had killed her. Despite the fact that all the nurses and doctors missed Ella very much, they had to go on with their work as usual.

    One night, something strange happened. In Room 012 on 11/F, a nurse called Mindy wanted to go to toilet. Every patient had gone to bed. All the lights were switched off and the whole hospital was silent. When she was walking along the corridor, she saw Room 013 between Room 012 and 014! In fact, the hospital had cancelled that room several years ago as many of the nurses thought ‘013’ was an unlucky number. There should not be Room 013 in Mindy’s sight. Besides, there was a sad guitar melody coming out from that room! In order to find out what was going on, Mindy entered the room curiously.

    Once she stepped into Room 013, a ghost who was dressed up in a piece of white cloth stained with blood pushed her out of the room. The ghost looked ferocious and was filled with anger.

    ‘I think Ella’s death has been a shock for all of you, right? Do you like the photo held in her hand? Listen! All patients in this hospital will die within this week and you can only live for two more days. Haha, I can take revenge for my death eventually,’ said the ghost with a queer grin. Frightened by what the ghost said, Mindy collapsed and fainted on the floor.

    When Mindy awoke, she found that she had been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. Around her were many doctors and nurses. A nurse told her that she was very lucky as 66 patients had died before she regained her consciousness. All these patients were hit by a sharp knife but they could not find the killer. Mindy thought it was the time for her to tell all the doctors and nurses what had happened the previous night. Being told what Mindy had experienced, the nurses were frightened. Including Mindy, all the people in the room were very worried.

    ‘What should we do now? I can live for ONE more day only. More patients will lose their lives very soon. Please think of some ways to rescue the patients, and also me!’ murmured Mindy feebly. Mindy still had to take a rest in bed on the following days, or one more day, she believed. There came total silence in the sick room. Everyone was very worried. All of them did not know how to solve the problem.

    ‘Hey, I think of an idea. We all know that this hospital is very old, right? Why don’t we pull down the wall of that room in the evening?’ shrieked Amy, the ward manager. Having no choices, they thought they must accept this suggestion and take action at once.

    At dawn, they brought along with some hammers and went to that corridor with several constructors. At last, they smashed the wall successfully. The wall was broken into many bricks. Suddenly, a white smoke flew up to the sky from the broken wall and vanished. Everything returned to normal finally.

    No one died on the following days. Mindy recovered from her disease and was discharged from hospital a month later. At the same time, the hospital was renovated. However, the ghost was making another plan for revenge.

    ‘Luckily, I could escape from the wall at once. My plan was totally destroyed by the damn nurses! I died because of the nurse. Why did I die because of her careless mistake? The story won’t end. I’ll make another plan to trouble all you guys soon,’ said the ghost with an evil smile.

    Today was Halloween. Tom, Wendy and Roy went ‘trick-or-treating’. ‘Wendy, Roy, we have already got a lot of sweets. Can we go back home?’ suggested Tom timidly. ‘There’re many interesting activities at night. Are you scared of that?’ teased Roy. ‘I agree with you. Roy. It’s a rare chance for us to play at night!’ said Wendy. Suddenly, it rained heavily and there was lightning. Then, they heard a rumble of thunder.

    They ran to a house. ‘This house is very mysterious. I haven’t seen it before,’ said Wendy. ‘We’ve got lost! How can we go back home?’ asked Tom and he cried. ‘Don’t cry, Tom. Don’t worry about that. We can ask the owner of this house to let us wait until the rain stops. ‘After Roy had said that, it thundered again. Wendy pressed the doorbell and a beautiful woman came out. The woman invited them to join their party and play in the house. Also, the woman invited them to join the party again next Halloween. Then, they left the house.

    ‘Oh…I have forgotten to take my bag. It is full of sweets!’ said Roy. ‘Let’s get back to the house, shall we?’ suggested Wendy. ‘Of course!’ Then they went to find the house but they couldn’t. ‘It’s strange. Where is the house? It has disappeared!’ uttered Tom nervously. Then, Roy saw a man walk past and he asked the man, ‘Sorry sir, do you know if there’s a house nearby?’ ‘Oh…I know it, but the house caught fire last year. A beautiful woman inside the house was dead. All the people said that it’s a haunted house. I think you’d better go home. Don’t look for the house.’ The man walked away. Suddenly, Wendy pointed at the ground and their eyes fixed on a grave stone showing the photo of the beautiful woman. They shouted and ran very fast.

    As they were running and screaming, there was a piece of paper falling from the sky. There were a few words on the paper: ‘Remember our date! We will be waiting for you next Halloween, boys and girls.’

    “Sorry, I have already done my best…”

    “Oh, Sally… Sally… no…”

    Mum? Why is mum crying? What’s happened?

    “There’s no way to cure her , sorry… she is going to die ….”

    WHAT?!! I am going to die? No, no… I still have many things to do!! Many things haven’t been done!! I don’t want to die… save me… help me… god!!

    “Do you want to survive? I can help you… but you have to pay a price….”

    Okay!! I pay for it… I pay all for you!! Please, I want to be alive!!

    “Remember your promise....”

    

-- After a few months --

    “After the lessons, do you feel tired?” my best friend, Bernice asked. “Sally…you have just been discharged from hospital.”

    “Of course okay! And I miss the school very much,”I smiled.

    But it is really amazing! A few months ago, I was injured in a severe traffic accident. At first, the doctor said that I was certified to be dead, but I revived! It is a miracle!!

    “Remember, don’t force yourself too much, go home and have a rest,” Bernice said with great concern.

    “Okay, see you tomorrow, Bernice.”

    “Bye, Sally.”

    Bernice went home. And I also started my way home, I walked along a deserted street. Suddenly, the street light glistered, like a warning which told me to go faster. I felt frightened and walked faster.

    … Wait, Sally… wait…

    “Who!” I stopped and looked around but no one was there!!

    … I am standing BEHIND YOU----

    I turned back and saw a boy standing behind me.

    The street light stopped glistering. The light shone on him.

    Wow… a true Adonis! I was attracted by him…

    “Wh…Who are you? How do you know my name?”I asked.

    “My name is Nathan, we had a promise before…”

    Promise? A promise with this handsome boy? Why can’t I remember?

    “Do you remember a few months ago in the hospital, when you were going to die, I talked to you and we made a promise…”

    He talked to me? Isn’t it my illusion? That means the one who saved me was Nathan?

    Unbelievable… Wait… He made me revive… Is he GOD?!!

    “No, I am not God… I am a GHOST… I come for the debt.”

    Ghost?!! He needs my soul? Or my body?

    “Don’t kill me please!!”I begged him.

    “Haaaaa… I don’t need your life. I just want you to help me,”Nathan laughed loudly.

    “Help you? Of course no problem! What can I do for you?”

    “Go to the past and help me to get reborn please!!”

    “Past?? How can I go?!”

    “I can make us go back to the past, but I can’t save myself. I need you!!”

    Nathan said he needed me…he needed me…

    “No, problem! I help you! Help you to be reborn!”I was very happy because he said he needed me. I must do my best!

    “Thank you… I tell you my story… 3 years ago, one day of summer holiday, when I went for a walk near my homey, someone suddenly ran near me and threw me a bag, then he ran fast away.

    My curiosity drew me to open the bag, and I found there were many guns inside. I picked up one of them and saw that they were all real guns!! I was very afraid. At that time, a policeman came. He seemed to chase after the one who gave the guns to me. I wanted to hide the bag, but it was too late. The policeman saw me holding the bag, so he held up his gun and walked near me. I was too afraid! I turned around and wanted to escape as soon as I could! At that time, the policeman shot me and I died.”

    “It means if you didn’t get that bag in the past, then you wouldn’t die, would you?”I asked. Nathan nodded.

    “Okay, let’s go to the PAST now,”Nathan held my hands.

    “Close your eyes, Sally… Ready~~ go!!”

    A strong wind blew us up and took us to the past…

    

-- 3 Years Ago --

    “You can open your eyes now. We have gone back to 3 years ago!”

    I opened up my eyes slowly. Where was I? I was in a park, but where was this park?

    “Here is a park nearby a town next to yours.”

    “Oh… I see… Ah, but how can I go back to my time?”

    “If I can get reborn, you can go back to your time… Oh!‘I’ will come soon and on this road the guy will throw the bag at me.”

    “Okay! I will stop it!”I must stop it! I don’t know why but I don’t want Nathan to die! I can do it!” I said.

    Soon, we saw the Past-Nathan ( I called him NathanII ) walking into the park and a man with a bag was running also.

    Okay! When the man threw the bag at NathanII, I ran out and hid the bag quickly. Perfect!!

    I did what I planned. The man threw the bag at NathanII and I ran out quickly and snatched the bag from NathanII and hid it in the thicket nearby.

    “Hey!! What are you doing?” NathanII asked.

    “Ah…ah…that guy is my friend…Just put it here…he will co.. come back soon...maybe....” I said.

    Oh… I am weak in telling lies… but NathanII, please trust me…

    After I told the lie, the policeman came soon.

    “Hey, have you seen a guy with a bag?” The policeman asked.

    “Yes! He went over there!!” I showed him the way, “Go faster please!!”

    “Okay thank you!!” The policeman ran away quickly.

    “So is this policeman also your friend too?” NathanII seemed to disbelieve me.

    “Ah…yes.... He just likes cosplaying…ha…” I told lies again…

    “Crazy!” NathanII went away.

    Oh, no! I just want to save you!! How can you say that I am crazy?!! But, he doesn’t need to die now!!

    “Nathan, you can get reborn!” I said happily.

    “I think not yet…” he replied

    “Ah? Why? You weren’t shot by the policeman!”

    “I also don’t know why, but there may be other things happening to me.”

    “What?”

    “I don’t know either!! You have changed my past !! It’s your fault!!” He snapped.

    “So what should we do? Does it means that I can’t go back to my time? It’s all my fault?!!”My tears dropped from my eyes. I couldn’t stop crying! What should I do when I can’t go back to my time! And why did Nathan scold me? I just tried to help him!!

    “Sorry… Sally...” Nathan hugged me. Although he couldn’t touch me, I could feel it!

    “Follow NathanII, Sally…please don’t cry…”

    I stopped crying.

    “Do you remember what else you planned to do?” I asked

    “I remember my friend, Jimmy, asked me to watch a football match at 4pm,” Nathan continued, “I think NathanII will go to the train station and take the train to the football field.”

    “Okay, let’s go now,” I followed Nathan and ran for a long time.

    We arrived at the station, soon we found NathanII standing near the edge of the platform.

    How lucky! We found him! If something else happened, I would be sure to help him!

    I stood near NathanII. Soon, the train came. Suddenly, a man ran near NathanII and pushed him down. Then he ran away fast. I pulled NathanII back to the platform without hesitation.

    “Hey, what are you doing again?!!” NathanII asked me angrily.

    “Ah…ah…”I can’t find a word to explain.

    “You want to kill me?!!”

    “No! I want to help you! I pull you back!!”

    “I don’t want to talk to you anymore! Crazy!” NathanII got into the train without hearing my explanation.

    “Sorry, Sally… It’s my fault….” Nathan said to me

    “It’s not your fault, let’s follow him,” I said and ran into the same train.

    Nathan and I knew one thing: Someone wanted to kill NathanII but we didn’t know who he was…

    NathanII got off at the next station. We followed him. NathanII met Jimmy at the station and they walked away together.

    “... Something went wrong... That’s not the way to the football field!” Nathan was surprised.

    “So, where have they gone?”

    “I don’t know either!”

    We kept following them until they went to a ruin.

    “Jimmy… why do you come here?” NathanII asked.

    “I just want to talk to you in a quiet place… do you know... ‘WHERE IS MY BAG’?!!”

    Jimmy picked up a gun from his pocket…

    “Ha… Is it a water gun? Cool … It is like the real one!”

    “WHERE IS MY BAG? CAN YOU HEAR?!!IT’S NOT A JOKE!!

    I have thrown it to you in the park!!”

    Oh! The one who threw the bag to Nathan was Jimmy?!! I couldn’t see his face at that time because he was wearing a cap…Oh! NathanII was in danger. I must help him!

    “Don’t go out , Sally!!” Nathan said.

    “Why? You are in danger!!” I whispered.

    “You are not a superwoman!! If you go out, Jimmy will shoot you and you will die!!”

    “But…what should I do?”

    “Call the police.”

    I picked up the phone quickly and dialled 999.

    “Here is Police Station,” a policeman said.

    “ I see someone trying to shoot my friend!! Come here please!!”

    “Are you kidding? Kid.”

    “No, I am serious….”

    “I have heard similar things for so many times, you know?”

    “BOMB!” Came a gun shot.

    “Don’t kill me, Jimmy, I really don’t know where the bag is!” NathanII reassured him.

    “Where is your girlfriend? The one who saved you at the train station!!”

    “Stop!!” I went out and stopped Jimmy. “You and Nathan are good friends, aren’t you? How can you do this to Nathan??” I asked.

    “Friend? This guy is my friend?!! No kidding!!” Jimmy said.

    “When my family was in economic difficulties, my parent asked the richest family in this town, Nathan’s family, to lend them money. But Nathan didn’t lend us any, even his best friend begged him. He didn’t lend me any money. So I needed to smuggle guns for money!! It’s all this guy’s fault!!”

    “Sorry…Jimmy…I wanted to lend money to you, but my parents didn’t allow me to do this....” Nathan, the ‘ghost Nathan’, said with sadness.

    “When I threw the bag to Nathan, I wanted him to be my scapegoat and I wanted to kill him in the train station. But now I change my mind, I want the guns back! If you tell me where the guns are, I won’t kill you and Nathan… But if you don’t tell me, I will kill him now…”

    I was shocked at that moment, what should I do… If I told him where the guns were, I would be a criminal too, but if I didn’t tell him, Nathan would die again…

    “BOMB!” A gun shot… Jimmy shot at NathanII…

    “It's too late…” Jimmy said. A lot of blood came out from NathanII’s body and it frightened me to death….

    What should I do....What should I do?

    I turned and wanted to ask Nathan but Nathan disappeared…Why? Because NathanII died so Nathan disappeared? Then what should I do?

    “You can’t escape…” Jimmy said and shot at me….

    The bullet scraped my shoulder… painful… very painful… the blood made my sleeve red… There is no way for me to escape!! I am going to die again??

    Suddenly, a bell rang…lots of policemen came….

    “Put down your gun, kid,” one of the policemen said. The policemen pressed Jimmy.

    “Thank you, girl. You are the girl who called the police, aren’t you?” A policeman came near me and asked.

    “Yes, but the officer just thought I was cracking a joke at that time.”

    “Oh yes, but he heard the gun shot and believed you soon. I am sorry that he didn’t believe you at that time….”

    “That’s all right…but can you send the boy to the hospital quickly? Please help him!” I looked at NathanII and said.

    “Okay,” the policeman smiled at me and ran away.

    

-- Present --

    Suddenly a strong wind blew me up. When I opened my eyes, I have gone back to my time…I was standing in the deserted street again…Is it a dream? But the gun shot really made my shoulder painful…. So how is Nathan?

    I went back home and saw Nathan sitting in the sitting room!!

    “Hi Sally….” Nathan smiled at me and said….

    “Why? Why you….” I have many questions to ask.

    Why is he here? He is a ghost or human? ....

    “ I am a human now, not a ghost. I was reborn 3 years ago after Jimmy shot me. I fell in a deep faint. I dreamed all the things that had happened to you and me. I knew that you came from the future and saved me. And I also knew I should have died when I received the bag of guns, but you helped me to hide the bag. You saved my life. I really appreciated what you have done for me…”

    “Welcome!” My face blushed. I felt happy. Nathan really had been reborn!! I helped him, I really helped him!!

    “Go out for a walk, Sally. I wanted to see around your town,” Nathan held my hand and ran out with me.

    He saved me when I was facing death before. I also helped him to avoid death. Now, we hold each other’s hands. What an amazing feeling! What an amazing destiny!

    

-- The End --

    Jenny and Eliza, two energetic and pretty girls, moved into a flat as their new home last year. They felt very happy as the flat was gorgeous and comfortable. However, they didn’t know something would happen to them later.

    One day, Jenny and Eliza were watching television and talking about their friends at their home.

    ‘I think Dolly is so talkative! Sometimes I may think that she is quite nosy.’ Grumbled Eliza and she looked annoyed.

    ‘Yes, I think so too! I always want to ask her to close her mouth!’ Jenny replied.

    ‘Ya! I think we should….’ Eliza said and stopped suddenly, ‘Did you hear some noise?’ she asked and looked frightened.

    ‘No, I didn’t. Why do you look so afraid? Do you think that the noise came from a ghost? Ha-ha….’ teased Jenny.

    ‘No! I’ve really heard the “Tak-tak” sound and it just sounded like someone walking around us. Oh! The sound is coming towards us!’ Eliza shouted and jumped onto the sofa.

    ‘Don’t be like that, Eliza! I am going to have a bath and I hope you will calm down.’ Jenny was annoyed and went to the bathroom.

    Eliza felt sad because Jenny didn’t trust her; however, she was more frightened than before as the sound was louder and louder.

    ‘Please go away! I am a good girl and I have never hurt anyone!’ claimed Eliza. The noise stopped but something more terrible happened – there were drops of blood on the wall.

    ‘Oh my gosh!’ Eliza saw the blood and screamed.

    ‘What’s going on?’ Jenny rushed out from the bedroom and asked, then, she saw the blood on the wall.

    ‘Please do not kill us!’ The girls begged at the same time.

    Suddenly, someone rushed into the flat and asked, ‘what are you doing now girls? You are so noisy!’ said the man.

    ‘We’ve heard some noise likely a ghost walking around us and there is some blood on the wall!’ The girls replied and they were afraid.

    ‘Oh! There were some people dancing in the corridor and I’ve told them to stop. Also, look clearly please, it isn’t blood! It’s only the paint falling from your bookshelf!’ grunted the man.

    Jenny and Eliza looked at each other and heaved a sigh of relief.

    A long time ago, there was a disused school in Tuen Mun. Some people said that they had seen some ghosts around the school. Therefore, no one dared to walk near that school.

    One day, three teenagers, Tom, Ken and Mary, were standing in front of the school gates. They wanted to know if there were ghosts inside the school.

    ‘Hey, are you sure to go inside?’ Ken asked Tom.

    ‘Of course! ’ Tom replied, ‘If not, why are we standing here?’

    ‘OK, let’s go!’ Mary raised her right hand.

    The three teenagers entered the school. Inside the school, it was so dark that it made the three teenagers feel chilly. They walked to the second floor. Suddenly, Ken said, ‘I can smell something cooking.’

    ‘Are you sure?’ Tom wondered. ‘I think maybe you are too hungry.’

    ‘Look! There is a Home Economics Room. We can go inside and check it.’ Mary turned her torch onto the classroom.

    They entered the Home Economics Room. They found nothing special. Tom laughed at Ken and said, ‘There is no electricity supply in this disused school. How can somebody cook?’

    ‘Maybe I am wrong.’ Ken was dejected. ‘But I really smell something cooking.’

    ‘OK, let’s continue with our adventure,’ said Mary and she left the room.

    The three teenagers went up to the fifth floor. It was quiet. Suddenly, Mary was frightened. The two boys felt strange. Mary said, ‘I … I can hear someone talking. They are inside that room.’ She pointed to the Staff Room.

    The two boys ran into the Staff Room. They looked around and confirmed that nobody was inside. Tom said, ‘Maybe it is the sound of the wind only. Excuse me, but I need to go to the toilet.’

    Tom went into the toilet next to the Staff Room. After he urinated, he thought, ‘Oh! There is no water supply in this school. How can I wash my hands?’

    Suddenly he heard a voice. It came from the roof of the toilet. ‘If you like, I can help you get some water or even electricity. Do you need my help ?’ burst out a ghost which suddenly appeared!

    ‘Ghost!’ Tom shouted. He quickly left the toilet and told his friends about this. They were all frightened and scudded to leave the school. After they dashed out of the school, they fainted.

    One day later, the three teenagers woke up. A nurse came near them and asked, ‘Why did you all faint on that piece of vacant land?’

    ‘Vacant land?’ they doubted.

    ‘Last month, the government sent some workers to demolish that disused school, so that area became a piece of vacant land. Why did you all go there?’

    The three teenagers were dumbfounded. They couldn’t speak a word. They had gone to a ghost house!

    There was a little town in America where only a few of people lived. At the edge of the town, there was a huge spooky house. Citizens in the town never dared to hang around that house. The atmosphere was never lively because the spine-chilling environment. Another reason for the silence was because there was somebody yelling and a woman sobbing in the house at the middle of the night.

    The tradition seemed to be broken this night because three travelers came to this tiny town. They were two boys and one girl. They knew nothing about the horror of this town. Upon arrival at the town, they realized that the town was in dead silence at night. That was a rainy night, people stayed at home and left the street empty. The three of them couldn’t find any place like motels or huts to stay in. Therefore, they decided to stay in the house when they passed there.

    ‘This house seems empty, but it’s big and spacious!’ girl named Aimee said. ‘Oh, it’s great... but… seems to be a bit rude to break into a house without permission.’ the timid boy, Eric said with a frown. ‘That’s just fine. Let’s go into his house to see whether there’s any food or drinks,’ Hardy, the adventurous boy said. Then they walked through the living room and headed to the kitchen. At the same time, they didn’t realize that someone was staring at them.

    In the kitchen, they just discovered a lot of sealed bottles and dust around. There was a cabinet in the corner of the kitchen. It was so dirty and seemed never to be opened before. Hardy saw it and curiosity drove him to open it. The cabinet was full of sealed bottles too. The difference was these bottles were filled with mysterious liquid and something was floating and sinking inside…. Oh! It was a human eye! At the moment, the three were shivering with fear.

    Suddenly, there was a voice whispering from upstairs of the house. Aimee peeked at the bottom of the stairs, but it was too dark to see anything. ‘Let’s go upstairs and have a look!’ Aimee said. ‘Good idea, I think it’s just a cat or something,’ Hardy said. Eric was silent but he gave them a nod. Hardy then took the lighter and ignited it. The stairs was swaying and they walked very carefully. Eric was the last and frightened. The upper floor was a corridor with a door at the end of it. The door was half-opened. The voice got more and more intense. They tiptoed towards the door. Hardy was not afraid, therefore he opened the door slowly. There was a rocking chair in the middle of the room. At this moment, they saw a long haired woman sitting in the chair. They couldn’t really see her face because they just saw the back of the chair. When they shuffled forward, the woman stopped crying and turned around. “Argh…!!” Aimee suddenly yelled and ran away. In fact, the woman was faceless! They all screamed and ran downstairs and tried to escape. Just about the time they rushed out, a dead snake fell from the roof right in front of Eric. He was dreaded and passed out. Aimee and Hardy tried as hard as they could to pull Eric out of the house.

    This was certainly the extreme situation they’d never been through. After that, they never came back again and after a few months, the rumors were spread out. This town became abandoned forever.

    ‘Hello…anybody home?’ Annie yelled.

    Annie was standing in front of the main gate of a great, grand castle. There were a total of 70 levels. It should be a Gothic architecture, because the huge dome on the top of the Castle was really eye-catching. Yesterday, Annie received a chocolate-made invitation card of a cooking class that would be held in this mansion. She had never received such a lovely and ‘eatable’ invitation card.

    A bat flew over Annie’s head. Shocked by the bat, she fell down on the floor. ‘Ahhh…What’s that?’ Annie screamed. It broke the barrier of silence in the dark.

    A man in black suit wearing a sinister smile gave a hand to Annie. ‘I’m so sorry, my dearest young lady-Ann. Oh, I’m Amulet, and it is my pet, Olive. Please go inside.’ The gentleman smiled again and bowed to Annie.

    ‘Thank you, well…you are Amulet, so will you keep me from danger?’ Annie asked lightly, holding the hand of Amulet and stood up straightly.

    Suddenly, a crow stopped on Annie shoulder. This crow was Jojo. Yes, right! Annie was a witch and Amulet was a vampire.

    Annie asked Amulet to give her a large pot. And she showed a weir recipe of the soup tonight. The ingredients included pepper, lettuce, 2 fresh human toes, 5 thumbs, a bundle of 3-inch longed hair, mice’s eyeballs, feet of black cat and 8 legs of spiders, etc. Amulet was very happy to see that Annie was devoted to cooking him a great meal. In return, Amulet prepared a bottle of red wine… Nonono, it should be a bottle of ‘fresh’ blood in 1897.

    After an hour, both of them got the meal and drinks done, and each of them sat at the two far ends of a long dinning table. There were three candles suspending in the air above the middle of the table. They were very thick and tall.

    ‘You’ve mentioned on the chocolate invitation that you would like to taste the “long-life soup”, here you are. By the way, a vampire will never die, so I couldn’t think of any reason for you to be interested in this soup…’wondered Annie.

    ‘I’m so sorry to tell you that I’ve fallen in love with a human. I won’t get old, but she will. And I don’t want to lose her. Well, this is my best collection, just for you,’ said Amulet.

    ‘Oh dear, this is not her blood, huh?’ asked Annie. She pushed her glass forward to Amulet.

    ‘No! Of course! I love her, and I won’t hurt her,’ answered Amulet.

    ‘Okay, very nice, so… take her here and enjoy my soup, I’m not that keen on old blood. And I have to feed Jojo before mid-night, so I have to go now. Bye-bye,’ Annie took her broom out, and flew to the moon.

    ‘Joanne, Joanne, my dearest Joanne…’ sang Amulet.

    I could never forget that dreadful experience. That was the most monstrous and frustrating time in my life.

    I was a timid boy. In order to strengthen my courage, I tried to have a night walk on Castle Peak alone last month.

    The moon was high in the sky. Continuous strong wind hit my face violently. There wasn’t anyone on the hill, and the surroundings were extraordinarily silent. There was no lamp along the trail. I could barely see the road even I had a torch.

    Feeling terribly frightened, I had once thought of giving up, but soon I stopped thinking of it. “I must muster up my courage. I could not be a timid boy anymore or my friends will sneer at me again and again!”

    I continued with my way. The trail was steep and narrow. I found it much harder than hiking in the daytime. I had to be more alert. It was really difficult. Fortunately, after walking for half an hour, I was gradually able to adapt to the dark environment. Things seemed to become easier.

    However, the light of my torch suddenly went out. Oh my God! It was out of battery! I felt scared again. It was a dilemma! I could hardly go forward, but going back was also not possible, as there wasn’t any illumination! I tried to take out my mobile phone to call my father for help, but I was too scared that my hand shook vigorously, and the mobile phone fell onto the ground. When I attempted to pick it up, I accidentally bumped into a rock, and I fell from the cliff next to the trail! I closed my eyes as I did not want to see anything. Soon, I lost my consciousness.

    When I tried to open my eyes again, I found that I was on a bed inside a small room. The room was too dark for me to see anything, but I managed to switch on the light. However, after the lights were on, I was confused by what I witnessed. There were many ghosts! Most of them were in black skirts. Some of them had a white face, while the others had a yellow one, and they all had no eyes. The face of a ghost was stained with blood, and one of the lips was rotten. My brain became totally blank. I was deeply startled, but I did not know what I to do.

    Suddenly, the ghosts noticed my presence and started to approach me. They walked towards me with horrendous paces. They called out my name “David” in a slow and high tone. I was terrified. I immediately rushed to the door of the room, but the ghosts blocked my way. I was extremely frightened, and my mind was a complete blank!

    “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Help! Help! Help!” I screamed. Surprisingly, the ghosts stopped scaring me, and they looked a bit afraid. Looking at this scene, I felt very strange.

    Suddenly, two men wearing robes ran into the room. When they saw the scene, they were shocked. Their eyes were going to fall off. After a short silence, one of the men yelled,

    “What are you guys doing? This is a hospital, not a ghost house! You should not frighten any patient in this way!”

    I finally realised that it was a hospital. I was sent to the hospital because I had fallen down from the trail. After that, all “ghosts” took off their costumes and masks, and I saw their real faces. They were my friends!

    “Hearing from the doctor that you will probably wake up today, we have decided to give you a surprise – just because today is the Halloween!” Tom, one of my friends explained.

    I heaved a sigh of relief.

    “It seems that you’ve not become more courageous at all. What a coward!” He teased.

    “Hahahahahahahahahahaha!” all my friends laughed.

    At last, I still could not escape from their ridicule. I was totally frustrated!

    It was a dilapidated old building. It was once a modeling agency. Many models could not handle their stress well and committed suicide. Full of resentment, totally filled with a dire atmosphere, no one dared to take a bold step into this dreary building. People were scared away from the building in no time. Many adventurers visited this notorious building, but were never able to come out. Many gravestones were set up around the notorious building.

    William and his girl friend Ann, decided to make history. They were the most recent adventurers of the city. They marched into this building….

    As soon as they got into the lobby, the scene outside the window turned sulky. Squalling sounds came from everywhere. The door was clanging. An uncanny noise of bouncing ball was loud. Someone was giggling. A gust of strong and gruesome wind penetrated their body, heaving their stomach.

    “Hahahahaha!” laughed someone gleefully.

    Surprisingly, their knapsack was grabbed and floated swiftly to the other side of lobby. “All our food is gone. We must take it back for survival!’ They chased after their food. They pelted up the stairs, yet the knapsack flew so quickly that it was soon out of sight. They panted heavily with disappointment. They tried to search each room on the 1st floor. There was some scooping noise coming out of a room with the door left ajar. They peeped inside. Three gaunt banshees were searching the bag. They looked lean. They were swallowing all the food inside.

    “Now I can eat whatever I want. I see two human beings. Let’s eat them all.” They pushed the door and opened their astonishingly large and salivating mouths. The banshees flung their bodies towards them. Ann got a big lick on her back. The two of them shrieked themselves hoarse. They bolted up the stairs. Now they felt the haunted building was spinning. On the second floor, there were a skeleton, some broken limbs and a torn body. They wanted to run quickly to the staircase between the 2nd and 3rd floor. Unfortunately, that door was closed. “Oh, my god ! The door was locked!’ They cried. They thumped the door frantically. Ann threw her entire body towards the door. But the door did not even shake a little. The banshees arrived.

    “No more fun, no more apple, I want human beings!’

    Ann and William were startled. They quivered. One of the banshees licked William’s face.

    They threw their bodies towards the door. Ann and William shunned to the side. They closed their eyes to prepare for death. The door banged. The big tongue savagely hit the door which was blasted open. Not wanting to die, they sneaked onto the 3rd floor, which was an attic. The banshees were too tall to pass through.

    “Luckily those banshees are 6-feet tall!’ They mopped their sweat.

    “Just go without food and never go home. Not through the stairs and no way back! Hahahaha! The laughter of the banshees echoed in the attic and the 2nd floor.

    Their hearts throbbed heavily and their ominous feeling did not fade. When they trudged more closely to the end, a loud squawk was no longer muffled but vivid now.

    A long queue of young and motionless ladies was drawn up. They were waiting to plunge down the ground.

    “You want to too! Don’t be shy. Do it together! No sooner did she say that she jumped. Looking down at the bloody and appalling scene, they were shocked. She became resilient and jumped back onto the 3rd floor.

    “Now, it’s your turn.’ They pushed the ghosts aside but there were too many of them. The ghost grabbed their clothes. Ann used all her might to keep her balance.

    They gave a hard kick to them. She pulled their hair. William grabbed his toes for anchorage. They scratched their faces.

    “Why not try it? Let’s die together.

    With a harsh push, the two of them felt weightless and floated amid the air. Nothing was supporting them, Fear? Yes. They plunged down to the ground right away.

    Two new gravestones were set up, on which 2 names, Ann and William, were carved. The building was still full of sinister and peculiar bawls.

Title : Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Author : George Lucas
Publisher : Wisdom Publications

Summary :

    Known as the most famous science-fiction in history, “Star Wars Episodes” are still very fashionable at present. The third episode, “Revenge of the Sith”, is the most exciting one of all six volumes. I shall share this marvelous fiction to you and you may be impressed by the creation of George Lucas.

    The story contains several important characters, including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Senator Padme, the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the powerful Jedi Leader, Master Yoda.

    Anakin Skywalker was a young “Jedi Knight”, which was like a policeman in the galaxy. His job was to maintain peace in the Republic. He was an arrogant boy in the eye of his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. One day he had got a terrible nightmare that his beautiful wife, Padme, was going to die during childbirth. Anakin wanted to do everything to stop this tragedy from becoming true. A Jedi’s power was come from the Force, which was a natural power from the space. Anakin cannot use the Force to save his wife’s life since it opposites the nature. He was tricked by the evil Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to use the dark side of the Force to save his wife’s life but it would bring serious consequences to him. Anakin became more willful and disobedient when he used the dark side of the Force and turned to evil in the future.

    Sensing the rebellion of Anakin, his tutor, Obi-Wan Kenobi tried to help him to leave the dark side of the Force. Obi-Wan was the teacher and a father-like man of Anakin. He instructed Anakin to be a well-trained Jedi. He always thought that Anakin would be the “chosen one” to balance the Force and to maintain security in the galaxy. However, he couldn’t stop Anakin from becoming dark-hearted. Although he kept on dissuading Anakin, Anakin was still rebellious. At the last part of the story, they’ve started a fight and Obi-Wan was extremely disappointed as his apprentice was an evil towards him.

    Being the wife of Anakin Skywalker for years, Padme, the Senator of the planet Tatooine, gave full support to her husband wholeheartedly. Knowing Anakin was worried about herself, she comforted him continuously and hoped Anakin would not become too stressed. The author described that Padme was a good-looking girl from the planet Tatooine. She met Anakin a very long time ago and was a understandable wife of Anakin. She was extremely depressed that her husband had fallen to the dark side of the Force, she then lost the will to live.

    The Supreme Chancellor Palpatine could be the most awful character in the story. Besides acting as the supreme chancellor, in fact, he was a Sith Lord! “Sith” was the betrayed Jedis and they used the force evilly, which was the dark side of the Force. Knowing Anakin was worried about his wife’s life, Palpatine tricked Anakin to use the dark side of the force and trained Anakin to be his own apprentice to help him to rule the galaxy. Palpatine was so greedy that he wanted to be the emperor of the space and started a war in the galaxy. He was just like a monster in my opinion.

    Master Yoda was a great Jedi knight in the story, he led the Jedis to counter the army of the Sith Lord, Palpatine. Yoda was very skillful of using the “lightsaber”, which was a Jedi’s weapon. He understood the agony of Anakin and Yoda thought Anakin must not use the dark side of the Force. During the fights, Yoda showed his leadership towards the Jedis and he was a brave fighter. Anyway, he was still a kind man that cared about the galaxy.

Comments :

    The episodes of Star Wars Trilogy took place in the future that men can travel in space and discover different creatures that lived in the galaxy. In this volume, it took place in the Republic of the galaxy, a country like location in the space. It was set that the Republic was crumbling under the civil war of democracy and reforms. It was also the beginning of the dark age of the galaxy. In this time, the Jedis were going to stop the conflicts and restore peace in the space.

    As I mentioned above, the story began with civil war of the Republic. Chancellor Palpatine controlled the clone army in order to seize power from the Republic. At this time, the young Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker was worried about his wife, Padme’s life. As Anakin was a just Jedi, he couldn’t use the Force to save his wife’s life since it against the nature. Anakin tried hard to figure out the solution while the evil Supreme Chancellor wanted to trick him to use the dark side of the force and recruited Anakin to join the rebellion army. Anakin’s friends and masters liked Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master Yoda and Master Windu wanted to help Anakin to leave the dark the side of the force and brought him back to the right path. But Anakin became more and more arrogant and disobedient. At last, Anakin and Obi-Wan had a fight at a volcanic planet and Obi-Wan cut Anakin’s legs and let Anakin fell into the lava. Anakin’s wife, Padme, however, gave birth to a pair of twins and she departed after the childbirth. Later on, Anakin was rescued by Palpatine at the end and was healed. Finally, Anakin became an evil apprentice of this Sith Lord and the story was linked up to the fourth episode of Star Wars Trilogy.

    This story is quite different from other fictions since it doesn’t have a good ending. A lot of people think that Anakin would leave the dark side of the force and Padme could be saved. But the story ends that Anakin turned to evil and Padme died at childbirth. This is a quite surprised ending. In my opinion, the theme of the story is if we have a problem and we can’t figure the solution out, we shall not use some wrong means to solve it. Since there are rules in the nature, we can’t interrupt the development of the nature. In the story, Anakin was a good Jedi but he was afraid that his wife would die during the childbirth, he then was tricked to use the dark side of the force, which is the wrong means. His action led to horrible consequences and there weren’t good ending with him. If Anakin could ignore his nightmare and treasure his time with his wife, I think the ending would be a lot better than now. Second, the author also wants to tell us that co-operation can solve most of the problems. In the book, there were lots of conflicts between the characters. But they co-operated with each other and the problems were solved. In our daily life, we ought to listen to people’s opinion and work with others peacefully, and then we can solve the difficult problems that we have.

    This story is a very creative science fiction. Things that do not exist in the real world can be found in the story like enormous spaceships, exciting space travels and different space creatures. The story always has some unpredictable scene that you can’t think thing of. The story also has a really good plot that tells people to solve problems by a right means. You can enjoy both the creation of George Lucas and the continuous development of this science story. You should try this book when you have a chance!

Title : Twilight
Author : Stephenie Meyer
Publisher : Little, Brown

Summary :

    Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel. When Isabella Swan moved to a little town, Forks, she met a mystic boy called Edward Cullen. He was different from others. He was both irresistible and impenetrable. The reason was Edward was a vampire.

    Over time, Bella fell in love with him. But Edward thirsted for her blood by instinct. He had to resists this and to control himself.

    Bella didn’t realize that more closely that she got to him; the more she was putting herself into dangerous, because there are some other vampires are also thirsted for her blood.

    One day, they met three nomad vampires. One of them was called James, and he was a tracker. He wanted to kill Bella. So, Edward and the Cullens had to protect her and fight against James.

Comments :

    I think this novel is very thrilling and every character has different personalities.

    Edward is my favorite character. I love him because he is described as a godlike creature. He can do everything. He plays the piano very well and gets a very good result at school. He can run as fast as a car. He is strong enough to stop a moving car by his hand. He can also read minds. He just likes a superhero in the comic books. But he thinks he is a monster and he doesn’t want to be a monster. He killed people before because of his instinct. He sometimes scares of himself, or even hates himself. I think he is pitiful but I admired his power.

    I also quite like Edward’s family, the Cullens, Dr Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie. Although all of them are not really related, they live together because they all have one common faith that they only hunt animals, which is different from the other vampires. Edward has a special ability to read minds. His adopted sister, Alice has an ability to see the future. And his adopted brother, Jasper’s ability is control people’s feeling. I think the whole family is brilliant.

    In this story, I think the most exciting part is when James wants to drink Bella’s blood, and the venom is going to spread. She is dying and becoming a vampire, so Edward has to suck the venom to save her life. But he doesn’t know whether he can stop and weather he can save her.

Title : Wuthering Heights
Author : Emily Bronte
Publisher : Penguin Books

Summary :

    Mr. Earnshaw was the master of the Wuthering Heights and he had a daughter called Catherine. One day, Mr. Earnshaw adopted a child and named him Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Catherine knew each other well and they fell in love quickly. However, Catherine loved Edgar Linton too. After considering their differences in status, Catherine decided to choose Edgar and they got married afterwards. Edgar had a younger sister called Isabella. Heathcliff wanted to take revenge on Lintons so he married Isabella, mainly for her inheritance. Later Catherine gave birth to a girl while Isabella gave birth to a boy. Then Heathcliff forced his son to marry the daughter of Catherine and Edgar. So, Heathcliff got all of Earnshaw’s and Linton’s money and succeed in his revenge.

Comments :

    After reading this wonderful fiction, I realized that revenge is a bad choice for everyone. Although you could hurt your enemies, you may hurt yourself too. Ultimately, no one would be happy.

    Just like Heathcliff, he wanted to take revenge on Lintons so he married Isabella. Since then, he hurt her body and heart unceasingly. However, these actions also hurt Catherine’s feelings, since Isabella was her sister-in-law. The sadness of Catherine equalled the sadness of Heathcliff, so it caused Heathcliff to become insane for a while.

    I think that it is really an irony. A person who wants to hurt others’ feelings but finally he hurts himself too. So I think that we should not take revenge on anyone. Otherwise, we will be deeply hurt too. There is no advantage at all.

    In this story, I dislike Heathcliff most. He always had a bad mood and he seldom felt happy. He was very rough and cruel, just like a wolf. He hurt his son and his wife frequently and forced them to do what he wanted, but they didn’t listen to him. When he talked with Catherine, he still behaved roughly and unkindly. As a result, no one wanted to be his friend and called him ‘devil’.

    From his story, I learn that we should be kind and polite to everyone. Then we will feel happy easily and we can make a lot of friends. If we behave like Heathcliff, no one will want to talk to us and we cannot make friends. We will be upset but not happy.

Title : Jade’s story
Author : Helena Pielichaty
Publisher : Oxford

Summary :

    The main character of the story is Jade Winter. She went through an unforgettable and miserable summer between primary school and high school. Her Dad, Goran Winter had ‘nervous breakdown’ and pulled a massive cabinet into a street madly because of the decline of his shop ‘Inks’, and many painful events in his child age. However, all these things made Jade’s family more understand each other. Also, Goran’s disease could be healed and Jade realized that her daddy loved her very much. Therefore, this summer could be said to be Jade’s the best and most valuable lesson in her life.

Comments :

    I think all modern people around the world are suitable to read ‘Jade’s story’ as they can learn a lot with Jade in her story. Firstly, during the financial tsunami, most of the workers have salary cut down or even have been laid off owing to poor business. They will feel woeful and get mental illness easily. I believe that ‘Jade’s story’ can change their mind. They may do anything to enrich and enjoy their lives, such as joining a charity, it can help others as well. It is much better than just wasting our time or even attempting to escape from the real lives, isn’t it? So, please be optimistic and remember ‘all is not lost’ while you are facing difficulties.

    Secondly, for teenagers, they may realize that they are lucky after reading this meaningful book. Just like Jade thought her dad didn’t love her at first, but actually, he showed her his love in lots of ways. If we are content with what we have had, we will feel happy all the time, and neither murmur against heaven nor grumble against people when you fail to do any tasks.

    Lastly, this book is spreading an important message that all of us have to know: Do not discriminate against people with illnesses. The author wrote ‘So what? It’s not their fault!’ I totally agree with her. I believe ‘no one is perfect’. Having illnesses is only their defect but not a punishment they should suffer. When you meet these poor men on a street, don’t tease them again but try to comfort them, it’s your duty, and it’s everyone’s duty.

    Novel writers are good, they teach readers knowledge that we can’t learn from the school textbook. At last, I highly recommend ‘Jade’s story’ to you. Hope you enjoy it and have a great lesson.

Title : The Little Prince
Author : Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Publisher : Scholastic

Summary :

    The narrator himself wanted to be a painter when he was six-year-old. However, the grown-ups only concerned about geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. So he chose another profession, being a pilot and talk with grown-ups with those technical terms which he dislikes most. One day, he forced to land in the Sahara Desert and met the little prince. The little prince was come from a star called Asteroid B-612. He left his small planet and went to other planet in the universe. In his journey, he met a king who likes ordering others, a conceited man, a tippler, a businessman and a geographer. The little prince thought that they all were very odd. After telling his own story, the narrator and him became good friends. But he felt really sorry about the haughty flower that lived on his own planet after he met a fox in the Earth, he realized that the flower loved him so much but he left it alone. At last, the little prince killed himself......

Comments:

    In fact, I think “The Little Prince” is not a fairy tale which is suitable for children to read. Actually, there are full of strong and wonderful parable all over the story. Just like the people that the little prince met, “all grown-ups are no longer interested in anything but figures…’’ the narrator said. Children may not understand this kind of meaning.

    In Hong Kong, many adults are similar to the king, like controlling others and getting power; as same as the conceited man who like to acclaim himself; like the businessman, who was busying on those “ consequence figures” only! Why they can’t stop for a while, take a rest and feel everything around them? Hongkongers always bustle about their own job, they won’t be curious on anything except those figures. Isn’t it sarcasm?

    Unlike the little prince, although the rose on his planet is really haughty, he still thought that it was unique and important in his life. He loved the rose, protected it, cared about it. So, we need to be thoughtful for others, not only our friends or family.

    Besides, the fox in the story had ever said, “only with heart that one can see rightly, essential is invisible to the eyes.” job, money, power, all of these are not really essential in our life. When we lose it, we can get it back again. However, the love given by our family, friends, although they are not visible to our eyes, we can still use our heart to “see”. That’s the most valuable and important “love” in our life, right?

    From now on, please use the “eyes” in our heart to “see” everything around the world!

Title : Missing
Author : Catherine MacPhail
Publisher : Bloomsbury

Summary :

    The book “Missing” is about the family in which the son Derek was missing unexpectedly since one day he went to school as usual. Derek and his younger sister Maxine studied at the same school. Before Derek was missing, Derek had been bullied by his schoolmate, Sweeney had he had suffered so many humiliations and maltreatments that he could hardly stand. Being physically and mentally wounded, Derek decided to fight back and turned in to a bully. However, his parents never listened or trusted him because of his misbehavior. Eventually, Derek left home and was missing.

    At the same time, Maxine was desperate for the love and care of her parents, who seemed to be concentrated on Derek all the time. Feeling lonely and abandoned, Maxine missed school to catch her parents’ attention. Of course, she failed to do so; instead, the misunderstanding between Maxine and her parents was going worse. After Derek had been missing for a few months, a corpse was found and the police believed that the corpse was Derek. Maxine’s father identified the body and proved that the police was right. Derek was dead. Maxine thought that her parents would start to care about her, but things were not going as she wished. Derek’s death had taken over her parents’ lives; they were wrapped up in themselves.

    One night, Maxine received a phone call, a phone call from Derek. Since then, Maxine had kept receiving phone calls from “Derek” and even seeing him. At first, Maxine doubted if “Derek” called her. Had she seen and heard from the real “Derek”? Luckily, Maxine got help from his friend Cam. They thought that it was somebody playing a sick joke on Maxine. During this hard time, she could only get support from Cam as her parents didn’t believe her at all. They thought it was another scene Maxine made to catch their attention. Receiving the mysterious calls, Maxine tried to end the devilment by meeting “Derek” and found out who on earth would be that cruel to play such trick on her.

    Finally, “Derek” asked Maxine to meet him at his grave in the cemetery, but Maxine had to go to the therapist with her parents, so Cam went to meet “Derek” first and Maxine went there after her meeting with the therapist had finished. When she arrived, Cam was being held down and kicked by Sweeney and his cronies. On seeing Maxine come, Sweeney intimidated her immediately. Maxine was picked on by Sweeney as the next victim. Suddenly, a ghostly voice froze everyone. “Sweeney, it’s me, Derek. I’ve come to get you” The voice coming from nowhere didn’t stop. Sweeney and his cronies escaped in terror madly. Then a figure came close to them slowly and finally stepped out of the shadows. It was Derek! The mystery was solved in the end. Derek told everything about his missing and the phone calls. It was told that Derek had left home because of Sweeney’s threat. Therefore, he could not go home but contact Maxine unnoticeably. Otherwise he would have to live under Sweeney’s shadow again. Also, Maxine’s father had identified the body only by its build and it was not Derek at all. There was no ghost, crank or prankster. Everything was caused by misunderstandings.

Comments :

    After I have read the story, what I have learnt is the word “treasuring”. Nowadays, people are living in a modern lifestyle. Children go to school every day to attend regular classes and adults work from 9:00am to 5:00pm. It seems that no one can live without regularity. Gradually, people get bored as they are repeating their lives. There is no big difference between days. As no disaster happens to let people know there can be changes, people don not treasure their jobs, relationship with others and family time, tec. To my mind, having my family right beside me is an absolute. It is a law. However, I know that is not true in real life after I’ve read the book. Life is unpredictable. For instance, I’m sure Derek’s family had never imagined that Derek would be missing one day. Who knows what will happen to you tomorrow? Therefore, treasuring is very important. If I don’t treasure anything in my life, I know I’ll be regret after they are lost. There is no law in life. Things may get changed suddenly and the past can only be a part of my memory.

    Second, the story has taught me how important communication is. Human tend to group and live together. To live harmoniously, communication is essential. People can share their burdens and feelings with others through communication. We can also get support from others. We all want someone to listen to ourselves, but are we a good listener? Sometimes, we may underestimate the importance of listening to others. The sudden disappearance of Derek is a good example. Having been bullied and harassed by Sweeney, Derek needed support, sympathy and help. He had tried to talk to his parents and sought for a helping hand. Unfortunately, his parents never listen to him and understand his problems. They always thought that he had got in more trouble at school, therefore their conversations always ended in a row. As time goes by, the burden and pressure accumulated on Derek’s shoulders. As a result, Derek had to deal with his problem alone. He escaped from Sweeney. Not listening to Derek, his family didn’t know what he felt and what he would do, so the missing of Derek became a mystery. The case of Derek perfectly shows the significance of communication. If you want others to listen to you, you should be a good listener first. Everyone should care about their family and friends. It’s not a difficult task at all, isn’t it? Listening to others doesn’t hurt our ears. Moreover, it is a fact that communication help lowering the chance of misunderstanding. For the sake of building a caring and peaceful society, we should take up responsibility to be a patient listener. Otherwise, Derek’s story may come true one day.

    There is another thing mentioned in the book that impressed me—family. How precious and important are a family and the love between the family members? I believe it is valued beyond everything to most of us. Having read the book, I deeply understand that the reason why my parents care about me isn’t bound to the rule. It’s because they love me. Mothers have been putting great efforts in taking care of the whole family. Fathers work hard to make money and be the economic support of the family. Shouldn’t we treasure our parents’ love and efforts? Because of our parents, we can buy new dresses, diamond rings, cars, houses, but you can never buy one thing. That is a family. A family is not valued at banknotes. Furthermore, one’s life can be hugely influenced by his or her family. In the story, Sweeney came from a deprived background, his broken home affected his development and a wrong concept had been grown in his mind. That was why Sweeney had become a bully. The childhood of a person can affect his life and it is important. When we were young, we mostly learnt from our family members because we spent most of our time staying at home. Therefore, our family is important as it affects our childhood and our lives. It can be proved by the case of Sweeney.

    Next, I would like to share the last thing I concerned in the story—bullying. Bullying is a serious matter. Being bullied, victims are intimidates, threatened to give money, beaten or ridiculed. Not only getting injured and bruised, mental health of the victims is also harmed. The self-esteem of the sufferers is lowered because they are always taunted by the bullies. Beside that, their mental development is also hindered and affected. In my view, bullying should not be pampered. Although the problem of bullying in Hong Kong is not very serious, the government should take measures to prevent the problems from raging. Children are the pillars of society in the future. They should be well protected, shouldn’t they?

    In conclusion, I enjoy the book very much. It has given me a meaningful lecture and it has brought me excitement and fun. At the same time, I could learn some abstruse concept as the story has led me to reflections. Last but not least, I appreciate the author very much. She has written an attractive and educational book which has mad me plunged into the world of the story. When I was reading the book, I felt like I was having a dream and watching Maxine’s story from the sidelines. I believe it is undeniably a very meaningful book for all teenagers. We can learn in an interesting and relaxing way. It has made me interested in reading English books and it helps me to develop a reading habit, too.

Title : Flowers for Algernon
Author : Daniel Keyes
Publisher : Bantam Books

Summary :

    Do you want to get smarter?

    Getting Smart may be everyone’s dream, but is there any cost of being smart, by artificial methods? Charlie Gordon, who was a mentally retarded man, got his IQ tripled from 68 to over 200 in a brain operation. The operation was done by Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur, who were working on a scientific project about making people smart by surgery. They chose Charlie to be the first tester because he had a great motivation to learn though he had got a lower IQ when he was born.

    Do you think they have the right to make Charlie smart artificially? “Maybe they got no rights to make me smart because if god wanted me to be smart he would have made me born that way.” What Charlie wrote in his progress report echoed in my mind. Yes, the world is unfair. Someone gets a pretty face and the others don’t. Someone gets a smart brain but the others don’t. However, we are always given our own specialties. Someone is good at mathematics but he may not be good at arts; someone gets a good arts sense but she may not be good at maths. The most important point is that we have to know ourselves well. We have to know our own interest and goal in life, and to work hard under the limiting condition. Maybe Charlie would be smart, but he would then lose some important and good personalities too.

    “My neme is Charlie Gordon I werk in Donners Bokery where Mr Donner gives me 11 dollars a weak and bred or cake if I want.” Charlie could not even spell simple words well in his first progress report (he called it Progris Riporp) before the operation, but after that, he was able to remember many vocabularies, read difficult books, do calculus, and even speak German and French. Of course, he did not make it over night. He also had to work very hard to utilize his smart brain. He had to spend most of his time reading books. But of course, he could read much faster and understand more difficult content than before. Sadly, it didn’t make him happier at all. He could hardly find friends to talk to after he had become a “genius” because he got no one to share with him about calculus of variations, big novels written by Shakespeare, or the theories proposed by Newton Isaac. He thought he could not find anyone of “the same level” to understand him. It is the first time he felt lonely in life. He locked himself in the bedroom and refused to talk to anyone. The cheerful, optimistic boy was gone. Before that operation, even though he was not smart he was very happy every day. He worked as a janitor and cleaned the restrooms for a Bakery. He thought life was simple, complacent and meaningful. However, after he got smarter, he was able to think more but he had more troubles in mind. He even thought that there was no reason for him to stay alive because everything around him was so simple and understandable to him. He started to understand the feeling of a “genius”, of which he used to be jealous of.

Comments :

    Mentally retarded people are not receiving enough respect from the other people. When they make mistakes, people usually laugh at them and make fun of them. When they act or talk in such a stupid way, people laugh at them but never give a hand. Charlie used to be treated that way but he never felt unhappy before because he didn’t even understand why the people around were laughing at him. He even thought that people liked him because he could make them happy. After the operation, of course, he could understand other people and knew that his “friends” were not kind to him as he imagined. He felt ashamed to have been a dumb but he wished he could stay being a dumb for the whole life because he would feel happy all the time.

    Now he had to think about what other people were thinking in their hearts every day, after he learnt psychology. He could understand how every one thought, because he was “clever” than everyone else. I think this is so terrible.

    In my opinion, we have no point to laugh at the mentally retarded people. Instead, we should always give them a hand when they are in need. We should not make fun of them because we are all human beings and we should be fair towards them. The only difference between us is that we are good at different aspects. We have abilities in different areas. Mentally retarded people work much harder than everyone else who is “smarter”, and they are more loyal to the company, and to their friends. After reading the book, I realize how stupid people are to take advantage of mentally retarded people because they always live more happily than everyone of us. They live in their own ways and they have their own aims in live.

    Sometimes, if a student fails in a test, he will probably say, “I failed my test because I am not clever enough. That’s not my fault.” Actually, these are all excuses only because even one has got an IQ of 135, he or she is not able to know everything without hard work. Even for “clever” students, they have to work hard in order to pass the examinations. Hard work is always the unique key to success. In my opinion, it is wrong for people to say that one gets high achievements or high marks in exams because he or she has a high IQ; and the others fail to do so because they don’t have such a high IQ. Indeed, IQ is not a measure of how intelligence we are. Instead, it is a measure of how intelligence we can be. So, every one of us should work our very best. I believe, there is a hard road behind every successful person. They become “genius” because they work harder than everyone else does.

    Charlie was not smart for long---his intelligence deteriorates proportionally to the upgrade of it. Charlie figured it out himself by investigating about Algernon, a mouse which had the same operation as his. He knew that he was going to be stupid again but he didn’t care. He was delighted to have that experience of being smart and he thought he would never admire “clever” people because he was once the cleverest people on the earth.

    The cheerful, optimistic boy was back.

    The book is very impressing and meaningful to me. Personally, I would definitely oppose to the increase of IQ artificially even though it can be done permanently by future breakthroughs in biological science. Every one of us is given a special talent and special personality when we are born. We should develop our own life. Some people learn faster and some people learn more slowly, but I do not agree that it’s the difference between smart people and stupid people. Intelligence can be gained by education. Slow learners can also beat fast learners by sacrificing a double amount of time. And as time goes by, they learn faster as they acquire better skills. In the end, they may gain more self-satisfaction than the “clever” people do. So, I believe, the world is fair. God gives you one thing, he takes another away. All we need to do is to treasure what we have and to maximize our capacity.