This is a short story I wrote on 31/10/2017 for an Upper Intermediate student to practice Academic Vocabulary. It's from the great book Destination C1 & C2 Grammar & Vocabulary by Malcolm Mann & Steve Taylor-Knowles, published by Macmillan. Unit 2 Page 12 Topic Vocabulary : Learning.
Check the following words in your dictionary and then read the story and answer the questions below.
The Hallowe'en Plagiarist
I wasn't a very conscientious student.
At Oxford the extra-curricular activities took priority over my
coursework, so I rarely attended lectures, often opting for 'distance
learning' from my unmade bed via my room-mate's hastily scribbled
notes.
Bernard was an intellectual with black curly hair drifting down past
the smudged lenses of his John Lennon spectacles. Imagine. We'd been
thrust together at the whim of some administrative assistant, who'd
thought that if we shared one course and the same initials then we'd
at least have that in common.
Bernard was, how shall I put it, of a delicate persuasion. The
persuasion that made meeting other undergrads late at night in velvet
gowns in the cloisters of the chapel to stand around a pentagram
drawn in warm chicken blood on the cold stone floor chanting Latin
sound like the makings of a good Saturday night. I on the other hand
was happy with popcorn and a drive-in. Call me old-fashioned.
The mid term mock exams were soon upon us and I had done no studying
whatsoever. I hadn't attended any tutorials and my copies of
Bernard's notes were in complete disarray.
“You off out Bernie?” It was the night before Hallowe'en.
He turned at the door, his dark slender form silhouetted by the
corridor light. “Ye – yes,” he stammered. “Quite a biggie
tonight.” He attempted a smile which came out more like a nervous
grimace. Even the irises of his eyes seemed black.
“Not worried about the Social Implications essay due in on Monday?
Worth half the mark.”
“Done it,” he said, nodding towards his desk.
I followed his gaze. “Oh?” His desk was relatively in order.
There was an awkward silence.
“Well,” I said, “Have a good night. Don't do anything I
wouldn't do.”
He gave me an odd look then. Pale. One that I will remember for
ever.
And then he was gone.
The next morning, dead.
Shock, tears, investigations, police, parents, packed things.
What happened? Nobody knew. His body had been discovered in the
river, his skin slit by countless non-fatal knife marks. Non-fatal
individually. Not together.
That evening, when things had quietened down, I sat on my bed
wrapped in a blanket staring red-eyed, high and paranoid, at the
glowing red numbers of the digital clock on the desk on his side of
the room.
As I watched, 11:47 changed to 11:48.
I slowly stood up, walked shakily over to the desk, and pulled open
the top drawer.
“Social Implications, by B. R.”
I reached inside, my joint hanging from my mouth.
Some ash fell on the papers.
11:59 changed to 00:00.
“Sorry Bernie,” I whispered.
They found me the next morning. Or at least my charred skeleton, my
lower legs and my hands. I'd spontaneously combusted, my right hand
still clutched the papers in a rigor mortis death grip.
So that's me - a ghost - left here to wander forever through the dark, lonely university corridors, my only amusement frightening the odd undergraduate or lecturer on their way home late at night.
Something like this must surely affect the entire community, but
how? I don't know. I never studied the social implications.
The End
1) What do you think were the 'extra-curricular activities' that Bernie was taking part in?
2) How do you think he died?
3) Why do you think the narrator died at the end?
Discussion/Writing Questions
4) Is it ever acceptable to copy someone else's work?
5) Have you ever been to university or college? Tell us about that.
6) Have you ever cheated on an exam? Tell all.
7) Have you ever had a ghostly experience? Tell us all about it! :)
8) What did you think of the story? Like? Dislike? Why?
9) Now your turn! Write a short ghost story using the above new vocabulary :)
Image Credit : https://www.flickr.com/photos/artiomp/4061353880/
© Chris Young 2017
