Reading
A Strange Evening
I was talking with a friend of mine last night, and he asked me if I believed in ghosts and haunted houses. This is what I told him...
I grew up in Seattle, but only lived there until 1990. Around that time, as my father was reaching retirement age and was looking to sell his business and slow down, the family decided to move to a small island called Whidbey off the coast, where, they were hoping, things would be more laid back than in the city. My parents were looking for a house for months, and finally, as a temporary measure, rented an old, run-down, 19th century farmhouse on a hill. I'm not sure what they were thinking, but they certainly got more than they bargained for by moving there. I remember that when we first went to see the house, the real estate agent was happy to tell us about all the advantages of country living, and all the great features of the house itself, but was acting rather evasive when it came to questions about the house's history. But, as the house had been unoccupied for some time, the price was very reasonable, and so my parents agreed at last to lease the house until they could find something more suitable. It wasn't long before we found out why the house had been unoccupied for so long. My father and I are, as a rule, very practical and not superstitious people. My mother, however, was and is. No walking under ladders, graveyards at night, black cats, addresses marked "13", or anything of the sort for her. From the first minute of that late October day when we moved in, she complained that she was feeling uncomfortable, and that the house "just didn't feel right" to her. We ignored her worries and stayed busy unpacking and arranging our things until dark, when we stopped for a quick dinner before bed. By the time I got into bed, I was tired and ready to drift off, but things didn't go according to my plan. While I was settling in under the blankets, I heard what sounded like the banging of drums far off in the distance. I assumed it was just a generator or old truck out by the road, until my mother opened the door to ask if I was having any trouble going to sleep. Was I? Absolutely. While we were going down the stairs, we heard two long, horrible screams – the most awful things you can imagine. Then, while we were looking around for its source, we saw what I swear were two little girls running across the front yard, and three men chasing them with knives and axes. I couldn't believe it, they looked just like Indians from an old cowboy movie! That was enough for both of us – we ran screaming up the stairs, where we almost knocked my father over as he was coming down with a baseball bat in his hand and eyes as big as dinner plates. "Honey," he said to my mother, "you look like you've seen a ghost!" "Funny you should say that," she replied, and dragged both of us to the garage, where we jumped in the car and drove away as fast as possible. We returned in the morning, and left the house and the island for good that afternoon. I never found out exactly what it was that we saw that night, but when I was a little older, I spent an afternoon in a local Seattle museum, looking through old newspapers and books on the history of the island. Most of it was boring, but one headline, dated October 27th, 1849, caught my attention. It read: "Family of four killed by Indians last night on Whidbey Island".
Questions
Choose the correct explanation for the following phrases.
- "Laid back" means:
- "Acting evasive" means:
- "They certainly got more than they bargained for" means:
- "Run-down" means:
- "Superstitious" means:
Are the following statements about the reading correct?
1. Before the experience in the new house, no one in the family believed in any kind of ghosts at all.
2. The father had a bat and dinner plates to fight the ghosts with.
3. The parents rented the house mainly because of the low price.
4. The house was available because another family had just moved out.
5. The real estate agent probably knew something about the awful history of the house.