Kyra Balls
Mrs. Lehmann
English 2-2A
9 October 2019
The Grey House
The Grey House is an old house that my grandparents used to live in before they built the house they’re living in now. For some reason, the Grey House gives off a scary vibe. My cousins, Macie and Kaila, my sister and I have stayed at the Grey House before, and the only reason we were scared was because we were scaring ourselves. This time was different.
“Hey, should we stay in the Grey House for the 4 of July?” I texted my cousin, Macie.
“We totally should!” She replied two seconds later. “I’ll ask Kaila if she wants to.”
“Yeah, and I’ll ask Cami.” I ran to my room. “Cami! Macie and I had an amazing idea.” I began to tell her. She looked at me for a second then back down at her phone. “It involves the Grey House...” I tried to spark her interest and it worked. Her face immediately lit up. “Do you want to stay in the Grey House for the 4th?”
“Yes! This is going to be so fun.” Just then I got a text from my cousin.
“Kaila says she’s in,” the text read. I jumped up and down. This is going to be the best, I thought to myself.
The night of July 3rd:
Macie parked in the driveway of the Grey House. Macie, Kaila, Cami, and I all sat in the car, remembering the last time we stayed there.
“Ok let's go,” Macie said opening the car door and jumping out. We all followed her, running to the front door.
“Macie, let me see the keys!” I croaked. Instead of giving me the keys, she ran up and pushed me out of the way. She unlocked the door, and we all ran in like sheep. We got downstairs and started unpacking our stuff. Macie and I went upstairs to go the bathroom, and as I was waiting, I was looking out the window and saw a figure standing just beyond the fence. Oh, it’s just a mailbox, or maybe even just a hedge, I told myself, but my heart started racing. My cousin came out of the bathroom and screamed.
“What!?” I jumped back almost dropping my pjs.
“I thought you were someone else.” She laughed, holding her heart. I started laughing with her. I hurriedly got into my pjs and ran downstairs, trying to forget the figure outside. Around 10:30 pm, we decided we were going to go to bed. We shut our eyes and put our heads back but trying to sleep didn’t last long. I heard... mumbled voices... and footsteps...
“Did you guys hear that?” I asked. My voice was shaky, but I tried to keep it even.
“Yeah, but it’s probably just our brothers,” Kaila said, closing her eyes again. I closed my eyes, but my heart was racing. I couldn’t stay calm. The only other thing I could hear was my heart racing. Then, it sounded like someone or something was messing with the door handle.
It’s just in my head, I told myself and rolled over. My heart was racing; I started to sweat. It’s just in my head, I kept telling myself. I got the thought to get out of there... quickly. I woke up my cousins and asked them if they had heard the noise, too. They all said yes, and we were trying to decide who to call, when the phone rang. Macie’s mom had called, asking where her bag was. We told we her where we thought it was and then asked her to come get us and to bring someone else with her. She brought my other aunt with her, and when they came, they laughed at us. We all got in the car and went back to the other house safely, a little shaken, but safe now. The lesson I learned was to trust your gut because who knows what would have happened if I didn’t, or if anything would have happened.
Mrs. Lehmann
English 2-2A
9 October 2019
The Grey House
The Grey House is an old house that my grandparents used to live in before they built the house they’re living in now. For some reason, the Grey House gives off a scary vibe. My cousins, Macie and Kaila, my sister and I have stayed at the Grey House before, and the only reason we were scared was because we were scaring ourselves. This time was different.
“Hey, should we stay in the Grey House for the 4 of July?” I texted my cousin, Macie.
“We totally should!” She replied two seconds later. “I’ll ask Kaila if she wants to.”
“Yeah, and I’ll ask Cami.” I ran to my room. “Cami! Macie and I had an amazing idea.” I began to tell her. She looked at me for a second then back down at her phone. “It involves the Grey House...” I tried to spark her interest and it worked. Her face immediately lit up. “Do you want to stay in the Grey House for the 4th?”
“Yes! This is going to be so fun.” Just then I got a text from my cousin.
“Kaila says she’s in,” the text read. I jumped up and down. This is going to be the best, I thought to myself.
The night of July 3rd:
Macie parked in the driveway of the Grey House. Macie, Kaila, Cami, and I all sat in the car, remembering the last time we stayed there.
“Ok let's go,” Macie said opening the car door and jumping out. We all followed her, running to the front door.
“Macie, let me see the keys!” I croaked. Instead of giving me the keys, she ran up and pushed me out of the way. She unlocked the door, and we all ran in like sheep. We got downstairs and started unpacking our stuff. Macie and I went upstairs to go the bathroom, and as I was waiting, I was looking out the window and saw a figure standing just beyond the fence. Oh, it’s just a mailbox, or maybe even just a hedge, I told myself, but my heart started racing. My cousin came out of the bathroom and screamed.
“What!?” I jumped back almost dropping my pjs.
“I thought you were someone else.” She laughed, holding her heart. I started laughing with her. I hurriedly got into my pjs and ran downstairs, trying to forget the figure outside. Around 10:30 pm, we decided we were going to go to bed. We shut our eyes and put our heads back but trying to sleep didn’t last long. I heard... mumbled voices... and footsteps...
“Did you guys hear that?” I asked. My voice was shaky, but I tried to keep it even.
“Yeah, but it’s probably just our brothers,” Kaila said, closing her eyes again. I closed my eyes, but my heart was racing. I couldn’t stay calm. The only other thing I could hear was my heart racing. Then, it sounded like someone or something was messing with the door handle.
It’s just in my head, I told myself and rolled over. My heart was racing; I started to sweat. It’s just in my head, I kept telling myself. I got the thought to get out of there... quickly. I woke up my cousins and asked them if they had heard the noise, too. They all said yes, and we were trying to decide who to call, when the phone rang. Macie’s mom had called, asking where her bag was. We told we her where we thought it was and then asked her to come get us and to bring someone else with her. She brought my other aunt with her, and when they came, they laughed at us. We all got in the car and went back to the other house safely, a little shaken, but safe now. The lesson I learned was to trust your gut because who knows what would have happened if I didn’t, or if anything would have happened.
Personal Narrative Reflection
Please answer all questions in complete, grammatically correct sentences.
1. Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
To write this paper, I had to brainstorm an event that happened in my life. Then, I wrote an outline with the main events of the story. Next, I wrote a rough draft using the outline as a guide. Lastly, I revised the rough draft and turned in the final draft.
2. What qualifies this paper as a narrative? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It is an actually event that happened in my life. I used dialogued, show don’t tell, and imagery to help the story flow.
3. What is one part of your story that you think turned out really well? What do you like about that part?
In my story where my cousins, sister, and I are trying to go to sleep but I can’t because I’m scared. I feel like I showed how I was feeling pretty well because I used show don’t tell.
Please answer all questions in complete, grammatically correct sentences.
1. Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
To write this paper, I had to brainstorm an event that happened in my life. Then, I wrote an outline with the main events of the story. Next, I wrote a rough draft using the outline as a guide. Lastly, I revised the rough draft and turned in the final draft.
2. What qualifies this paper as a narrative? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
It is an actually event that happened in my life. I used dialogued, show don’t tell, and imagery to help the story flow.
3. What is one part of your story that you think turned out really well? What do you like about that part?
In my story where my cousins, sister, and I are trying to go to sleep but I can’t because I’m scared. I feel like I showed how I was feeling pretty well because I used show don’t tell.