Question 2

Imagine that you are Isaac in Passage A. The day after these events you write a
letter to a friend in which you explain what happened on that night.
Write your letter.

In your letter you should comment on:

• your feelings about the hotel
• your difficulty in getting to sleep
• the landlord’s explanation of who the woman is.

Base your ideas on what you have read in Passage A, but do not copy from it. Be
careful to use your own words. Address each of the three bullet points.

Begin your letter: ‘Dear…’

Write about 200 to 300 words.

Up to 10 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 5 marks for the
quality of your writing.

A Peculiar Hotel

Dear Sam,

Something peculiar happened to me last night. I was on my way

home from visiting my grandparents who lived really faraway.

Soon, it was getting dark. I was hungry and tired from the
activities of the day, so I decided to cope with the only hotel.
It didn’t look much but it was enough for a lost man with sore
feet like me. The landlord seemed kind and respectable as he
welcomed me in. He was kind enough to give me some supper. I
ate my meal while looking at some visitors that walked in the
dining room which was ever so ordinary.

I finished my meal as the hotel closed. I was very surprised

to notice the strength of those bolts and locks. I wonder why?
It turns out the landlord was living here with his daughter and
wife and I was the only guest staying here so he thought it was
better safe than sorry. I went up to my room with what little
light the candle gave. It was a simple room- one bed, one chest
of drawers and a window looking out to the woods at the back-
but it was enough for a weary traveller looking for some rest.

I couldn’t fall asleep though as exhausted as I am. The dim

light of the candle casted shadows over me while I was trying
so hard to fall asleep. I always thought it was depressing to lie
awake in the darkness, listening to the cold wind howling
dreadful noises and not falling asleep. As I tossed and turned,
exhaustion got the best of me and I slowly fell asleep.

The cold made me shiver even in my dreams, making it hard to

not wake up but I was to tired to do so. Suddenly, a sharp pain
cut through my body like a blade. I woke up immediately,
vigilant of my surroundings. It was daytime and the whole room
was filled with warm sunlight.

To my horror, there was a woman holding a knife in my room.

I was frozen with terror. The woman didn’t seem to want to

harm me. She looked pale, almost seethrough when bathed in
sunlight. She “floated” around my room, as if I was not even
there. I came to my senses and dashed out of my room as fast
as I possibly could. The woman didn’t chase me, and I ran into
the landlord who was coming to ask me my breakfast.

I was still dazed from that nightmarish encounter. The

landlord looked at me for a few seconds and seemed to
understand what I was running from. He sighed deeply and took
me to the dining room to answer all my questions.

I explained what happened and waited for explanations frm

the landlord. He sighed again and said: “This is a long story, you
see. There was once a chef in this hotel, her name was Martha.
She was close with my family, and we treated her like family.
But she died in a fire caused by the overheated stove. We felt
so sorry. Since then, our guests and my family could sometimes
see her soul roaming the halls of the hotel. You could say she is
a banshee, haunting the hotel where it was once her second
home. But, she never hurt anyone, her appearance was just
terrifying.”

I was ghast. I never thought this hotel would be haunted. I

pitied the poor woman but still had goosebumps all over me. I
hurriedly finished my breakfast and rushed out of that
haunted hotel. I would never go back there again. I also learned
the importance of never overheating the oven.

Joke’s aside, there are still many unanswered questions: the

sudden pain when I was sleeping, the “visitors” eventhough I
was the only guest in the hotel, the banshee that didn’t hurt
anyone but still haunted the hotel……

Well, that was just a story I wanted to share with you. It was
such a strange, frightful and peculiar experience. I would never
forget that hotel or the night I had there. Who knows- I could
tell this story to my grandkids one day!

Yours truly,
Isaac

(714 words)