2021 DSE Paper 2 Q7 - Sample Writing

Learning English through Short Stories

You are joining a short story contest organized by a bookshop.

 Write a scary story about a security guard on duty one night,

 Use the pictures to help you write your story. You can use the pictures in any order.

An Unforgettable Death

Five years before Bob’s retirement, a financial crisis broke out and hit the economy very
hard. Bob was sacked by the company where he had worked his whole life. He was
devastated because he still had to pay for the rent of his flat and the university tuition fees of
his only son. While the job market was very bleak, to his surprise, Bob saw a job
advertisement in the newspaper. It read, “A Brave Security Guard Wanted. Guaranteed Good
Pay”. Without doubt, Bob immediately applied for the job and had a telephone interview with
the security manager. “Do you mind working the night shift?” The manager inquired. “No,
indeed. Not at all,” Bob replied firmly. “That’s great. You got the job. If anything does
happen, just take it easy.” Bob was very grateful.

On his first day of work, Bob found out that it was a top-rank high-rise office building that he
had to report duty as a security guard. To his amazement, the building had a state-of-the-art
security system to detect any unauthorized intrusion and monitor all the entries and exits. The
job looked easy and it seemed that the only drawback was that Bob had to do the night shift.
At midnight, Bob checked the record system and was pleased that everyone in the building
had checked out and left. As soon as Bob started to patrol the building to make sure that he
was right, he saw a lady-like shadow walking slowly in the corridor on the 11th floor on the
CCTV monitor screen. Suddenly, the alarm bell on the 11th floor set off. Bob immediately
went to see what happened. 

When he reached the 11th floor, the alarm bell stopped ringing. It was completely silent. But
the office light was going on and off. Bob unlocked the office entrance and entered. Upon
entry, he felt a cold breeze blowing against his cheek. He turned left into the office area and
saw a long hair lady in a red dress typing very fast with her back to Bob. Bob cleared his
throat and said, “Excuse me, Madam, are you the employee of this company?” “Yes.” The
lady answered, typing even faster. “Sorry. I would like to have an identity check. Could you
show me your company pass?” Bob asked. The lady slowly turned her head around. She did
not have five sense organs and her face was covered with dripping blood. Bob let out a cry
and fainted. 
The next morning, Bob’s manager came to wake him up. “How are you? Are you all right?”
Bob came to his consciousness and screamed. “What happened?” The manager asked with a
grin. Bob was so scared that he immediately quit his job.

When Bob arrived home, he went online and searched for the old news about the office
building. About a decade ago, a top university student who freshly graduated with distinction
worked there for one of the most famous marketing companies. Six months later, she jumped
to her death from this building. She had left a suicide note and revealed that she committed
suicide because of overworking and insistent mental abuse by her manager. Back then, she
was only a 21-year-old orphan.