3ème prix du concours d’écriture organisé en classe d’euro anglais de Mme Gimay : La nouvelle de Yasmine Bouya
Chapter 1:
Alex grew up without a family. From a young age, the orphanage had been his only home, and the other children his only family. But at the age of 18, like any other adult, he had had to leave the center and find work and study independently. He attended university on a scholarship and worked evenings in a bar to earn a little money to buy food and pay the rent on a small room in a gloomy, damp building. His only companion was his dog.
On an autumn morning, when he had just returned from campus, he found an envelope in his letterbox. There was no name on it. Intrigued, he opened it. It was an administrative letter announcing that he had inherited a house in a city two hours away. Alex read the document three times. It was unimaginable to him. How could he inherit a house when he didn’t have any family or friends outside the orphanage? He was sure that it was a mistake or a scam.
Acting out of prudence but also animated by a desire to seize an unexpected opportunity, he went to the city hall mentioned in the letter. He waited for someone to tell him it was obviously a mistake, but nobody did. He had really inherited the house. All the documents confirmed this. Alex signed the papers and received the keys to the house. Now he had a house — a real house where he could live without worrying about paying the rent every month. His dog would have a real space to move around in.
His feelings were mixed. Was he happy, shocked or grateful? He did not know. But what he did know was that he now had a real house.
Making the most of the time he had left before his return train, he went to visit the house. It was big — really big — for someone who had always lived in a 5-square-metre flat. The house was in good condition, even if there were some things that needed repairing. Most importantly, there was a huge garden with herbs that had been growing for years. He was ready to settle down and rebuild his life.
Far from suspecting what awaited him, life had many surprises in store for him.
Chapter 2:
He moved in within two days. He left the small, damp room that inspired pity in anyone who saw it. Since the city was bigger, he easily found a better job and, most importantly, the university was closer. He no longer needed to take the train every day. This house was a real miracle.
He arrived at the house and began cleaning immediately. It took him around a week to balance between work, school and cleaning and repairing the house to get it back into good conditions.
One day, he decided to walk around the garden and think about how he could improve it, because he wanted to take proper care of it. So he searched for gardening tools. Suddenly, he came across a shed. He had obviously seen it before, but had never paid any attention to it. This time, he decided to open it and see what was inside.
Strangely, he could sense a strange aura coming from the little shed. It was a really strange feeling. Alex was scared, but a little voice told him to go inside. He couldn’t explain it. What should he do? He stood in front of the door, as if waiting for something or someone to tell him what to do.
Chapter 3:
He finally made the decision not to enter. He preferred to wait until he was ready. He was ashamed because he thought this behavior was childish and that he was not courageous enough, but he couldn’t endure it — this feeling was too strong.
Despite the certainty of his decision, he couldn’t sleep anymore; he was afraid of what might be in the cabin. At that moment he realized that there was something strange about the house. He knew it was unusual to inherit a house out of the blue, so he decided to open the door the following day after returning from campus.
Chapter 4:
The time had come. Alex was finally going to open the door and see what was inside the hut. Alex was scared. What could be in there? What if he couldn’t sleep because of the scenarios he had imagined? What if it was just full of normal tools? But what if there was something unexpected waiting for him inside? These thoughts were racing through his mind, but he knew that he had to open the door to find peace again.
Accompanied by his dog, he approached the hut and, suddenly, turned the doorknob and the door opened. Alex couldn’t believe his eyes. In front of him was another world. A world that was only supposed to exist in children’s books. There was a huge castle and lots of fairy creatures. He wasn’t scared anymore, not because he had become more courageous but because he had the strange feeling that he had seen this world before, that this world was familiar, that this world was linked to his existence. He didn’t understand anything. What was this place? How could another world exist?
Alex closed the door. He knew that this house was hiding many mysteries, and that he had been chosen to discover them. Maybe this world held the answers to all his questions. Discovering this new world might help him learn about himself, his hidden family, and this mysterious house.
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