'Harry' by Rosemary Timperley

'Harry' is a story which I have read for the intensive English class. The setting took place on England and the main characthers are Christine, Christine's mother, and Harry. Some people might think this book as a mystery, but others might think this book as a horror. This is because the story mainly talks about Christine's brother 'Harry' who is dead. When Christine was playing in the garden, she started to talk to herself. Her parents thought that it was an imaginary friend and is not rare for kids to have an imaginary friend. However, Christine kept talks about the imaginary friend 'Harry' and thinks Harry is a real figure. Christine's mother became suspicious of the existence of Harry and attempts to find basic information about Christine from the adoption center. Christine's mother could get an information that Harry is Christine's brother and that he loved Christine so much as a sister. They were borned in a poor family, and their father was so stressed about their daily lives and tries to suicide himself and tries to kill all the family members by sealing the house and using gas. Harry noticed the gas coming inside the house and attempts to escape the house. He hold Christine tightly and came out of the sealed house by breaking the window. While escaping, Harry died because their houses were located in a high place. Because Harry hold Christine tightly with his arms, Christine can survive. After Christine's mother heard this, she noticed that Christine's school had ended. She called the school and asked where Christine is. The teacher told her that a boy who introduced himself as Christine's brother had took Christine together to home. Christine's mother felt something wrong and found out that Christine disappeared.
The story ended like this, and It was a sad, thrilling, and touching to me. I generally enjoyed this story and I would like to recommend this book for people who like thrillers.

'The Landlady' by Roald Dahl

For this week, I had read another short story which was written by Roald Dahl. The story made me think of the feelings of the main characters Billy and it was very vivid to me that I could imagine the situation. The setting tooks place in Bath, England and the main characters are a boy named called Billy and the landlady.

The overall story is about a boy called Billy who is travelling to Bath for his future career. He was struggling of finding a place to sleep, but eventually finds a place. He went there as if a magic power pulled him to the house. When he knocked the door, a women just popped out of the door as she expected his appearance. It made me suspicious from this part and I had an idea that this story will be kind of a thriller. The landlady kept giving teas and biscuits to Billy which made me suspicious. She also stuffed animals in her house and there were only two guests over years. When Billy said that he was familiar of the names of the guests, the landlady tried to ignore him , and I could briefly predict that the guests were famous for their disappearance. The story ended mysteriously and I think Billy will probably be staffed with the guests together.

This was an interesting story to read, and it was a nice thriller to read. I didn't lose tension while I was reading and the story made me guess what will happen at the end.

'Examination Day' by Henry Slesar

Examination Day is a short story which is written by Henry Slesar and I have read it during the English class. The setting took place in the future, and the main characther is a boy called Dickie. In Dickie's world, the government control everything and does not want people to be intelligent so that they won't seek revolution. In the story, every students at the age of 12 has to take a test which is to find how intelligent they are. If the child has overwhelmed the standard intelligent rate, he/she will be executed. This was the reason why Dickie's parents didn't like Dickie asking questions about the surroundings and gave him only comic books to read. The date of test day came, and Dickie's parents were extremly worried about Dickie's results. The concern of the parents came true, and Dickie had to be executed at the end of the story.
After reading the story, I thought that this could likely happen on near future and we should prevent it. Anyway, it was an interesting story to read and quite sad.

'The Hitchhiker' by Roald Dahl

This week, I read a very interesting story which is written by Roald Dahl during the English class. The overall story is about a hitchhiker who can steal things from anyone without being noticed. The hitchhiker was described as having ratty face, and sharp pointed ears. Everyone should have expected the hitchhiker as a bad person or an antagonist. However, he was indeed a good guy, who helped the driver from being in a trouble. The story ended when the hitchhiker stole the notes which had the driver's address,name, and basic information. The driver thanked the hitchhiker and was surprised about his magic hands.

The most thing I had enjoyed about this story was the ending and the twist. I never expected that the hitch hiker will be the good guy and it was interesting that I could not predict the right conclusion.