Schoolonline project
Projet British Council School online 2017/2018
Collaborative story : version intégrale
In Black : Collège Joseph Calvet , France (4ème2)
In dark Blue : Collège Al Massira Al Khadra , Morocco
In Green : Jungwon Girls Middle school , South Korea
In Red : Ryazan secondary school , Russia
In orange : Baris Manço secondary school , Turkey
It was cold at this end of October . The night before, Kevin had arrived in this huge manor house by the river. After a long way through the mountain, the boy had finally seen his grandparents’ house . His parents were absent, again ….., abroad….for their job .He was longing to see Betty . Within a few years , the family had moved several times …. Morocco, Turkey , Korea …. He didn’t miss his last school in Canada . Roy and Sasha were hypocrites who had enjoyed humiliating him in front of his friends . Now, he was impatient to see his new school .
As he got up, he had a quick look at the small key the servant had given to him on his 15th birthday, with no explanation ‘ « What is it for ? » he wondered . Suddenly he jumped with fright « Vaillant !!!! You scared me to death !!! ….humm ……I shoudn’t have watched this video on werewolves before sleeping » .The husky began to bark . Kevin and his dog were inseparable . « Come on Vaillant, let’s go to grandpa’s library . I need to check something . I just hope there is a book on Russia » .The two friends hurried in the narrow corridor but as they ran , Vaillant’s tail hit a tapestry which fell onto the ground . When trying to put it back, Kevin stopped to look at the floor more closely « what is that ? » he whispered « I have never seen that trap door before » . Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps towards him. It was his grandfather who looked so nervous. He asked Kevin furiously : ‘’ What are you doing here?". Kevin was bewildered by this sudden appearance of his grandfather. Then he replied, ‘ I just wanted to put this tapestry back. By the way, I am looking for a book about Russia. I hope I can find it in your library’’. His grandfather ordered him to wait for him in the library. Kevin obeyed this order and went there. While he was exploring the various books on the shelves, a strange book attracted Kevin’s attention. He took the book and noticed that it has a lock and some strange symbols .
Unexpectedly , his grandfather entered the room and then shouted angrily, ‘’ Put that book down. Here is the book about Russia and I believe this is what you were looking for.Now,gotoyourroom".
Kevin sat down squatting in the corner of his room thinking about the reason behind his grandfather’s strange reaction and exaggerated anger .
All of a sudden, Vaillant stopped the train of Kevin’s thoughts by his hysterical barks towards the front stair. Kevin went to see what happened and to his surprise he found his small key. He noticed a small fiverfold star in the middle of the key then whispered to himself : ‘wait! wait! This looks familiar, this is the same symbol I saw on the book and also on the trapdoor!. This is a very strange coincidence". He was so curious. So he decided to sneak into the library and take the strange book without his grandfather’s knowledge. He hurried to his room and then tried to open the book’s lock with the small key. Finally, the book opened and Kivin dropped it in shock : ‘’ No way, I can’t believe that there is another world inside the trap door!” Kevin was a boy who liked reading books. He loved the story of fascinating adventures, and that preference made Kevin imagine about the ‘other world’ inside the trap door even though he had never seen it before, and had only just learned of its existence by this book. Yes, this book... Kevin stared at the first page of the book again. There was a moving map drawn by someone –maybe the author of this book- , and the place where the map was describing was somewhere he had never heard of. The book said that this place is the world inside the trap door of this house. Could this be true? Kevin suddenly felt a strange desire running through his whole body. Kevin instinctively understood that he should find that world. It was already in his head. Kevin stood up, holding the book and the key tightly in his hand. He quietly tip toed down the corridor and checked to see that no one was looking. The mansion was in silent darkness. He took out the key and unlocked the trap door. A few seconds later, right after the moment that Kevin peeped inside the trap door to take a closer look, he heard someone’s footsteps in the total darkness. ‘It must be grandpa.’ he thought. Kevin trembled in surprise, and dived into the hollow darkness inside the trap door... He stumbled and rolled down the steep stairs for what felt like eternity. Then finally, he was flung into the air and landed heavily on the ground with a big thump. He lay there for quite a while and when he finally got himself to stand up on his feet, he saw a pair of big eyes glowing in the dark, staring at him.. Kevin felt his heart was beating out of his chest. The situation got worse when he noticed that those horrible eyes were getting closer and closer to him. At some moment Kevin discerned an unusual odour and surprisingly it wasn’t unpleasant. It smelled like a mixture of cinnamon and fir-needles. More that that, the smell seemed very familiar.
Suddenly, Kevin heard dearly beloved barking. In a moment Vaillant, that turned out to be in this unknown place too (perhaps, he unnoticeably had followed Kevin) rushed towards the eyes with the unexpected fury and bravery. There was heard a kind of grumbling and growling and the burning eyes disappeared as well as that strange smell.
By that time Kevin’s eyes had got used to the darkness. The boy looked around and realized that he was situated in some room, decorated in an old-fashioned manner. All the walls were hung with antique portraits, depicting different men, women and children in old time clothes. One of the portraits attracted Kevin’s attention. There was a beautiful couple – a young broad-shouldered man with the crown on his head and a fair girl with kind and loving eyes. It seemed to Kevin that he had already seen those faces. But where?
Suddenly the boy heard some anxious voices behind the walls of the room. He noticed a carved wooden door between two big portraits. Kevin carefully opened the door and entered an illuminated hall.
“Here you are at last!” “We’ve been waiting for you for ages, Kevin! Where have you been? Hey, Vaillant! Come here, good boy!”
The scene Kevin saw bewildered him so much that the only words he could murmur were: “You?! But… what are you doing here?” Kevin stood in the room in stunned disbelief … Finally he exclaimed, "Dad, mom, but what are you doing here?" And who are all these people on the portraits? "All our ancestors are here, we ‘ve been waiting for you We wanted you to be ready before telling you about the secret . We have to find the red-eyed beast. Others have tried before us, actually all our ancestors represented on these paintings but they failed .. Kevin’s eyes lingered on the pictures ,at the bottom of each frame he could read the inscription ’MORTE’ He recognized his uncle Gabriel and his aunt who had died in a car crash three years before . The situation seemed surrealistic. The candles in the hall created a weird atmosphere. The walls were decorated with old dusty hats belonging to old times and a long blue carpet on which a poem was embroidered was spread on the floor. Between the portraits, Kevin could see here and there glitttering crystals or precious stones . ’You know Kevin, it’s in this hall that your father and I met for the first time , that was before it was locked. From here all of us have observed you …. Now we know you are brave enough to hear the news ’’All ? Who are you talking about ? and what news?’ Kevin shouted with a pinch of irritation. At that moment he saw a silhouette stepping out of the shadow .. ’Poppy ?? Poppy ? Is that you ? We’ve been looking for you for 5 long years .. What does it mean? ’ His mother replied :‘Kevin ……….listen my boy , Poppy is your cousin but first of all, according to the prophecy she is the one who will be able to kill the red eye beast’
There was a deep silence in the room. The confusion of Kevin could be understood by his face. The silence was interrupted with his father’s words. ‘But there is a problem. To make it real, she has to find the other half of her soul.’
Kevin’s mind was full of questions. ‘Red eyed Beast? Poppy but how?’ these questions were disrupted with poppy’s answer.. ‘you will get all the answers of your questions’
Poppy walked towards dusty shelves and took 4 books. She gave the books to Kevin. The covers of them were so familiar. Yes, their covers were the same as the book that he found in grandpa’s library.
Poppy’s words ‘You are right. They are the same.’ caused Kevin to fall the books down. Poppy continued his words ‘Yes I can read your mind.’
The confusion at Kevin’s face turned into fear.
‘We know that it’s on MANS universe. But we can’t find the answer to open the way for MANS.’
The curiosity of Kevin was getting increase.
‘The answer is in those books but we couldn’t find it.’ said his father. ‘you are the one who will solve this secret.’
Nothing have to say, Kevin took the books again.
Her mom continued talking. ‘All of these books were found in a country. Russia, Turkey, Morocco, South Korea and France. All the studies carried out about books are here. In these sheets… We all believe you can do it.’
He took all the books and sheets and went back to his room again.
Days, weeks, even months passed but there was no answer. His minds were full of thoughts. With a little hope to find anything, he went to the trap door to go inside the room again. While walking inside, he noticed the blue poem-embroidered carpet. He read the poem but how? Could it be true?
He rushed his room again and ‘Oh my God. From the time being, how couldn’t I see this! He could see all the thing clearly. The way to the MANS ’For the time being, how could I not think about this before? The star that will lead us to MANS universe should be in one of those books. ‘’
While he was examining the books hoping to find the star, his dog Valliant entered the room suddenly and begun scratching one of the books that he dropped from the table.
Kevin shouted angrily ‘’Valliant, stop doing that! “Then, he took the book from Valliant and noticed a shiny metal piece on the cover and the letter “”M”” graved on it.
He had a quick look at all books and surprisingly found that every book has the same piece on it but with a different letter. The five letters ‘’F K T R M” from the five books may form the star which the prophecy in the poem talked about”.
Kevin was right. Those pieces together formed the star which unexpectedly reflected a picture on the wall.
‘’Kevin, why is your picture on the wall? Puppy shouted on the threshold of the room. Kevin turned to her and the shock was still clear on his face then he said: “ Poppy, I think I am the second half of your lost soul”
‘’what? How did you know that?!!’’
‘’Relax. I have not also got it myself. But the poem in the cellar says that…’’ then Poppy broke in asking‘’Wait! what poem? I was in the basement for five years. I was looking fo some writings or signs that may lead me to the secret, but I didn’t find any poem’’ kevin then continued “Yes I know that. The prophecy says that I’m the only one who can see the poem. It also says that the only way to find your lost soul and reach MANS universe is through this star. Until now, we know who your lost soul mate is but there is another weird thing that confused me ...’’ Poppy quickly interrupted him and examined the star in her hands. Then she uttered “ Kevin, let’s put our hands on the star and see what could happen’’ Kevin did as she asked and all of a sudden, a big and unlimited hole opened up on the ground.....
