A piece of writing, which really is a PIECE, profusely laden with relevant vocabulary, supremely fine structured sentences, excellent coherence exhibited in ideas, marvellous portrayal of the setting - authored by a boy who I call ‘our writing genius’ – Usama Gohar of AS Level – the guy who’s pen is profusely laden with venom capable of splitting your peace apart with its deadly effect. Read this. See the flight of imagination. You would feel as if you are watching this setting most literally with your own pair of naked eyes. What else do you look for in a writer for calling him a ‘prolific writer’? Even if he’s not, he’s very much on his way to becoming one. Happy reading! (Humayun)

Q. Write a detailed description of a setting which helps create the atmosphere for a ghost story.  - A question from A' Level past papers (Cambridge)

The wind blew through the barren gardens keeping alive the otherwise dead air. The silence was penetrated occasionally by the wind making its way through the weeping willows dotting the extravagantly elegant, yet dead, ground and the distant howling of a lone wolf lost as the souls of the departed that continue to wander the earth. Once every hour, a faint chiming would rustle through the air, as if warning a wanderer not to come here. Watching over all this stood the ever silent moon, as if his wisdom were far too great to be conveyed through words. Amidst all this, stood a solitary mansion, dark and silent as the night itself. Every broken window of the mansion held secrets deeper than the abysses of hell itself and every broken door held even more.

The rotting wood and the creaking hinges did nothing to improve the horrifying image of the mansion. Inside the first door was a great lobby, one whose hustle and bustle must have been the boast of the hamlet at the foot of the hill over which the mansion stood. Now its only brag was the dusty floors and cobweb-ridden chandeliers. Two chandeliers and a half-broken mosaic of a shepherd tending his herd were all the decors left. The lounge gave way to long hallways and corridors, with doors on both sides. Now stripped off their beauty, these hallways had once bore the most magnificent decors.

Apart from its outer beauty, the house had also bore witness to some of the most inhumane atrocities; cruel enough to make one remain silent even after death. Most of these atrocities had been long since buried; both in the pages of the past and in the graveyard behind the mansion.

According to local lore, the whole mansion is, in fact, haunted. One reason for this rumor is the queer mystery of the grandfather clock in one of the hallways with its strange hourly bell that still works, twenty years after the mansion was fully abandoned. Another reason could be the cries following every rogue wolf's howl. Once inside the premises of the barren old building one is always accompanied by a watchful eye that often makes the hair on one's neck stand.

It is often said that ghosts are souls that have been stuck between two realms, torn between two dimensions, and only people with a sixth sense can feel them. In this case, the portal between the two dimensions is the great manor. Almost anyone can sense the presence near every willow. Their silent screams leaving every one's blood curdled, their penetrating gaze leaving every hair standing. Once every while, a lone figure can be seen wandering through the cemetery with a lantern in one hand and roses in another, drapes covering its floating form as it treads over its sleeping comrades without awakening any.

The little hamlet sits in a remote part of the Alps, surrounded by fog, snow and darkness most of the years. The only means of communication being a monthly mailing service through which come mostly letters from old inhabitants who have moved away either because of the mansion's reputed horrors or because of employment. The remaining population tends to keep its distance from the house as not even exorcisms have helped to calm down the horrors.

Usama Gohar
AS Level Student
PakTurk Schools
Islamabad Branch