English Story

Here is part of a story I wrote for an English assignment at the beginning of the year. It is called The Phantom. What we had to do for the assignment was to write and make a book, it was really fun. Hope you like it.

(Blurb: The night air was cold and foggy in the city of London. Not a sound was heard that quiet night. Suddenly, the officers' whistles were blowing loud, "Where did he go? Which way? Did you see him?" The Phantom had struck again!
This notorious thief has been wanted for quite some time, no one could catch him. That's when Belinda, the bounty hunter from Paris, found out about him. She has vowed to catch him, and maybe his heart.)

Chapter 1
It was a dark and stormy night; even standing right next to a lamp post didn’t make it any easier to see. It was a perfect night to go thieving. The Phantom, the most wanted thief in all of London, crept silently down the cobblestone alleyway with a large, empty potato sack over his broad shoulders. It was foggy that night, there wouldn’t be too many officers patrolling around.

The Phantom’s real name was Jim Joans, a very tall quite handsome man in about his twenties. Jim had hair as black as the night that went down to his shoulders that he usually tied back into a pony tail, and dark brown, mysterious eyes that looked so dark, that they almost seemed black.

The Phantom ran down the street, his black cloak streaming out behind him. The top of his white long-sleeved shirt was just showing underneath his black jacket as he darted behind a pile of rubbish. That was too close, he thought breathing hard. Three officers ran down the street passed the rubbish pile a few seconds later, the shrill, loud sound of their whistles disappearing into the night. When all was quiet and still once more, the Phantom lifted his masked face up to have a look. There was no one there. He picked up his sack that was full and heavy now and continued his way down the alley way.

“That was dumb! Dumb, dumb, stupid!” He cursed under his breath. “I should’ve looked where I was goin’!”

After robbing a house through an open window, the Phantom had turned around a corner, only to run into a surprised officer on his watch. The officer had chased him around everywhere, calling for others with his loud whistle. If that officer had of known that the Phantom was coming around the corner, he would’ve been caught. Luckily, he had ducked behind the smelly pile of rubbish. He had just escaped, for now.



Jim walked down the dirty street, breathing in the wet, foggy air of the morning. The sun was just rising up over the horizon, casting an orange glow on the grey, smoggy clouds above. He sighed as he watched the many people rushing around, a slight frown on some of their faces as they began another busy day. “Why can’t people just slow down and look at the pretty things that don’t last that long around them?” He said to himself as the last of the orange left the sky and the sun disappeared behind the grey smog. Jim headed towards a large, brown building and walked in. The Top Inn, the place where most of the lower class people went to.

The bell jingled as the door opened, and everyone glanced up to see who it was and for a brief moment, the inn was quiet. After looking over the man that had just walked in, they all went back to talking and singing. After all, it was just Jim. No one really knew Jim, only his name, other than that he was a stranger. Jim walked over to the hot fire in the corner of the busy room to warm up, and then looked around to inspect the happy people. Janet Michael is wearing some nice jewellery, he thought to himself.

The smoke filled inn was alive with the chatter of all the folk and the merry singing of drunken men and women. The air smelt of bacon, and beer was being handed out everywhere by the waitresses. “Mornin’ Jim,” one of them said, “you want the usual darlin’?” She smiled, her dimples showing.

“Yeah, thanks Meggie...” Jim said his mind far away. He was staring over at a man’s green coat. Meggie smiled, not aware of Jim’s thoughts, and headed back to the counter.

“That boy always has a lot on his mind.” She said to another waitress.

After a few minutes Meggie came back, “Here you are.” She said as she handed Jim a hot pork pie and a pint of bubbly beer.

“Hmm...” Jim muttered. Meggie sighed and walked over to a man that wanted more beer.

Jim ate his pie and drank his beer as he watched the people around him; he didn’t trust any of them. The happy smiling faces that he saw seemed to bring sadness to him, why did they have to be so happy?

Jim paid Meggie and walked back outside, the coldness in the air made him draw his breath in fast as he pulled his brown coat around himself tighter and folded his arms. He heard the door closed behind him and the sound of music and laughter faded away. He continued down the silent street, and glanced around as the silence was broken; someone had called out his name. But it was a young woman greeting another man. He looked at the happy couple embracing and for a brief moment, was jealous.

“No,” he whispered as he shook the thought from his mind. He turned around and continued on his way. “A thief can have no friends.”