A word of explanation: in this class I asked students to work in pairs and write an original story ending with the words into the night. Here are three stories written by first-year students in the autumn of 2002.
One morning they arrive at an apartment. It is very old. There are no mice. There is a cat, but they don't know it. The cat's name is Cathleen. She eats much and is very fat. She can't run very fast, but she likes to run after mice. They start to explore this apartment. First they go to the kitchen. There is nobody there. There is a lot of food. They are very hungry. They find some cheese and eat it. When they are full, they want to sleep. They look for the bedroom to take a nap. It is easy to find the bedroom. The room is dark. There are the clothes by the bed. The cushion on the clothes looks soft. They decide to sleep there. Though they don't notice it, this cushion is in fact Cathleen the cat.
Then Tom notices that the cushion they are sitting on isn't actually a cushion. It is a cat! But Cathleen hasn't noticed them yet. She is sleeping. They try to escape. Then Cathleen wakes up because Michael sneezes. What a fool he is! She notices them but they are on her shoulder. She can't catch them. Cathleen tries to catch them, and turns round and round. She loses consciousness. They somehow escape.
Then Michael notices he has lost his treasure, which is a small precious stone. He sees that Cathleen has picked it up. They decide to get it back. They go into the living room and carefully set a trap for weasels. Cathleen is caught in the trap, and they get their precious stone back. Cathleen is very angry and runs after them. They are nimble. Cathleen likes to run after mice, but she is so fat she cannot catch them. Tom and Michael can get away from Cathleen.
They decide that the house is too dangerous for them. They decide not to live there, and they escape to the park. They realize they will have to start to search again for a new house. There are many stars in the sky. They stay in the park into the night.
Day by day, the rumours got worse, and more and more people in the town disappeared. Many people were frightened. Some people moved out of town. I couldn't understand what was going on. Was this all really being caused by the mayor's smile? No, that couldn't be true.
One day, I got together with my friends, and we all went to meet the mayor. I was convinced if the mayor smiled at me, I would also vanish. We arrived at his house, and out came his wife. I said, "Hello, I want to meet the mayor". And she said slowly, "Sorry he is out now. I'm pretty sure he just went to visit your house". I was surprised at her words and rushed home in a hurry.
My family were all at home when I arrived. I asked my father if the mayor had visited and whether there was anything strange about him. He said he had, but there had been nothing odd at all. I felt relieved until one of my brothers said to me, "We looked at his smile! We will vanish!" I said slowly, "You should calm down. It is true you looked at his smile, but nothing has happened". He said, "You are forgetting the rumor! Everyone vanished at night!" "Hey, now it's already beginning to get dark".
Suddenly, I noticed I was alone. My family were gone. I tried calling my friends on the telephone, but there was no answer. I looked for people in the town, but found no one. I was alone. The town was deserted. My family, my friends, the police, everyone had vanished. I felt afraid. I ran around the town, but met nobody. I was the only person still alive. I ran as fast and as far as I could, away from the town, into the night.
The petrified pygmies were hiding in the basement of their home, wondering what they should do to drive out the grasshoppers. Then, William said, "I have an idea." The pygmies exchanged glances. He went on.
"Grasshoppers can jump and fly but we can't. It isn't going to be easy to drive them off our land. But we mustn't kill them!" A stir ran through the pygmies. "Why? Why shouldn't we kill them?" One of the pygmies asked.
William raised his voice. "If we kill the grasshoppers, more of them will come, and we will never be able to kill them all." The pygmies held their breath and stared at William. "I agree," one of the pygmies, murmured. Then, one after another, all the pygmies agreed with William.
One night the pygmies were asleep in their beds. It was very hot and dry in the forest that night. Only William realized the enemy was about to attack the pygmy village. A breath of air softly passed over him. He licked his lips. He ran fast shouting at the top of his voice, "Get up! The grasshoppers are coming!" All the pygmies jumped out of bed.
"Take your place! Quietly! Hurry! Calmly!"
Before long, big silhouettes appeared. William whispered to the other pygmies, 'Wait!' They all held their breath. The grasshoppers were approaching. 'Ready...' William said. The pygmies got their arrows ready. 'Go!' They launched their arrows into the sky over the grasshoppers' heads. But onto every arrow they had tied a spider's thread. It was very sticky indeed. Many of grasshoppers got caught up in it and couldn't move. 'What on earth is this?' They began to panic. Some of the other grasshoppers moved towards the pygmies. 'Now!' William made a signal with his arm, at which another group of pygmies appeared behind the grasshoppers. Caught by surprise they turned and began to run away, but soon found themselves trapped in the spider's web. 'Thank you, Mr. Spider!' William thanked the large spider that had kindly given him some of his web. Then with a horrible face William asked the grasshoppers what they wanted to do. They begged the pygmies' forgiveness and promised they would never attack them again, if William would just let them go.
So William cut the spider's web down from the trees and let the grasshoppers go free. That evening the pygmies decided to have a big party to celebrate William's great plan. They drank, ate and sang songs for hours and hours, laughing and dancing well into the night.
And as a bonus for any of you who have made it this far, here is another story of a rather more salacious nature . . .
The man looks across the table and smiles at the woman as she sinks her teeth into the banana split. She licks the ice cream from her lips and says in a husky voice, "I feel too sexy tonight." The man understands. He pays the bill and they leave the restaurant. As they get into the car, they feel the passion rising in them. In ten minutes they have reached the woman's apartment. She opens the front door and leads the man into her home. He takes off his jacket and sits down on the couch. "What kind of music do you like?" she asks as she holds out her hand to him in an invitation to dance. She dims the lights and gives him a drink. The moist taste of the dry martini tickles his tongue. The woman pushes her soft breasts against the man's firm muscular chest. His heart is beating fast and a thin stream of sweat slowly trickles down his spine. "Take it easy," the woman whispers in his ear, "We've got all night." The man is finding it hard to think straight; the woman is stroking his leg, and her hand is now on his knee, and now up his thigh. The scent of her perfume is intoxicating him. The man holds the woman close to him, feeling the silky soft skin of her shoulders and the roundness of her breasts against him. Her fingers are all over him. His breathing is rough and irregular. She is driving him wild! They move from the living room into the bedroom, where they lie down in each other's arms. A little while later . . . The woman is in the bathroom while the man looks for something to eat in the kitchen. There is no beer in the fridge so he nips down to the basement to see what he can find. "Bingo! A six-pack!" He opens a can as he walks back upstairs. The woman is sitting on the bed with the pillow propped up behind her, and the sheets covering her legs. She has obviously just got out of the shower as she is still wet, but she doesn't seem to care. She sits there, with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Her stockings and brassiere, her dress and the man's shirt all lie scattered across the floor. They are both naked except for the smiles on their faces. Suddenly there is a rattle at the door. "Quick! It's my husband!" The two of them scramble for their clothes. "If he finds you here, he'll kill us both! Quick, leave by the window. It's our only hope!" And with that, the man threw open the bedroom window and disappeared into the night.