Name____________________________________                             Date_______________________
           
The Neighbor
Reading Comprehension Worksheet           

Directions:  Read the passage below carefully. When you have finished reading it completely, answer the questions that follow.

Story 1

One morning, a man and his two sons went fishing in the woods that stretched for miles beyond their own backyard. His wife watched from the kitchen window as they disappeared into the trees. Later that day, the wife began to become worried, for her family was not back and she hadn't heard word from them since they left. Dinner had been ready hours ago.

After another hour of waiting, she decided to go out and look for them. By now, it was almost completely dark. She ran through the woods calling out their names. She got no replies. It was some time before she came to a stream. There, lying in the banks of the stream were the bodies of her husband and oldest son, with a knife sticking in each of their chests. It was obvious that they had been murdered. But where was her younger son, a boy of only eleven?

After a long time of silent vigil, prayer, and mourning, she decided to head back home, for now she realized, the person who killed her two family members was still out there in the woods. Frightened out of her wits, she ran frantically through the woods until she reached her house. She went to her next door neighbor's house and told her what had happened, but swore her to secrecy because she didn't want anyone else finding out about this tragic event. To avoid the press, the next day, her neighbor helped her smuggle the bodies out of the stream and buried them both in the woods, right by the stream.

The woman was still in search of her younger son, however. She had searched the woods the entire morning and found no trace of him. Her hopes were that he had found shelter and would return home when he knew it was safe. She had been digging her husband and son's graves all day and was getting tired from the work. When she was finished digging, her neighbor offered to go back to the house and retrieve two blankets to wrap the bodies in. The new widow told her to get the one off of her bed. Her neighbor went inside.

Nearly three quarters of an hour passed by and the neighbor had still not returned. The woman decided to go back to see that she was okay. She went up the stairs and was horrified at the sight in her bedroom. She screamed, for there on her bed, near the open window, was the severed head of her youngest son, and a knife. Her neighbor was nowhere in sight. Story submitted by Allison Thomas

Story 2

One calm, cool, fall day, a father of three sons decides to take them for a hike in the HUGE woods behind their house. The mother, Paula, said that she would stay home and bake. After six hours of them not returning, she calls her neighbour, Lucy, to say that she was going for a walk and that she wanted the neighbor to watch her house. But nobody answered. So, she went looking in the woods, yelling their names. No replies. After half an hour, Paula had finally reached a small creek.

In the middle of the creek were the father, Gordon, and the son, Curtis, stabbed in the heart, bloody and bruised. But, where was the youngest son, Dustin? Paula, realizing the killer is probably still in the woods, runs to the closest exit and to her house. 

She went over to Lucy's and told her the story but to keep it secret. They agreed not to let it get out. The neighbor said she would help dig the graves and bury them. The next morning, the mother went straight to the woods. Lucy was on her way when she saw Dustin in the window, mouthing the words, "I know it was you!" Lucy just went down to the woods.

After digging for awhile, Lucy said she would go get blankets to wrap the bodies in. After two hours of waiting, Paula went up to her house to see what was wrong. Frightened, she called the police. What she saw was devastating! Her son's decapitated body at the window holding his head, mouthing the word, "wait!"

The police had come and told Paula to get out of the house because many calls the police had been getting were from around this area about family members being murdered except for the mother.

Three months after this had occurred, the police had captured Lucy to put her in jail. When she was being put in jail, she mouthed the words, "You would have been next!"

This story is true because Paula is my mom's friend and Dustin was my BF. R.I.P. Venturies, R.I.P. Story submitted by Scared of Neighbours

Questions:

1)   What is the tone of this selection?

2)   What is the setting of this passage?

3)   What seems to be the author's intent for writing this selection?

4)   What is the Main Idea of this passage?

5>   Compare these two stories.  How are they the same?  How are they different?

6>  Write another ending to the story that is different from the author's ending.

7>  What would your mother do if she were in the story?