Axe Murder Hollow

Susan and Ned were driving through a wooded empty section of highway. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, the sky went dark in the torrential downpour.

“We’d better stop,” said Susan.

Ned nodded his head in agreement. He stepped on the brake, and suddenly the car started to slide on the slick pavement. They plunged off the road and slid to a halt at the bottom of an incline.

Pale and shaking, Ned quickly turned to check if Susan was all right. When she nodded, Ned relaxed and looked through the rain soaked windows.

“I’m going to see how bad it is,” he told Susan, and when out into the storm. She saw his blurry figure in the headlight, walking around the front of the car. A moment later, he jumped in beside her, soaking wet.

“The car’s not badly damaged, but we’re wheel-deep in mud,” he said. “I’m going to have to go for help.”

Susan swallowed nervously. There would be no quick rescue here. He told her to turn off the headlights and lock the doors until he returned.

Axe Murder Hollow. Although Ned hadn’t said the name aloud, they both knew what he had been thinking when he told her to lock the car. This was the place where a man had once taken an axe and hacked his wife to death in a jealous rage over an alleged affair. Supposedly, the axe-wielding spirit of the husband continued to haunt this section of the road.

Outside the car, Susan heard a shriek, a loud thump, and a strange gurgling noise. But she couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

Frightened, she shrank down into her seat. She sat in silence for a while, and then she noticed another sound. Bump. Bump. Bump. It was a soft sound, like something being blown by the wind.

Suddenly, the car was illuminated by a bright light. An official sounding voice told her to get out of the car. Ned must have found a police officer. Susan unlocked the door and stepped out of the car. As her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she saw it.

Hanging by his feet from the tree next to the car was the dead body of Ned. His bloody throat had been cut so deeply that he was nearly decapitated. The wind swung his corpse back and forth so that it thumped against the tree. Bump. Bump. Bump.

Susan screamed and ran toward the voice and the light. As she drew close, she realized the light was not coming from a flashlight. Standing there was the glowing figure of a man with a smile on his face and a large, solid, and definitely real axe in his hands. She backed away from the glowing figure until she bumped into the car.

“Playing around when my back was turned,” the ghost whispered, stroking the sharp blade of the axe with his fingers. “You’ve been very naughty.”

The last thing she saw was the glint of the axe blade in the eerie, incandescent light.

Interview with Svetlana Tsymbal

Who are you?

My name is Svetlana Tsymbal. First of all – I’m a student of Tavrida Kerch University of Economics and Humanity. I study there 2 languages and I hope that my life will be closely connected with studying and use of German and English. I like to learn something new about English language; its history seems to me rater interesting. English takes away the main part of my life, but there are moments which are important for me not less: I’m artist and to become the professional in this sphere so important, as well as to become a good philologist.

 How did you learn English?

I began to study English at the age of 5. Unfortunately, I did not visit a kindergarten, and my parents joined me on preliminary courses. There I learnt what other language is. It was so fascinating to learn something absolutely new, unfamiliar. All that was delightful for me. I sang songs, read verses and small fairy tales with the great pleasure. Then my school started. I studied in class where English was the basic subject. Year after year I understood that I like to learn a foreign language, I loved country studying and rhetoric lessons. I understood that I want to continue studying English and entered this institute. The first years did not seem to me difficult, but then, certain difficulties with which I have coped came, and I constantly continue to work on my knowledge.

What has English given you?

It gives me certain freedom and this freedom consists in knowledge. If to compare my base preparation earlier and now – the result is obvious. I do not afraid of dialogue in a foreign language any more. Surely I have some difficulties, but their greater half I got over. I visit English-speaking sites with pleasure, I watch movies and I read books, magazines in English. Listening foreign track by radio I catch sense of a song, and it’s great! But I’m faced with learning and understanding so much more. So I have aspirations more than enough.

work-life balance

Work-life balance
It very difficult to find a work-balance, especially if you are a woman and you're a teacher! The most important thing in this case is the proper distribution of time. It should be clearly delineated what time to spend on work and everything connected with it and what time you should devote to the family. In my opinion the most important thing in life is family, so that’s why you should plan your time so that one was not at the expense of another. Coming to work you should “shut down” and completely immersed in the work. As they say keep mood and all the problems at home. But as soon as cross the threshold of the need to disconnect and leave the work and problems at work. If this does not work then the problem starts with the home, so the balance is not found. An important assistant to combine work and home is the internet, sitting at home you can do your work responsibilities and at the same time you can focus on family. I would like to give some prompts, how to get equality between work and life:
1) Think of your day as 24 hours. Decide how much time you are going to spend sleeping, eating, being with family, working, leisure and time for 'me'. This isn't always easy, but try just 10 minutes for yourself at first, and build up.
2) If you take work home, set times when you will deal with this and be strict about it. Don't get distracted and then allow the work to drag on all night/weekend. Make sure you have a 'stop time' so that you can relax.
3) Once you've built up on 10 minutes 'for me', try to spend 30 minutes
just doing nothing. If you can, let your mind drift.
4) Clear your desk every evening and be less hassled when you get in the next day.
5) Keep up to date with technological short cuts. Ask your IT department to advise.
6) Delegate more - be honest, is there anything you can pass to the school office, or the support assistants?
7) Ban sticky notes from your desk. You'll be distracted and react to them, rather than completing anything.
8) Refuse to argue over small things. It's a waste of time to bicker and causes more stress in the end.
9)Above all - strike a balance: work out when you have to give 100% and when just 70% will be OK.