「故事·听力」I Thought I Was Smarter Than Burglars But Got Trapped

I Thought I Was Smarter Than Burglars But Got Trapped

Hello, guys. My name is Carla. I am 14 years old. And now I wanna tell you a detective story, which happened to me for real and... I am actually really lucky it ended up this way.

I was born in America, but my family comes from Mexico. My mom is a maid and she works in several houses on our street. I also have a part time job, I walk my neighbors' dogs, which is so cool! It's always been peaceful and quiet around here. Until that day...

It was an ordinary summer morning, a Tuesday, so I had to walk Kelly, a golden retriever who is my favorite! She is a very strong dog though, so I usually have to hold the dog leash with both hands so she doesn't get away. I was wearing a light dress that day with no pockets in it, so I thought that I'd just leave my phone at Kelly's owner's house and pick it back up afterward. Which turned out to be the wrong decision..

So, Kelly and I were walking along the street and were about to pass Mr. and Mrs. Ward's house. My mom was their maid, and I knew them pretty well. So I was well aware that they were supposed to be on vacation that week. But it didn't seem like they really were!

Their door wasn't shut properly, and their curtains were closed, though I definetely remembered they had not been shut the other day after they had already left. And the garage was open! So I got closer to see if their cars were there, but they weren't!  And then... boom! It sounded like a chair fell down? Now there was no doubt in my mind that somebody had broken into their house.

My hand tried to reach for my phone immediately, but oh no, not that! I remembered that I had left it resting on the coffee table near Kelly's bowl. That was a big mistake on my part!

What was I supposed to do now? I couldn't call the police and I couldn't let the thieves rob the house. Oh, and Kelly could bark at any moment. I didn't have a phone, but there had to be a phone inside. So I came up with a crazy idea!

I started humming a song and walked into the yard, dragging the dog by the leash. And I cried out: ""Mrs. Ward! Mr. Ward! Are you back? It's me!"" I tried to sound confident and relaxed, but inside I was scared to death. I opened the door and forced myself to walk into their entrance hall. There was nobody downstairs, but it was all messed up. Their cupboards were open, everything they owned was laying on the floor. The thieves must have been upstairs. I had to act quickly.  I had to make it to the kitchen, because their phone was supposed to be in there. I tied Kelly to the railing of the stairs and tip-toed, stepping over the piles of clothes and books. I still kept on pretending that I was looking for Mr. and Mrs. Ward so that the thieves didn't suspect too much trouble from me. They were deadly quiet up there, by the way. So quiet I think they could hear my heart beating. 

So, I snuck into the kitchen and ""Yes!"" There was a phone on the table. I grabbed it and pressed a button. Can you believe it? The line was dead! All this sneaking around was for nothing! I was having some pretty bad luck today! And I didn't have any time to work on a plan B.

Suddenly Kelly started barking. Somebody was trying to get down the stairs. I hid behind the door and held my breath. That was close, but nobody showed up. 

I rushed to the living room and started rifling through my neighbors' things. And all of a sudden I saw a mobile phone on the side table. Mr. Ward must have forgotten it. That was my chance! I decided to not call the police so that the thieves could not understand what I was saying and would just stay put. I found my mother's number on Mr. Ward's phone and called her. I asked her to call the police in Spanish and I thought that I'd made it! But the thieves were smarter than I had imagined. They got suspicious that something was up. I heard them talking and swearing and trying to smash the window upstairs. It sounded like there were more than three people up there. 

Things were getting pretty hairy. 

I'd done my job, so I was ready to book it out the door, but then I realized that the guys upstairs were thinking about doing the same thing. I heard them moving toward the stairs. I tried to do my best to untie Kelly's leash from the railing, but the knot was too strong. And then one of the criminals appeared. But I couldn't see him properly, because he was wearing a mask. It looked like we were in trouble. Kelly was barking fiercely and I saw the man start to come down the stairs toward us. Game over, Carla.

Suddenly the dog-leash snapped and Kelly rushed him and attacked! It literally seemed like that moment lasted for ages, but then I finally heard: "Freeze! Police!"