The Cool Breeze in the Cellar
When a wall collapses in the cellar of Grandpa's stone house, a cool breeze drifts up from the darkness, and carved steps lead down below. Mr. Hank wants to seal up the hole, but Grandpa Ray can't make up his mind. Without ever going down, Nell must follow the trail of the air and the village's old memories to discover where the steps lead. You choose: Will you look for proof first, or tell someone right away?
Free story — no account needed to read it.
15 Minutes
4 Endings
9-10
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About This Story
“The Cool Breeze in the Cellar” is an interactive adventure story for children aged 9-10, about 15 minutes long. The reader decides how it goes at 5 choice points, and there are 4 different endings. It is free to read on Kitapz, with no account needed.
- Age range
- 9-10 years
- Reading time
- about 15 minutes
- Genre
- Adventure
- Format
- Interactive · 5 choice points · 4 endings
- Language
- English, Turkish
- Access
- Free, no account needed
- Characters
- Nell, Grandpa Ray, Mr. Hank, Granny Hattie, Ms. Sally, Mayor Ken, Ben the Tea Man, The Village Kids
- Values
- Curiosity, Responsibility, Empathy
- Collections
- Adventure stories, Stories for ages 9-10
- Reading support
- dyslexia-friendly font, bionic reading, color-blindness filters
An Excerpt from the Story
Nell had been carrying little stones from one end of the courtyard to the other all morning. She had come for the summer holidays to Grandpa Ray's hundred-year-old stone house, and the whole place was being fixed up from top to bottom. Every time she looked at the pile of roof tiles in the corner, she wondered the same thing: when would these tiles go up on the roof?
Nell:
“Mr. Hank, when are we going to lay the tiles?”
Mr. Hank, the stonemason, didn't look up from shoveling sand.
Mr. Hank:
“All in good time, sweetheart. First comes the back wall of the cellar. It's cracked, and it holds up the front wall of the house. Until it's solid, I can't put those heavy tiles up top.”
Grandpa Ray:
“If it's done before the September rains, I won't ask for anything more.”
Mr. Hank:
“It'll be done. Next week I've promised to work in another village, and they're waiting for me too.”
Nell put her stone down. First the cellar wall, then the roof. Now she understood why Mr. Hank worked without ever sitting down.
“The Cool Breeze in the Cellar” · Ages 9-10 · kitapz.com
school For Parents and Teachers
In this story, children join Nell as she investigates carved steps found during repairs to her grandpa's stone house in Cappadocia: she tracks the air with a strip of cloth, draws what she sees and listens to village elders. The story also takes seriously the duty to report an old site and a builder's worry about his delayed job.
What will children learn from this story?
- Learns to observe which way air is moving with a strip of cloth, and to turn that observation into a new question.
- Thinks about how clues such as steps worn into a dip can show how a place was used long ago.
- Learns that an old site or object that is found should be reported to the village head or a museum.
- Notices that one decision can affect her own curiosity, a builder's work and a heritage that belongs to everyone.
Curriculum links: Social studies, Science, Life skills
Fact Box
Why does cool air blow out of an underground space in summer?
Underground, the temperature stays close to the average yearly temperature at the surface, so caves and cellars feel cool in summer. When a cave has openings at different heights, the temperature difference makes the air move: in winter, cold air enters the lower openings and pushes warmer air out of the higher ones, and in summer the flow reverses. This is called the chimney effect.
Why could people carve so many homes into the rock in Cappadocia?
Cappadocia's rock formed from thick volcanic deposits left by ancient eruptions of Mount Erciyes, Mount Hasan and Göllüdağ. The rock is soft, so people carved houses, churches and monasteries out of it, and the region also has several underground cities, such as Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı.
Source: Wikipedia
How was the Derinkuyu underground city found?
The underground city at Derinkuyu, in Turkey's Nevşehir Province, was rediscovered in 1963 when a local resident renovating his home knocked through a basement wall and found a hidden room. The city reaches about 85 m (280 ft) deep and was large enough to shelter as many as 20,000 people together with their livestock.
Source: Wikipedia
What does Turkish law say people must do if they find an old site or object?
Under Turkey's Law No. 2863 on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Property, anyone who finds a cultural asset, or learns that one is on their land, must report it within three days to the nearest museum directorate, to the village head in a village, or to the local civil authorities elsewhere. The village head then passes it on to the nearest civil authority the same day.
Reading Comprehension Questions (5W1H)
The questions cover the opening that every reader sees, whatever they choose. Tap a question to see the answer.
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Who? Who used to tell Grandpa Ray a tale called “the house below”?
Answer: His mother told it to him when he was little, and he always thought it was made up.
-
What? What is behind the cracked cellar wall once Mr. Hank takes it apart?
Answer: A dark opening carved into the rock, with stone steps leading down from it.
-
Where? Where is Nell spending her summer holidays?
Answer: At Grandpa Ray's hundred-year-old stone house, which is being fixed up from top to bottom.
-
When? According to Grandpa Ray, how soon must someone who finds an old place like this report it?
Answer: Within three days, to the mayor or the museum.
-
Why? Why can't Mr. Hank put the tiles on the roof yet?
Answer: The cracked back wall of the cellar holds up the front wall of the house, and it has to be solid before the heavy tiles go up.
-
How? How does Nell find out which way the air is moving?
Answer: She holds a strip of Grandpa Ray's old muslin cloth up to the opening and sees it flutter outward, toward the cellar.
Questions to Talk About After Reading
- At the first choice, did you have Nell find out where the air comes from first, or go and tell the mayor right away? Why did you pick that path?
- Mr. Hank has also promised to work in another village, and if this job drags on he can't keep his word. Have you ever had two promises or two jobs clash at the same time? How did it feel, and what did you do?
- If you found something very old, who would you tell first? Why is looking after places like this everyone's job, not only the finder's?
- Grandpa Ray always thought “the house below” was just a made-up tale. Is there an old story in your family, told by older relatives, that might have a true part in it?
Word List
- cellar
- A room under a house, below the level of the ground, that usually stays cool.
- stonemason
- A builder who cuts stone and builds walls with it, like Mr. Hank.
- sledgehammer
- A very heavy hammer with a long handle, used for breaking stone or knocking down walls.
- muslin
- A thin, light cotton cloth; Nell uses a strip of it to see which way the air is moving.
- mortar
- A paste made of sand, lime or cement and water that builders use to stick stones or bricks together.
- millstone
- A big, round, flat stone with a hole in the middle, used for grinding grain into flour.
Activity Idea
Hold a thin strip of paper or cloth up to the gap of a door or window at home and see which way the air moves; like Nell, write down the time, the place and which way the strip turned, and draw it in a notebook. Compare what happens with the window open and closed, or in the morning and the evening, and talk about the difference.
Completion Rewards
What you'll earn when you finish this story: