Question

1 it was the summer of 2013, a southern june when cicadas would normally be buzzing and kids would be outside until dark, playing baseball and riding bikes around the cul - de - sac. but this year was different — it had been raining nonstop nearly every day, and jun’s childhood best friends, tasha and jenny, were now stuck at her house as torrents of rain drummed on the back porch and lightning lit up the sky. it was, quite literally, a dark and stormy night.
2 things were even worse than usual tonight, though. an oak tree had fallen on power lines down the street, shutting off electricity to the entire neighborhood, and, although no one had been injured, tasha and jenny were stranded at jun’s for the night.
3 jenny was holding a flashlight to her chin, casting her face in eerie shadows. “what,” she asked her friends in her lowest, most spooky voice, “shall we do tonight?”
4 the three of them had been reading ghost stories aloud from goosebumps for the past hour and now sat on pillows in jun’s pitch - black room, which just happened to be in the attic. suffice it to say, the girls were a bit more jumpy than usual.
5 “let’s play with the ouija board,” suggested tasha. “i want to see what luke and jonathan are up to.”
6 luke and jonathan were the so - called “ghosts” they sometimes communed with through the ouija board, a flat game board printed with the letters of the alphabet. when two or more people put their hands on a planchette, a heart - shaped piece of plastic with a hole in it, the planchette was supposed to move around the board mysteriously to reveal letters, spelling out messages from the spirit world. ouija could be fun sometimes, but everyone knew tasha was moving it.
7 “we did that last week,” complained jun, hugging her knees ever harder to her chest as another flash of lightning cracked outside the window.
8 “ok,” said jenny. “i have an idea — since we’ve read all of jun’s books already, why don’t we have a contest to make up our own ghost stories?”
9 tasha said “yes!” and clapped enthusiastically with her flashlight, while jun, barely visible in the darkness, just nodded her head apprehensively.
10 tasha and jenny decided that they should all split up, and the two girls immediately ventured out into the darkness around the third floor looking for inspiration for their stories. jun grumbled as she crept into the dark hallway — didn’t her friends know that the first rule of horror movies is to never split up? as she edged carefully toward the attic closet, the place where her parents kept their old records, books, and clothes, she heard an unusual sound.
11 “creeeeak, scrape,” said the sound loudly, almost like an old wooden door opening.
12 but jun’s house had been newly built, and after a year of living there, she knew every door and stair by heart — and
which detail best shows how the author reveals the theme that some mysteries remain unexplained?
○ tasha tricks her friends by dressing as a ghost and laughs when they scream in fear
○ tasha suggests writing scary stories, and the girls split up to explore the attic alone.
○ jun hears a strange creaking sound in the hallway and later finds a black feather.
○ jun refuses to play with the ouija board and avoids going near the attic closet.

Explanation:

To determine which detail best shows the theme that some mysteries remain unsolved, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: Tasha tricking friends is a prank, not an unsolved mystery.
• Option 2: Suggesting scary stories and splitting up is about story - making, not an unsolved mystery.
• Option 3: Jun hears a strange creaking sound and later finds a black feather. The source of the sound and the feather's origin are not explained, leaving a mystery.
• Option 4: Jun refusing to play with the Ouija board is about her fear, not an unsolved mystery.

Answer:

C. Jun hears a strange creaking sound in the hallway and later finds a black feather.