Práctica para el examen final #1: Spectreville

     Tradúzcase al español. Note: The parts in parentheses () are for clarification; parts in brackets [] are optional, for extra credit. Words marked with a footnote number are glossed at the end of this section.

     “I'm afraid we're were lost,” I told my son. It was eleven thirty at night and had been raining for several hours. We couldn't see very well, but we hadn't seen any sign which said “Spectreville”. Then the car died [and refused to restart¹]. I looked at my son and asked him to wait in the car, until I got back. I started out to find help. After I had walked a little more than a mile, the lights of an old house suddenly appeared in the darkness. I knocked² on the door very loudly, so that whoever might be inside could hear me despite the storm³. No one responded. It was important that I get help, and I believed that there would be a telephone inside, so I went in. I thought “If someone is home they will surely understand.” It was hot (inside) but I felt strange, as if a cold hand were touching my arm. If I hadn't been desperate⁴, I would have left immediately. Instead, I said to myself, “Calm down; don't be afraid. You found yourself in a worse situation a few years ago, and everything turned out fine. Don't worry.” Suddenly I realized that the house was exactly like the one in my dreams. I knew that in the dining room there would be a a picture of President Juarez on the wall, and a small black table with a red telephone on it; I hoped none of that would be there, but that's exactly what I saw. When I tried to use the phone I discovered that —like in my dream— someone was saying, “When he comes out the door, kill him.” I must have stayed there [paralyzed with fear], seven or eight minutes. Then I heard the [front] door open, and someone come in...

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¹ to start (a car engine) = arrancar
² to knock = llamar, tocar
³ the storm = la tempestad
⁴ desperate = desesperado, -a