Short Stories in English for Beginners

light up
. Laura starts shaking. The object is completely lit
up again. At last, something is happening! she thinks.
Suddenly, the shaking stops. The metal ball is still lit up. Is that it? Did it
work? Laura wonders. She soon gets her answer. 'Laura! Laura!' she hears.
‘Is that you?’ It’s Sophie and Raj. They can see her! She’s visible!
Laura’s friends run towards her. She still has the light in her hand. Uh-oh,
she thinks. She quickly lets the ball go. It moves slowly into the trees. Soon,
she can no longer see it.
‘Laura, where have you been?’ calls Raj. Laura turns around.
Next Sophie adds, ‘And what was that light? It was so bright! That’s how
we found you!’
Laura doesn’t know what to say. Telling the 
truth
would make things so
difficult. No one would believe her. An invisible woman? Really!
Suddenly Laura hears another voice in the crowd. It’s Craig! He runs
over to Laura. He hugs her tightly and 
kisses
her. Then he looks her in the
eyes and says, ‘Where were you? I was so worried!’
Laura is speechless. ‘I was in … In … I …’
More voices call out from the crowd. It’s her manager and several others
from the office. Laura can’t believe all the 
support
. So many people are
there to help her!
The people stand around Laura. They all start talking at once. ‘We were
so worried!’ repeats Craig.
‘Where did you go?’ says Raj.
‘You won’t believe what happened at the office!’ says Ms Smith.
Laura puts her arm up. ‘Please … Please … Give me a minute.’ The
crowd becomes quiet. Laura looks around. ‘First of all, allow me to say
thank you. Thank you so much for all your help. I really appreciate all your
support.’ Then she continues, ‘I’m sure you are wondering where I was.
Well, the truth is …’ Laura pauses. Should she really tell them the truth?
Would they believe her? Would they think she was crazy?

---

Laura begins again. ‘The truth is … I 
got lost
,’ she announces. ‘I was
talking on my mobile,’ Laura continues. ‘I didn’t look where I was going.
Suddenly, I couldn’t find my way back.’ She smiles and says, ‘Thanks
again and good night.’
Laura and Craig walk to her car. She is ready to go home. They walk past
Raj and Sophie.
‘But what about your car?’ Raj calls out. ‘It was gone! We saw it!’
‘And what about that light?’ asks Sophie. ‘What was that? And you
know, we saw something in the trees. It was a metal ball and …’
Laura keeps on walking. She might have to explain things later, but not
now. Her experience as an invisible woman was amazing! She learned that
she has kind friends, a good manager and a great husband. She also learned
something very important: it’s great to have a totally average life!