Short Stories in English for Beginners

stout round and heavy, usually overweight
shout to say something very loudly or to make a loud noise with your voice
ignore to not pay attention to someone or something
demand to ask for something in a forceful way that shows you do not
expect to be refused
old-fashioned not modern or fashionable
suspiciously with a feeling that you cannot trust or believe someone or
something
accent the way people from a particular area pronounce words
Comprehension Questions
Select one answer only for each question.
1) Carl works as a ___.
a. watchmaker
b. beach cleaner
c. pirate
d. guard
2) At the end of the day, Carl likes to ___.
a. walk around the streets of Penzance
b. walk around his workshop

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c. walk along the beach
d. study watches
3) Susan is Carl’s ___.
a. girlfriend
b. wife
c. daughter
d. friend
4) The legend says that the watch ___.
a. was lost long ago
b. can tell the time
c. has strange powers
d. belongs to a famous watchmaker
5) The watch goes missing from Carl’s workshop because ___.
a. Susan steals it
b. an unknown man takes it
c. Susan and Carl lose it
d. Carl forgets where he has put it

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Chapter 2 – The Caribbean
Carl and Susan looked at the strange man in front of them. Finally, Carl
managed to speak. ‘The seventeenth century? Go back? You mean …
You’re really Eric el Kraken?’ he asked. The man said nothing. He was
attempting to use the watch.
Carl moved closer. The man looked like an old pirate. He wore old black
clothes. Clothes like a pirate from the Caribbean. A pirate, like those
characters in legends and books. ‘Can it be true?’ asked Carl.
Finally, the man looked at him and answered, ‘Yes, that’s me.’
Now Carl understood. The watch really did have strange powers. ‘So the
legend is true!’ he said.
‘What legend?’ asked Eric.
‘The legend about your watch.’
Eric looked at Carl and Susan. ‘How do you know about my watch?’ he
said.
Susan answered, ‘It’s written as a legend in our book.’
‘In a book, you say?’ Eric said with a smile. ‘Ha! So I am famous!
Good.’
‘No … Not you exactly. Just your watch.’
Eric walked across the beach. He was thinking. He looked at his watch
and said, ‘The watch is mine. But I didn’t buy it. I found it. I took it from
another pirate.’
‘Another pirate?’ said Carl.
‘Yes, … a dead pirate!’ Eric laughed. Then he became serious. ‘I don’t
know who he was. No one does. But I got this. It is mine!’ He started
playing with the watch again.
Carl watched Eric. He was attempting to use the watch. But it wasn’t
working. Then Carl realized something. Eric el Kraken had only found the
watch. He didn’t know how it worked. Eric didn’t know why the watch had
such strange powers either.

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Carl looked at the pirate and said, ‘Eric, do you know how the watch
works?’
‘Of course I do,’ Eric shouted. Then he looked at Carl again. ‘All right,’
he said. ‘I don’t know how it works. I think there are different 
factors
involved. Sometimes, I hold it in my hand and it takes me forward in time.
Like it did here. Then, exactly seven hours later, I hold it in my hand again
and I return to my time. I don’t know what factors start and stop it.’ Eric
paused.
‘But why do you do it?’
‘I like to see how things have changed. There are no more pirates. There
are just tall buildings everywhere. And did you know there are now flying
machines? Unbelievable!’
Carl and Susan smiled. It seemed a little crazy. Eric didn’t know much
about the current world.
Eric looked at the watch again. Then he turned away and shouted, ‘Now
leave me alone! It’s almost time. Six hours and 58 minutes! Soon, I can
return to my time and place. And I can’t be late!’
Carl and Susan looked at each other. ‘What do you think, Susan?’ asked
Carl quietly.
‘What are you asking?’
‘Do you want to go to the seventeenth-century Caribbean?’
Susan thought.
‘Come on! It will be fun!’ said Carl.
‘Don’t pressure me!’ Susan thought a moment more. Finally she said,
‘OK. Let’s go!’
Carl and Susan approached Eric el Kraken and said, ‘We want to go with
you.’
‘No,’ said Eric.
‘What do you mean “No”?’ demanded Carl.
‘I mean…. no,’ said Eric. He simply looked at Carl.
‘But we want to see how things have changed, too. We know the modern
world. We want to see how things were. Like you want to see how things

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will be.’
Suddenly, Eric got a strange look in his eyes. It was like he had an idea.
‘Oh wait. You know the modern world …,’ He paused. ‘OK. You come
with me. I may have a task for you. OK?’
‘OK!’ replied Carl. ‘So, do we all just touch the watch?’
‘Yes. Just put your hands on the watch. Get in position!