English Short Stories For Intermediate Learners: 8 Unconventional Short Stories to Grow Your Vocabulary and Learn English the Fun Way!

Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
11. The agent with no name is angry because:
a. Lily did not bring all the names he wanted
b. Lily hid at David’s house
c. Lily did not like him
d. Lily took her shoes off
12. The agent with no name was coughing because:
a. the office was dirty
b. he was sick
c. he was allergic to smoke
d. none of the above
13. The folder had a list of names. The list was:
a. missing fifty names
b. missing half of the names
c. missing only one name
d. not missing anything
14. Lily put a gun on the table because:

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a. she trusted the agent
b. she knew it was broken
c. she knew she would be faster to shot than the agent
d. she had taken the bullets out of it first
15. Why did Lily shoot the agent?
a. Because he was about to kill her
b. It was an accident
c. Because she was afraid of him
d. Because he was a spy for the Nazis

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Answers to Chapter 3
11. a
12. b
13. b
14. b
15. d

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3. A Terrible Town
Chapter 1
“You two can go on your big adventure,” Ari said. “But I am staying home!”
“No, you are not. You are coming with us!” Denza tried to pick her friend
up. Ari kicked her in the knee. She put him down.
Ari was eighty years old. He was not a human though. Ari was a Sliwoh
with long white hair. His fingers were long and wrinkly.
Ari was very young…for a Sliwoh. Compared to humans, he was a teenager.
“No, I’m staying home,” Ari repeated. “I will not change my mind. I do not
want go out. I don’t want to look for treasure, and I don’t want to fight anybody.
You can keep your adventure!”
Denza raised her hairy arms in the air. “I give up!” she said. She was also a
Sliwoh, but she was very loud and playful. Most Sliwohs were not.
The other friend was a Glowman. Glowmen loved fighting, they loved
adventure, and they really loved gold and treasure.
Their favourite thing in the world was treasure.
The Glowman’s name was Lummp. No one knew how old Lummp was.
Lummp liked to talk a lot, but no one understood him. He did not speak the
Sliwoh language, but he could write it.
Lummp carried a notebook. Sometimes, he would write things on paper.
He wrote a note to Ari.
“Ari,” the note said, “you can stay home.”
“Thank you,” Ari said. “See? Lummp agrees with me.”
“No, I don’t,” Lummp wrote. He pointed out the window. Far away was a
cloud of dust. There were horses coming. Ari could see humans on the horses.
Humans! One of the men was wearing a long yellow coat. He was wearing a
crown on his head.

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“We do not have to leave for adventure,” Denza said with a smile.
“Adventure is coming to us!”
*
Ari, Denza, and Lummp ran outside. Everyone in town was outside. Their
town was small. It was called Bird’s Field. It was very quiet. Most of the people
who lived in Bird’s Field were Sliwohs, but there were a few Glowmen and a
few other types of persons.
All of them were standing in front of their homes. They were looking at the
humans on horses.
Visitors were rare. They never saw strangers, and these strangers were
dressed very odd.
The horses slowed down. The first horse was a large black mare. Its rider
was the tall man in the yellow coat. There was a crown on his head. He looked
like a tired king.
He touched his horse’s neck and the horse stood still. The rider climbed
down. He looked like the leader of the other men.
“Does anyone here know who I am?” he asked in English. The other horse
riders stayed on their horses. There were eight in total, including the leader.
“Why don’t you just tell us?” asked a small Sliwoh. It was Pidor, the baker.
Pidor, like most Sliwohs, remembered the old English language. “We don’t like
mysteries here, human!”
Denza walked forward. “Are you a king from the East?” she asked.
“Why do you think I’m a king?”
She pointed to his crown.
The tall man in yellow took the crown off his head. “Perhaps I stole this,” he
said. He had a long red beard and bright blue eyes.
Lummp was impressed with the crown. It was made of gold. It must be
heavy…and worth a lot of money.
“If you stole it,” said Pidor, “then go give it back. We don’t like thieves
here.”
“What do you like?” the man asked. “Do you like anything?”

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“We like to be left alone.” Pidor crossed his arms. One of the other riders
came closer to him. The leader waved his hand.
“No,” the leader said. “Give the old Sliwoh what he wants. Leave him
alone.” He looked again at Denza. “You are almost correct. I was a king. I am
not a king anymore.” He dropped the crown on the ground.
Lummp wrote a note. He showed the note to Denza.
The note said, “Ask him if I can have that crown now.”
Denza shook her head. She ignored Lummp.
“What happened?” she asked the former king. “And why did you come to
Bird’s Field?”
The other riders stopped their horses. They all got down. They stood next to
their king.
“These men,” he said, “are the last of the humans. There was a great war in
the East. Everyone was killed. I am not a king anymore…because there is no one
left to rule.”
“Then why have you come here?” Pidor asked. His wife stood behind him,
hiding their daughters.
“Do not fear for your girls,” said the leader, scratching his red beard. “My
name is Yardum. I am taking these seven men to the sea town of Spring Field,
but we are lost.”
“My name is Denza. You need a guide,” Denza said, stepping forward.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,” Yardum said. “I have no money, but I have
this gold crown. I will give it to anyone who helps us.”
Ari had a question. “Why must you go to Spring Field? What is there for
you?”
“There is a rumour that my friends went there. Perhaps we are not the last
humans. I need to find out, so we are on a quest!”
Lummp wrote a note to Denza. He wanted to go because he wanted the
crown. Denza nodded; she also wished to go on the journey. “We’ll help you,”
she said.
Ari looked alarmed. He could not allow Denza to go with these strangers. He

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whispered to her in Sliwohish, but she shook her head. “I’m going,” she told
him. “Come with us!”
Yardum and his men awaited Ari’s answer.
“I just want to stay home,” Ari said. “But I will go too.”
I will go to protect you, Denza, he thought.
One of the riders who had a scar on his forehead bent and picked up the
crown. He wiped off the dirt and put it in a saddlebag, then he got back on his
horse.
“It is settled then,” Yardum said. “You,” he pointed to Lummp, “ride with
Sadida, the one with the scar. He will keep the crown for now. “You,” he
pointed to Ari, “ride with fat Ekin back there. And Denza, you can ride with
me.”

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Annex to Chapter 1
Summary
Ari is a young Sliwoh. He does not like adventure, but his friends, Denza
and Lummp, do. Denza is also a Sliwoh, Lummp is a Glowman. They see
humans coming to their town, so they go out to meet them. The humans came
from the East, they are looking for a sea town to search for other humans. Ari,
Denza, and Lummp agree to go with them.