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. What is Tex doing in the barbershop?
a. Getting his hair and moustache cut
b. Getting his beard shaved off
c. Getting his hair shaved off
d. Getting his fingernails cut
12. Who asks Tex to stay?
a. The barbershop owner
b. The bar owner
c. The store owner
d. Tex’s girlfriend
13. Why did Tex leave the barbershop to go outside?
a. To get some fresh air
b. To look for his girlfriend
c. So the people could listen to him
d. So the barber could finish cutting his hair
14. What reason does Tex give for killing Curly?
a. He said Curly was cheating at cards

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b. He said he was defending himself from Curly
c. He said he was protecting Marty from Curly
d. He said Curly had shot the store owner
15. Who kills Daring Diablo?
a. Erkek Tex
b. Ayita
c. Marty
d. The people of Skull Tooth

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

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6. The Church
Chapter 1
The bus driver kept looking at Amber. He was staring at her using his rear-
view mirror. She noticed that he had been doing it for a while. It was really
starting to bother her.
Amber looked around at the empty seats on the bus. It was a large city bus.
She was the last passenger on it. The city was asleep. It was almost two o’clock
in the morning.
He keeps looking at me, Amber thought. I guess he thinks I’m very pretty.
But, he looks like a hairy caveman.
She tried to ignore him. She gazed out of her window into the darkness.
They passed by dark buildings. Every building had its lights off. And, there were
almost no other cars on the road…
Suddenly, she realized, I don’t know which road we are on! This is not the
street we should be on.
Alarmed, Amber turned her head and saw the bus driver. He was driving and
smiling at nothing.
What is this guy doing??
She got out of her seat, holding her small purse. The bus ride had been very
smooth, but when she started walking toward the front, one of the bus’s wheels
hit a hole in the road. Amber fell forward. She reached out her arm. She grabbed
a seat back and caught herself from falling.
The bus driver laughed.
He drove into that pothole on purpose!
“Sit down, little lady!” the driver said. He had to take deep breaths after each
sentence. He had some breathing problem. “We’re on a rocky road now!”
“Excuse me, but which road are we on?” she asked. “Are you lost?”

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“What do you mean? I never get lost!” He took a deep breath and laughed
with his mouth opened wide. He was missing several teeth. He scratched at his
beard and coughed. “I told you to sit down. It isn’t safe to stand up while the bus
is moving. We don’t want you to hurt your pretty head. It might mess up your
hairdo!”
Amber did not think the situation was funny. She had heard of things like
this happening. But, she was not scared, not yet. She held her purse tighter and
walked closer to the driver.
“Tell me where are you going? I do not recognize this road. This isn’t the
right way.”
“It’s right for me,” the driver said mysteriously. Instead of looking at her in
the mirror, he turned his head to stare at her. There were cookie crumbs in his
beard. His eyes were red and bloodshot. Even from her distance away from him,
Amber could smell him.
Did this guy take a shower this year? He really stinks!
Without warning, the bus driver reached out at her. Amber stepped
backward, and he laughed again.
“I’m just messing with you,” he said, breathing heavily. “Stop worrying, I
am a professional. I know what I am doing.”
Amber did not like this. She sat down and waited, wondering if she should
make a phone call. He is acting weird, she thought, but maybe he really is lost.
Sometimes, new drivers forget the roads. Maybe, he does not want to admit he is
lost. He does not know where we are, but he feels embarrassed.
The driver began to slow down. Amber peeked out of the window. She did
not see any street lights or stop signs. Why is he slowing down? Will he turn the
bus around?
“Almost there,” he said. He took a drink from a plastic bottle. Amber did not
think it was water inside the bottle.
The bus pulled into a large, unused parking lot. The lot was empty; there
were no other cars in it. There was grass growing from cracks in the lot. There
were broken glass bottles and pieces of litter everywhere. A stray dog was
walking around.

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The parking lot was dark; there were no street lights. The driver stopped and
removed his seat belt.
“Last stop,” he said. He took another drink and wiped his lips on his shirt
sleeve. “Time for all pretty girls to get off my bus.”
Amber stood up. He opened the bus door and pointed to it.
She shook her head. “This isn’t my stop. What do you think you are doing?”
“You will find out soon,” he said. “Get off the bus.”
She took out her phone, but there was no time. He moved toward her fast.
Amber pressed the call button, but it dialled the last person she’d called--her
sister!
“Hi, Sis,” said Amber’s sister, Aisha. “Do you know how late it is?”
The driver knocked the phone out of Amber’s hand.
“Help! I’m on a bus and the driver is crazy!”
The bus driver stomped on the phone with his boot. Amber could not get
past him. He was holding up both arms. She could not exit the bus now.
I should have got out when I had the chance, she decided. But, every bus has
an emergency exit!
She turned and ran to the back of the bus. The driver followed her. Amber
made it to the emergency back door and turned the door handle. She kicked back
at the driver, and he stopped for a second. He was out of breath. “Don’t run
away from me,” he said. “I’m not a fast runner.”
Opening the door, Amber jumped down. Her ankle twisted and she fell on
her knees. The driver took a slow step down. It was hard for him to move
around. He was in very bad physical condition, but he looked at her and smiled.
He was in no hurry now.

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Annex to Chapter 1
Summary
Amber is riding the city bus. It is late at night and she is the only passenger.
The driver keeps looking at her. She does not recognize the road he is on. Amber
asks what he is doing, and he begins to scare her. He stops the bus in an
abandoned car park, and she escapes from the back door.