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VERBILO ORIGINALS

Free English Short Stories from A1 to C2

Find a story that feels right. Read in English, explore Arabic word meanings, and check your understanding.

Three adults at a small Sunday lunch table: a young woman, her mother and an older man, with three plates, a blue serving dish and a paper bag of bread.
C129 minFree

Family Drama

The Third Plate

Clara prepares a familiar Sunday lunch for her mother. An unexpected companion and an afternoon film reveal how much of her mother's life she has been assuming rather than hearing.

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A boy and his mother sit beside a long painting of the sea, with a red sail and three birds, while his grandmother smiles from her chair. Two books hold the paper flat.
A18 minFree

Everyday life

The Long Picture

A boy paints a long sea picture for his grandmother's birthday. The paint, a small bag and a windy doorway make the journey across the street harder than he expects.

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At night beside a river, an alarm technician holds a torch near his van while an older woman in a blue coat offers him the key to a dark stone mill with a bell near its roof.
B226 minFree

Mystery

The Bell in the Empty Mill

An alarm technician hears three notes from a locked mill at nine. A boot print, a repaired wire and a blue sleeve lead him towards an answer that the woman holding the key does not want in his report.

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A girl offers a blue ball to a small white dog with brown ears on a red blanket beneath a kitchen table. Her mother holds a plate near the sink, and an empty basket stands by the door.
A17 minFree

Everyday life

The Dog Under the Table

A girl makes a soft bed for a new dog, but it carries the blanket under the kitchen table. A blue ball, a noisy pan and a basket that will not fit help her find a comfortable place for them both.

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Mara and an older opponent at a chessboard beside a rainy window, with a girl in a yellow jumper drawing in her notebook.
C125 minFree

Literary fiction

The Move She Remembered

After eighteen years away from the chessboard, Mara meets the opponent whose hurried departure once changed her life. A new game forces her to separate what she remembers from what she actually knows.

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Ada and a ranger watch a young penguin walk between cardboard panels toward a box with air holes beside a stopped blue bus. A fish shop with a blue door and red basket stands behind them.
A214 minFree

Adventure

The Penguin's Quiet Path

On her first morning helping in a fish shop, Ada finds a penguin beside a parked bus. She must find her voice, keep the bus still and help a ranger open a quiet route to the beach.

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A tired woman in a dripping grey coat faces the night receptionist at Bell House. A green stone rests on the wooden desk beside a warm lamp, with harbour lights beyond the window.
C235 minFree

Fantasy

The Sea at the Night Desk

On her last night at a coastal hotel, a receptionist meets the sea in a grey coat. The visitor wants a room where she cannot hear herself, and every attempted solution uncovers another unfinished promise.

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In a small alterations shop, a seamstress examines a pale green silk dress while an adult daughter in a cream shirt and black trousers stands beside her grey-haired mother.
B223 minFree

Family Drama

The Shape of Sunday

An urgent alteration brings a seamstress between a mother’s wedding dress and her adult daughter’s plans. Before Sunday, all three must decide what can change—and who gets to choose.

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Inside a badminton hall, a young player in a red shirt and his adult female partner in a yellow shirt stand on the same side of a net, leaving space between them. A white feathered shuttle hangs above the court, with opponents beyond the net.
B118 minFree

Sports fiction

The Space Beside Me

Rafi hopes to impress a badminton coach before tomorrow's team trial. His partner borrows his spare racket for an evening of doubles, but his strongest shots keep leaving her no room to play.

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Outside a glass-fronted civic enquiry centre in drizzle, the first waiting resident protects a folder with his hat and holds a blue number-one card. A bicycle courier and other residents wait behind him; the opening ribbon and a young organiser face the real queue.
C229 minFree

Literary fiction

A Place at the Front

Corin prepares the perfect opening for a civic enquiry centre. When residents arrive expecting decisions, his reassuring numbers and confident slogan become promises the clerks cannot fulfil. Writing an honest report proves less simple than admitting failure.

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A handmade paper giant in a blue coat receives a paper flower inside a market hall. Four adult shoes show beneath the coat, revealing its two performers.
B224 minFree

Adventure

The Giant at the Door

Nell brings a giant paper puppet to a summer fair, but it will not fit through the entrance. Getting it inside solves only the first problem: two missing bolts force her and her assistant to invent a different performance.

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A girl in a red helmet rides a yellow bicycle to a nearby red line on a park path. Her father walks beside her, with a distant gate behind them.
A17 minFree

Everyday life

The Yellow Bicycle

A girl's first bicycle ride ends on the grass when her father lets go without telling her. A nearby red line gives them a smaller goal and a new way to try together.

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Two adult sisters face opposite directions in a worn blue rowing boat on a quiet river. One rows with two oars. A small rectangular repair marks the hull; willow trees, an island and a two-chimney farmhouse sit beyond.
C128 minFree

Family Drama

The River Between Us

Two sisters deliver their mother's last rowing boat to its buyer. A failed shortcut interrupts the journey and exposes the different stories they have told themselves about leaving and staying.

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At sunset, Lila pulls a two-wheeled cart carrying a tied wooden chair up a grassy hill. A row of varied wooden chairs faces the golden sky above the village.
A214 minFree

Fantasy

The Chairs on the Hill

On her first evening in charge of the village hall, Lila finds that twenty-nine chairs have walked up a hill. Dinner starts at seven, and one chair cannot make the journey alone.

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Inside a small blue bus, a grey-coated older woman holds a blue work bag with a wooden brush handle. A teenage passenger counter sits across the aisle with her notebook and pencil.
B119 minFree

Mystery

The Passenger Who Came Back

A passenger boards the trial bus three times in one morning. Esme suspects that she is changing the survey results, but a closed shop and a blue bag lead to a different explanation.

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A female inspector holds a clipboard beside a sunlit kitchen wall bearing an independent male shadow with a hand against its chest. A portable lamp lights the passage and teal fabric rests on the counter.
C126 minFree

Fantasy

The Shadow Who Stayed

Nora must certify an apartment as vacant, but its former tenant’s shadow has refused to leave. A new tenant arrives, and a borrowed lamp reveals how difficult it is to offer someone a choice.

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A boy behind a red theatre curtain tilts a shoe box of dry beans beside a microphone. A queen in blue stands at a cardboard window on stage with a traveller holding a yellow scarf.
B118 minFree

Everyday life

The Storm in a Shoe Box

Eli prepares a perfect recording for a theatre play. But laughter, unexpected answers and a forgotten line change the performance. Behind the curtain, a shoe box waits under his table.

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Levels are approximate reading guides, not certified test results.