The Books She Dropped on the Stairs
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Selin drops a stack of books on the office stairs, and a stranger's help turns into a new friendship.
Selin carries a tall stack of books down the office stairs. On the fourth step, the stack slips. Books fall in every direction.
"Oh no," she says, and kneels down to gather them.
A man on the stairs below stops and turns around. "Let me help," he says. He picks up three books and hands them back to her.
"Thank you," Selin says. "I always carry too many at once."
"I do the same with coffee cups," he says. "My name is Gabriel."
"Selin," she says. "I work on the third floor."
"I'm on the fifth," Gabriel says. "I never come down this way. But today I took the stairs instead."
They carry the books together to Selin's office door.
"Thanks again," she says. "You saved me a lot of time."
"Anytime," Gabriel says. He starts to walk back toward the stairs, then stops. "Maybe I'll start taking the stairs every day," he says.
The next week, Selin sees Gabriel on the stairs again. This time, he carries his own stack of papers. She smiles and holds the door open for him.
"Let's start a stair club," she jokes.
Gabriel laughs. "I'm in," he says, and they walk down together.
