The Porch Light That Blinked at Nine
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Gwen's porch light blinks every night at nine o'clock, and she finds out her neighbor's holiday lights share the same basement timer.
Gwen lives in one half of a duplex house. Her neighbor Elias lives in the other half. Every night, Gwen's porch light blinks three times at nine o'clock. She thinks it is strange and wants to know why.
One evening, Gwen watches the porch light closely. At nine o'clock, it blinks again, right on time. She walks to Elias's side of the house. She knocks on his door.
"Hi, Elias. Can I ask you something strange?" she says. "Sure, what is it?" Elias says. "My porch light blinks every night at nine," Gwen says. "Do you know why?"
Elias thinks for a moment. "Actually, I think I know," he says. "Our two homes share one basement. The timer for both porches is down there."
"Last week, I plugged in my new holiday lights," Elias says. "I used the same timer by mistake. I'm sorry about that. I'm going to fix it right now."
They walk down to the basement together. Elias moves his holiday lights to a different outlet. He checks the timer twice before they go back upstairs.
That night, Gwen sits on her porch and waits. Nine o'clock comes, and the light stays steady. She smiles and goes back inside for dinner.
