The Stuck Elevator
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 5 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Celia gets stuck in the elevator with a neighbor she never talks to, and a bag of grapes starts a conversation.
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Celia took the elevator home every evening at six. Today she carried her shopping. She also had a small bag of grapes.
Between the fourth and fifth floors, the elevator shook and stopped. The lights stayed on, but the doors did not open. A man stood in the corner. He lived on her floor. She saw him every day, but they only said "hello."
He pressed the red button. A voice said, "Please wait. Help will come in twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes!" Celia said. She sat down on the floor. After a while, she opened her bag of grapes. "Do you want some? I'm Celia."
"Thank you. I'm Omar," the man said. He sat down and took a grape.
They ate and looked at the ceiling. Then Omar asked, "Where did you grow up?"
"In a small town with a clock in the square," Celia said.
Omar looked at her. "The clock that never shows the right time?"
"Yes! How do you know that?"
"My school was next to it," he said.
Celia laughed so hard that a grape fell on the floor. "My school was across the street!"
They talked about the baker and the river. They talked about the late bus. Time went fast.
Suddenly the elevator moved, and the doors opened on their floor. Omar stood up and picked up her bag. Celia held out the last grape, and he took it.
