The Trophy That Walked
A free B2-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
When the chess club's trophy disappears days before a tournament, Chidi ignores the rumors and finds a far more ordinary explanation.
Three days before the regional chess tournament, the club's engraved trophy vanished from its shelf in the school library. Chidi had polished it himself every Friday for two years. He noticed immediately that the space where it usually stood was empty. Only a faint clean rectangle in the dust showed it had ever been there.
The chess club's group chat exploded with theories within the hour. Someone suggested the rival school down the road, whose team had lost the trophy to them last year. Someone else was convinced it was a prank by the seniors, who had been talking all week about "one last mission" before graduation.
Chidi wasn't so sure. If it really had been stolen, he reasoned, whoever took it would have needed to get past the librarian and the front office. They would also have had to avoid a security camera, all without being noticed. That seemed unlikely for a joke that would probably be forgotten within a week.
He decided to check with the school office instead of chasing rumours. It was there that the mystery unravelled in less than a minute. The trophy, it turned out, had been temporarily moved to the display case near the main entrance, along with several other awards. The principal wanted photographs of the school's achievements for the new website. A request had been sent to "student clubs" the week before, asking permission. It had gone to an email address the chess club had stopped checking months ago.
Mr. Doyle, the school's caretaker, had simply been following instructions. He unlocked the library shelf and carried the trophy across the building himself, assuming someone from the club already knew.
Chidi felt almost disappointed at how ordinary the answer was, after a full day of imagining rival spies and midnight raids. Still, he had to admit the trophy looked rather good sitting in the entrance case, catching the light from the front doors. He suggested to the rest of the club that maybe it could stay there until after the tournament. Then, he said, it could come home with a second trophy beside it.
