Short Stories in English for Beginners

footprint the mark that a foot leaves on the ground
disappear if someone or something disappears, the person or thing goes
somewhere and cannot be seen or found
Comprehension Questions
Select one answer only for each question.
1) Sylvia and George are in ___.
a. London
b. the Lake District
c. Scotland
d. South-west England
2) Sylvia and George are making an excursion to a ___.
a. lake
b. beach
c. small town
d. city
3) While walking along a path, Sylvia and George come across a ___.
a. small town
b. city
c. store
d. house
4) When they see the boat on the lake they ___.
a. don’t go in it

---

b. sleep in it
c. decide it’s not safe to get in
d. row to the middle of the lake
5) While on the lake, Sylvia and George hear a sound in the ___.
a. boat
b. house
c. lake
d. woods

---

Chapter 2 – The Search
‘Did you see that, Sylvia?’ George said.
‘Yes!’ answered Sylvia. ‘What was it?’
‘I don’t know! But it was very big and very ugly!’
‘Yeah … like some kind of creature!’
George looked at Sylvia and said, ‘Let’s go after it!’.
‘Are you kidding?’ answered Sylvia. ‘
No way
!’
‘Come on! We’re here to explore! Let’s follow it!’
‘Oh, George! I don’t know about this …’
George and Sylvia left the old house. They followed the creature’s
footprints into the woods. They looked around. Finally, George said, ‘The
creature could be anywhere. We have to 
split up
.’
‘Split up?’ said Sylvia in surprise. ‘Are you 
crazy
, George? There’s a
strange creature out here. And we don’t know where it is!’
‘I know,’ George answered. ‘But we could take a picture of it. We might
be on the news.’
‘What?’
‘Come on, Sylvia,’ said George. ‘Maybe it’s a special animal! Maybe it
was never photographed before!’ He looked at Sylvia and continued, ‘They
might write an article about us! Maybe I’ll be interviewed for the TV news!
We could …’
‘Stop! You’re so crazy, George. I shouldn’t encourage you, but fine. Let’s
split up then.’
George went one way. Sylvia went the other. Sylvia saw no sign of the
creature. She thought more about it. In the end, she came to the simplest
conclusion. She and George 
imagined
 the creature. It was not real.
A few minutes later, Sylvia saw George in the woods. It was almost dark.
She told George about her conclusion. She told him the creature was not
real. George disagreed. He was certain it was real. They just needed to
prove it.

---

Suddenly, George saw a