Bite-Sized Literature: Take a Piece of One of These 18 Easy English Short Stories

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Dhritiman Ray November 15, 2017

Have you tried to run a marathon with no practice?

I hope not. You might pull a muscle.

You need to start small in order to achieve something big like that.

When it comes to learning English, what if I told you that you can understand big ideas with just a little bit of text?

You do not need to wait several years to deal with complex concepts.

Just because you are learning a language does not mean you need to limit your thinking.

Stories are all about going beyond reality. It is no wonder that they let you understand big concepts with only a little bit of reading practice.

But this works better when you’re reading better stories.

I am talking about award-winning short stories, told using language easily understood by beginners. These will not only improve your English reading
comprehension but also open your mind to different worlds.

Why Short Stories Are Best for English Learning

You get more time to focus on individual words. When a text is short, you can devote more time to learning how every single word is used and
what importance it has in the piece.

You can read a whole story in one sitting. Attention spans are very important for learning, and the ability to finish a story gives you more time to
digest it. Short stories are designed to give you maximum information with minimal effort.

It is best for consistency. It is far easier to read one story every day than trying to read a big novel that never seems to end.

You can share them easily in a group. Since short stories can be read in a single setting, they are ideal for book clubs and learning circles. Most
of the time these groups do not work because members have no time to read. Short stories are the perfect solution.

You can focus more on ideas and concepts. Language is less about words and more about the meaning behind them. If you spend all your time
learning vocabulary and grammar, you will never be able to fluently speak a language because you will have little to talk about. These short stories
give you the opportunity to understand big ideas in context.

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18 Easy English Short Stories with Big Ideas

1. “The Bogey Beast” by Flora Annie Steel

Reading Level: Very Easy

A woman finds a pot of treasure on the road while she is returning from work. Delighted with her luck, she decides to keep it. As she is taking it home, it
keeps changing. However, her enthusiasm refuses to fade away.

What Is Great About It: The old lady in this story is one of the most cheerful characters anyone can encounter in English fiction. Her positive disposition
(personality) tries to make every negative transformation seem like a gift, and she helps us look at luck as a matter of perspective rather than events.

2. “The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse” by Beatrix Potter

Reading Level: Very Easy

Timmie Willie is a country mouse who is accidentally transported to a city in a vegetable basket. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a party and makes
a friend. When he is unable to bear the city life, he returns to his home but invites his friend to the village. When his friend visits him, something similar
happens.

What Is Great About It: Humans have been living without cities or villages for most of history. That means that both village and city life are recent
inventions. And just like every other invention, we need to decide their costs and benefits.

The story is precisely about this debate. It is divided into short paragraphs and has illustrations for each scene. This is best for beginners who want to
start reading immediately.
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3. “The Night Train at Deoli” by Ruskin Bond
Reading Level: Easy

Ruskin Bond used to spend his summer at his grandmother’s house in Dehradun. While taking the train, he always had to pass through a small station
called Deoli. No one used to get down at the station and nothing happened there. Until one day he sees a girl selling fruit and he is unable to forget her.

What Is Great About It: Ruskin Bond is a writer who can communicate deep feelings in a simple way. This story is about our attachment to strangers and
why we cherish them even though we do not meet them ever again.

4. “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury

Reading Level: Easy

Earth has been destroyed by war and no one lives on it anymore. The robots and the machines continue to function and serve human beings who have
long ago died.

What Is Great About It: The title is taken from a poem that describes how nature will continue its work long after humanity is gone. But in this story, we
see that nature plays a supporting role and the machines are the ones who have taken its place.

They continue their work without any human or natural assistance. This shows how technology has replaced nature in our lives and how it can both
destroy us and carry on without humanity itself.

5. “Orientation” by Daniel Orozco

Reading Level: Easy

This is a humorous story where the speaker explains the office policies, as well as gossip about the staff, to a new employee. It is extremely easy to read
as the sentences are short and without any overly difficult words. Many working English learners will relate to it as it explains the absurdities of modern
office life and how so little of it makes sense.

What Is Great About It: Modern workplaces often feel like theaters where we pretend to work rather than get actual work done. The speaker exposes this
reality that nobody will ever admit to. He over-explains everything from the view out the office window to the intimate details of everyone’s life—from the
overweight loner to the secret serial killer.

It talks about the things that go unsaid; how people at the office know about the deep secrets of our home life, but do not talk about it. Instead, the secrets
become just blend into the office environment, like a potted plant that is seen but does not stand out.

The speaker accomplishes this by discussing the details of the tragic death of a coworker’s wife in the same unwavering, mundane (normal) tone as he
discusses the details of the copier and office refrigerator. This absurd balance manages to make the story both light and deep at the same time.

6. “Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu

Reading Level: Fairly Easy

Jack’s mother can make paper animals come to life. In the beginning, Jack loves them and spends hours with his mom. But as soon as he grows up he
stops talking to her since she is unable to converse in English.

When his mother tries to talk to him through her creations, he kills them and collects them in a box. After a tragic loss, he finally gets to know her story
through a hidden message which he should have read a long time ago.

What Is Great About It: The story is a simple narration that touches on complex issues. It is about leaving your own country with the promise of a better
life.

It is also about the conflicts that can occur between families when different cultures and languages collide. In this case, the tension is so high that it
destroys the bond between a mother and her son. It also has a moving message about never taking your loved ones for granted.

7. “The Missing Mail” by R.K. Narayan

Reading Level: Fairly Easy

Thanappa is the village mailman who is good friends with Ramanujam and his family. He gets to know about a failed marriage and helps Ramanujam’s
daughter get engaged with a suitable match. Just before the wedding, Thanappa receives a tragic letter about Ramanujam’s brother. He decides not to
deliver it.

What Is Great About It: Despite the best of intentions, our actions can cause more harm to our loved ones than we ever intended. The story is about the
complex play of relationships and feelings which are always present in our social circles, but we are often ignorant of it.

Note: You can find this story as part of a collection of stories by this author in PDF formathere.

8. “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr

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Reading Level: Fairly Easy

The year is 2081 and everyone has been made equal by force. To do this, every person who is superior in any way has been handicapped (something
that prevents a person’s full use of their abilities) by the government.

Intelligent people are distracted by disturbing noises. Good dancers have to wear weights so that they do not dance too well. Attractive people wear ugly
masks so they do not look better than anyone else. However, one day there is a rebellion and everything changes for a brief instant.

What Is Great About It: Technology is always supposed to make us better. But in this case, we see that it can be used to disable our talents. Moreover,
the writer shows us how the mindless use of a single value like equality can create more suffering for everyone.

9. “The School” by Donald Barthelme

Reading Level: Fairly Easy

A school teacher is narrating all the recent incidents that have happened on campus. First, they mention a garden where all the trees died. Pretty soon
deaths of all kinds begin to occur.

What Is Great About It: Most of the adults do not know how to deal with death, even though they want to teach children about it. It makes us realize how
inefficient our education systems are because they can not help us deal with life’s most basic issues.

Eventually, the students start to lose faith in everything, and the adults have to put on a show of love to make themselves less frightened. It shows the
inadequacy of adults to explain and comprehend death, and so they just pretend that they do. In this way, the cycle of misunderstanding and avoiding
life’s issues continues on.

10. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

Reading Level: Fairly Easy

A mother is telling her daughter how to live her life properly. The daughter does not seem to have any say in it.

What Is Great About It: This may not be technically a story since there is no plot. “Girl” talks about how girls are taught to live restricted lives since
childhood. The mother instructs her to do all the household chores, indicating that it is her sole purpose.

Sometimes the mother tells her to not attract attention, to not talk to boys and to always keep away from men. On the other hand, she hints that she will
have to be attractive to bakers and other suitable males in the society in order to live a good life.

This story is about these conflicting ideas that girls face when growing up.

11. “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling

Reading Level: Fairly Easy

“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is about a Mongoose who regularly visits a family in India. The family feeds him and lets him explore their house, but they worry that he
might bite their son, Teddy. One day a snake is about to attack him when the Mongoose kills it. Eventually, he becomes a part of the family forever.

What Is Great About It: This is a simple story about humans and animals living together as friends. It is old, but the language is fairly easy to understand.
It reminds us that animals can also experience feelings of love and, like humans, they will also protect the ones they love.

12. “Little Dorrit” by David Copperfield (Edited by Jesse L. Hurlbut)

Reading Level: Fairly Easy

Dorrit is a child whose father has been in prison ever since she could remember. Unable to pay their debts, the whole family is
forced to spend their days in a cell.

Dorrit thinks about the outside world and longs to see it. The story is about how they manage to get out and how Dorrit never
forgets the kindness of the people who helped her.

What Is Great About It: Injustice in law is often reserved for the poor. “Little Dorrit” shows clearly how it works in society. It is
about the government jailing people for not being able to return their loans, a historical practice the writer hated since his own
father was punished in a similar way. The story reveals how the rich cheat the poor and then put them into prisons instead of
facing punishment.

13. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London

Reading Level: Fairly Easy

A man travels to a freezing, isolated place called Yukon. He only has his dog with him for company. Throughout his journey, he ignores the advice other
people had given him and takes his life for granted. Finally, he realizes the real power of nature and how delicate (easily broken) human life actually is.

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What Is Great About It: The classic fight between life and death has always fascinated us. Nature is often seen as a powerful force which should be
feared and respected. The man in this story is careless and, despite having helpful information, makes the silly mistakes. He takes the power of natural
forces too lightly.

The animal is the one who is cautious and sensible in this dangerous situation. By the end, readers wonder who is really intelligent—the man who could
not deal with nature or the dog who could survive?

14. “Evil Robot Monkey” by Mary Robinette Kowal

Reading Level: Intermediate

Sly is a chimpanzee who is much smarter than other beings of his kind. He loves to play with clay on a potter’s wheel all day and likes to keep to himself.
But one day when the school kids bully him, he loses his temper and acts out in anger. Seeing this, the teacher punishes him and takes away his clay.

What Is Great About It: Sly is a character who does not fit into society. He is too smart for the other chimps, but humans do not accept him. He is
punished for acting out his natural emotions. But the way he handles his rage, in the end, makes him look more mature than most human beings.
Nominated for the Hugo award, many readers have connected with Sly since they can see similarities in their own lives.

15. “The Zero Meter Driving Team” by Jim Shepherd

Reading Level: Intermediate

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was one of the most deadly accidents in the twentieth century. This is a story about that event through the eyes of a father
and his sons. The family was unfortunate enough to be close to the disaster area and give a detailed account of the accident.

The story exposes the whole system of corruption that led to a massive explosion taking innocent lives and poisoning multiple generations.

The technical vocabulary (i.e., and foreign words make this text a little more difficult. However, the story is relatively easy to follow.

What Is Great About It: It is no secret that governments lie to their own people. But sometimes these lies can cost lives. Very often we accept this as
normal, but this tale opens our eyes to the cost of our indifference.

The story is divided into small parts that make it both easy and exciting to read. The various events are about life in general in what was then known as
the Soviet Union. And just like any other good story, it is also about human relationships and how they change due to historic events.

16. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

Reading Level: Intermediate

A man brings a magical monkey’s paw from India which grants three wishes to three people. When the White family buys it from him, they realize that
sometimes you do not want your wishes to come true.

What Is Great About It: Sometimes we wish for things, but we do not think about their consequences. In this story the characters immediately regret
when their wishes come true because either someone dies or something worse happens. The characters realize that they never thought about the ways
their wishes could destroy people and their lives.

17. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

Reading Level: Intermediate

Mrs. Mallard has heart troubles that could kill her. When her husband dies, the people who come to give her this news try to do so gently. When she is
finally informed, she bursts into tears. Eventually, she goes to her room and locks herself in.

However, while thinking about the future, she is excited by the idea of freedom that could come after her husband’s death. After an hour, the doorbell
rings and her husband is standing there alive and well. When she sees him, she has a heart attack and dies.

What Is Great About It: Marriages can be like prisons for women. The one in this tale definitely seems like a heavy burden. Despite her grief, Mrs.
Mallard is able to keep herself healthy with the hope of freedom from her husband.

But as soon as she realizes that she will have to go back to her old life, her body is unable to take it. The story explores the conflicting range of human
emotions of grief and hope in a short span, and the impact it can have on a person’s mind and body.

18. “A Tiny Feast” by Chris Adrian

Reading Level: Intermediate

The basic characters are taken from Shakespeare’s famous play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” However, in this story the plot and the concept are
entirely different. Titania and Oberon are the rulers of fairies who have been dealing with problems in their marriage. One day they find a human child and
decide to adopt him. They hope that this child will help them save their relationship.

However, the child develops a deadly disease and the fairies have no idea what to do since they have never known illness or death. This is a tragic tale
about how they try to understand something they have never seen before and their deep love for a stranger who is so unlike them.

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What Is Great About It: The story isable to explore human relationships through imaginary creatures. It explores the grief of parenthood and also the
uncertainty of knowing whether your child will ever even know you. It also beautifully captures the sense of the unknown and the helplessness which
every human being faces in front of it.

I hope you have fun with these stories while improving your English.

Happy reading!

Dhritiman Ray is a writer of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. He specializes in topics like education, psychology and lifestyle. To know more clickhere.

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