Tag: stories for english learners

See the World: Part 8

See the World (An Easy English Story): Part 8

Neil sits down in the brown leather chair next to Dr. Chen’s desk. He can’t stop looking at the red-spiked germs spilling out of Dr. Chen’s mouth as she talks.

“Neil, you know that today’s patient has a very serious disease.”

“Yes, cancer,” Neil whispers.

Dr. Chen nods. “The lenses work well on diseases like HIV and Ebola, but they do not work well with cancer. But the patient doesn’t want to do chemotherapy, so the lenses could help him.” Dr. Chen leans closer to Neil. Neil leans back. “Neil, this is the first brain cancer surgery with the lenses. If the surgery fails, please remember: It’s not your fault.” Dr. Chen smiles and grabs Neil’s hand. Neil and Dr. Chen have been coworkers and friends for ten years, and she often grabs his hand when she knows he is nervous. Neil is nervous about the surgery, but he has a stronger feeling than nervousness. Disgust. A sick feeling in his stomach. A few of Dr. Chen’s cold cells are on her fingers from when she coughed. When she takes her hand away, Neil looks down at his hand. Neon green and red circles dance on his skin.

Neil quickly pulls his hand back. He wants to wash his hands, but he doesn’t want to be rude.

Dr. Chen continues talking about the cancer surgery, but Neil cannot think.

He feels frozen in his chair.

He tries not to look at his hand, but every time he does, he sees the green cells buried in the hair on his knuckles. He wonders if there are still cells on his face from Dr. Chen’s cough. More cells float around them as Dr. Chen talks.

I’m fine. It’s just a cold. I’m fine. It’s just a cold. Neil repeats these words in his head, but he doesn’t feel better.

“Neil?” Dr. Chen waves her hand in front of his face. “Are you ready for the surgery?”

Part 9>

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See the World: Part 6

See the World (An Easy English Story): Part 6

After the surgery, Neil picks up his daughter Leila from school. When he opens a box of macaroni and cheese for dinner, Leila shouts, “No!”

Neil jumps. “What happened?”

“Mama said I can’t have macaroni noodles,” Leila shouts and grabs the box.

“Mom just said that you need to eat healthier food.” Neil takes the box from Leila and dumps the noodles into the boiling water. “So I’ll cut up an apple or something, too.”

Leila stands on her toes and tries to look in the pot. Before her nose gets too close to the stove, Neil picks her up and lifts her above his head. “Super-Leila!” he sings and flies her around the room.

When the macaroni and cheese is ready, Leila and Neil sit down at Neil’s long oak dining table. Neil got to keep the table after the divorce, and Amanda got the TV. The table was more expensive, so two years ago Neil thought that it was better. But for two years, no one else sat at the table except Leila and Sam. Neil wishes he had the TV.

“Daddy.” Leila puts her spoon on her Mickey Mouse-shaped plate. “I heard Mama talking to Grandma yesterday. Mama said that you can’t spend Christmas with us because you… because… your work.”

Neil frowns. When Amanda was angry, she used to tell Neil, “You’re married to your work.” That’s probably it. “Leila,” Neil says. “Daddy is helping people. Sometimes doctors need to help people on Christmas.”

“Why?” Leila asks. Her usual question.

“Well, there are a lot of little bugs called germs. These bugs can make someone sick, but usually you can’t see them. Daddy has special contacts–like X-ray superhero glasses–to help him see the bugs. These might help me get rid of the bugs and make the people better.”

“Oh. Okay!” Leila picks up an apple slice and bites off half of it. Juice spills down from her cheek. “Daddy…”

Oh, great. Another question about Christmas. “Please don’t listen to what your mom says about my work, Leila. We can open presents the next day.”

“Daddy, in school we read a story today about a frog and a fox who were best friends, and they went to play in the park, but the fox fell in a pond, and the frog helped him, and…”

The corners of Neil’s mouth lift as Leila talks about her day at school. Five-year-olds are like a video game character. If something bad happens, they can restart. They feel sad about Christmas? Restart. They dropped their apple slice? Cry about it a little bit, and then restart. Add five character life points. Neil wishes Leila could be happy forever.

Part 7>

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See the World: Part 5

See the World (An Easy English Story): Part 5

Neil looks in the mirror and takes out the lenses. The lenses are smooth and light just like regular contact lenses, but if Neil looks closely he can see thin wires in the lenses. They look like a spider web. With the wires, Neil’s eyes can see cells and diseases. A year ago, a man called Alvin Muller found a special part of the brain. Scientists now call it Muller’s Area. Animals like dogs and bees use Muller’s Area to “smell” diseases. Humans have Muller’s Area in their brains too, but it is weaker than in animals’ brains. Alvin Muller created the lenses to send messages to Muller’s Area. Animals’ noses send messages to the brain when they “smell” disease. With the lenses, humans’ eyes can send messages to the brain when they “see” disease.

Before the lens, scientists from Hunan used genome editing. They helped many people with diseases in their DNA. Neil believes that genome editing is like fixing a car. When a person fixes a car, he does not destroy the car. Instead, he replaces the broken parts of it. For example, if the engine does not work, he takes out the engine and puts in a new one. In the same way, with genome editing, doctors can take out the diseased DNA and put in healthy DNA.

The scientists in Hunan were 99% successful. In every patient, genome editing destroyed most of the disease. But the scientists couldn’t find all of the disease inside the patients’ bodies. About 1% of the disease stayed in the body, and after a few months, the diseases became bad again. That’s why Dr. Alvin Muller created the lens. The lens helped doctors find 100% of every disease.

In a year, the lens was used for fourteen surgeries in different countries. All surgeries succeeded. Today’s surgery was the fifteenth, and it was Neil’s first surgery with the lens.

Part 6>

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The Cold: Part 5

The Cold (An Easy English Story): Part 5

My phone buzzes, and I wake up. It is 2:45 a.m. I don’t know the phone number, but I answer the call.

“Hello?”

“I need your help.” It is a man’s voice. He is whispering.

“Who is this?” I ask.

“I can’t tell you. April gave me your number. She doesn’t want to talk to any reporters. But I do.” He sounds scared.

I quickly get out of bed and turn on my desk lamp. I open my notebook and say, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“I saw an ice body.” He pauses. “And I saw where it came from.”

I begin writing down his story.

“Do you remember the news about the ice body behind the shopping mall?” he asks. I remember. It was a 30-year-old man. Trash collectors found him in the dumpster behind the mall. As usual, he was naked, and parts of his body were frozen. His hands and feet were purple, and his ears were black with frostbite. “I walk my dog on the street by the mall every morning. Four people came out of the back of the mall. They were carrying a large metal box. It looked heavy. They dumped the box into the dumpster and carried it back inside.” The man on the phone begins speaking quickly. “I didn’t know it was an ice body! I thought that the metal box was strange, but…”

“Did you see the faces of the four people?” I ask.

“No, I was too far away, and they were wearing face masks.” He pauses. “But when they went back into the mall, one of them opened the door. The back door of the mall is locked with a password. Those people know the password.”

“Did you see them leave the mall? Did they have a car?”

“No. They only went to the dumpster outside the mall, and then they went back inside.”

I have one more question. “Why doesn’t April want to talk to reporters about the ice bodies?”

“She thinks that news stations are killing people… so that the news stations can make more money.”

I roll my eyes. “What do you think about that idea?”

“Well,” he says. “It’s not crazy. The CEOs of WRN and NewsAmerica are both $50 million richer now.”

“Then why are you talking to me? The Observer is a local news station, but we’re still journalists.” I expect him to get angry. When people believe all news is fake, they believe that all journalists are liars.

“I think the CEOs are bad, but I don’t believe you’re bad. You saw an ice body, right? Maybe my story can help save people.”

I need to get to the mall.

There is still a lockdown. The mall is not closed, but the news says that people shouldn’t go out. I can’t drive, and Mom and Dad will definitely not take me to the mall.

I remember Ms. Sato’s words: “We are a news station. We report real news. We can’t write an article that says, ‘Maybe the ice bodies are real, but maybe they aren’t.'” She will not be happy with my online research. And the man’s story about the mall body isn’t enough for a full news story. I need to give Ms. Sato a good news story. Or a great one.

I text Priya and Carlos. Can one of you take me to the mall?

Carlos replies quickly. WTF? There’s a lockdown. Why do you want to go shopping?

I reply: It’s for a news story. I’ll explain later.

Priya replies a few minutes later: let’s go!!!!!

And then she sends another message: …but my dad probably won’t let me go…

And then another: but who cares! we’ll find a way.

Priya lives with her father. It’s different from my situation. I live at home because I don’t have enough money to move out. She lives at home because her father was paralyzed last year. He can’t move his legs, so Priya helps with housework.

We both want to move out.

Carlos sends another message. I don’t want to go inside the mall, but I can drive you, Ari. Unlike me and Priya, Carlos has a car and an apartment.

Thank you!!!!!! Is tonight okay? I still don’t know if my parents will let me go, but I make plans anyway.

Carlos will pick me up at 7 p.m., so I go downstairs to tell my parents, thinking of a reason to go. They are watching TV in the living room.

“So I need to go to the mall tonight for work,” I say strongly.

“Your boss wants you to go to the mall?” Dad asks.

“Yes,” I lie. Ms. Sato didn’t ask me to go, but I’m going for work. Close enough. “I know you’re worried. So I asked Carlos to go with me.” Mom likes Carlos. He likes to bake and brings a pie or pastries every time he visits.

“Well, if Carlos is going…” Mom says.

Dad frowns. He stands up and walks upstairs. “Do whatever you want.”

I didn’t get a “yes” from Mom or Dad, but I didn’t get a “no” either. I’m not going to argue.

Part 6>