List of English Short Stories You Can Read
ENGLISH SHORT STORIES – Here is a compilation of some literature pieces that you can read and use as guide in making one.
Are you searching for a short story? There are short stories that have been used and shared countless times but there are those pieces that not many people have used. Below, you can check the samples of English short stories that you may have yet to read.
“Stranger to My Love”
The world isn’t really small but fate is playful. I knew that day would come when I’ll see you again. That familiar face of the lady seated in the corner of the room made my grip on the envelope I was holding tighten. You still looked so beautiful. Those red lips, the chinky eyes with black long eyelashes. The years that I haven’t seen you only proved that yours is really a timeless beauty. You had your head down on your phone and before I was able to come near to you, my name was called. “Who’s Tom Ferrer? You’re next,” the woman in mid 40s said. During the job interview, my mind was divided by the impressions that I have to make and that lingering thought of seeing your face on that hazy afternoon.
“Congratulations Mr. Ferrer, go back tomorrow for your first day at Asian Publishing Company,” the woman said. I was supposed to be very happy but I only managed to give her a smile and thank her. I went out of the room hoping you were still seated outside. My eyes moved from one end to the other end of the row of chairs arranged for the applicants but I did not saw you. “Destiny could have been kinder to me even just for this day,” I thought then.
“You looked so good on that blue polo shirt, goodluck on your first day!” I heard my only sister shouting by the window as I left that apartment. Her jolly personality never changed despite everything we’ve gone through. I headed straight to my new office. The President’s secretary was kind enough to accompany me to my table. Three other new applicants were already there. “It looks like there’s no boring time here,” I thought as I saw the piles of folders waiting for me. I was surprised. No. Not by the folders but by the woman whose table is next to mine. That very familiar face looked at me straightly and smiled.
“Oh! Hi Erika!” I exclaimed to cover up the goosebumps inside me. “Hello! You’re Tom right?” she quickly responded. I just nodded and moved my chair so I can finally sit and prevent myself from fainting. All throughout that day and the next days, my mind was always divided by the outputs that I had to check and the beautiful aura of the woman seating beside me.
Erika Cruz. My best friend. My first girlfriend. My love. I could never forget that midnight when I lost her. Then, I was a broken man who got eaten by the fact that my father whom I consider my standard and the person I was always proud of left us for another woman, for a classmate of mine in college. I was at the bottom that time and Erika’s the only who was there for me. It was no secret to most people attending that university that my dad went away with a college lady. The ideal image that I and my mother, who was a teacher in that institution, had set shattered in pieces. I was so ashamed of that reality and the thought of it was stabbing me. I lost my focus. Instead of attending classes, I got perfect attendance in gigs. Erika, my love, she was the one who would often skip her classes and fetch the drunkard me at the bar. Several times I drove her away. There were nights when she would arrive seeing me partying with other girls. “You’re boring, go away. You’re not supposed to be with a person like me,” I told her one night as I wasn’t thinking straight. I was right. She is not supposed to be with somebody like me.
My love drove me home keeping the tears from my sight. When we were in front of the house, she got off the car to assist me yet I didn’t agree with her. I pleaded for us to talk for a while. She sat on the front sit while I took the driver’s seat. I explained all the hurts I was carrying inside me, all the pain, the thought of revenge. Before my mind would explode, I inserted the key and drove to the North. The beautiful lady seating beside me did not say a word. She didn’t stop me though I didn’t care about my speed. All I cared during that time was to ease everything I was feeling. Little did I noticed that there was a parked truck on the dark lane we were taking. Before I even had the chance to step on the brake, we bumped right into the back part of the vehicle. Both of us were rushed into the hospital. She almost did not make it. Every stare of her parents almost killed me. My mother had to sell everything we had for my surgeries and to be able to help in her medication too. I was so selfish that I let my situation reached that point where her life was put at stake.
She went through brain surgeries and was comatose for more than a month. Her parents did not allow me to see her not until I made a vow to finally leave their daughter’s life the moment she would we wake up. I seized every moment with her. Though bruised and covered with bandages, she was still so beautiful. “This angel that never left my side no matter what, I’m sorry my love,” I would always say as I hold her hand.
One afternoon, as I was looking at her with tears dripping off my face, her finger moved and her eyes slowly opened. “I knew you would make it,” I told her as I was smiling while gently touching her left cheek. I was very happy then that I forgot to call the nurses right away. My heart was screaming for joy for a few minutes until her first line silenced me. My love asked me who I am.
Erika’s condition continued to progress as each day passed – but her memory got the exemption. Fulfilling my promise, I went away no matter how hard it was. I won’t do her any good. I can’t even fix my own mess. My family lost the comfortable life we had and I had to work for them. I held on to the belief that true love sometimes means setting the other person free for good. She’s not supposed to be with a person like me.
Losing Erika from my life changed me. It was very hard and every single day, I am fighting against the thought that I can still bring everything between us back together. I fixed my life and had my mind set on working for my mom and my sister. At least, the memory Erika lost and the happy life she left behind weren’t totally put to waste as it rebuilt the person she had truly loved. For more than five years, I have seen not even a shadow of her. My love’s genuine heart has been my constant inspiration in life.
Ericka, the person who was once my world, is seating beside me everyday for more than a year now. She knows just my name but not who we were. To her, I am just a friend who happened to be there when she woke up. Nothing connects us deeper now than being in the same office every sunset.
I guess, it is better this way.
Updating…