Fantastic Tales 10 - Short Story Lessons
This is Collection 10 of the Fantastic Tales series — a set of short story lessons with reading comprehension questions, vocabulary, and discussion activities.
Click the story title or thumbnail image to open the full lesson.
Elijah has always let work set the pace of his life — meetings, deadlines, and a morning routine built entirely around getting out the door on time. But when the government announces a nationwide three-day power cut, that routine collapses overnight. With no phone, no trains, and no way to reach the people who matter, Elijah is forced to slow down — and to notice what he’d been too busy to see.
This short story explores themes of technology, family, and the quiet cost of a busy life, blending an everyday premise with a gentle, reflective twist.
Level: B1–B2
Ray arrives at the hospital just minutes too late. His father has died, leaving Ray alone with the memories of the time they shared — football, mugs of tea, afternoons at the pub, and all the ordinary conversations that once seemed so unimportant. But as he sits beside his father for the last time, Ray begins to think about the words he never said when he had the chance.
This emotional short story explores themes of family, love, loss, and regret, and the different ways we show the people closest to us how much they mean.
Level: B1–B2
Martin has always found freedom in his daily bike rides through the hills — just him, his dog Tess, and countryside he thought he knew by heart. But when he follows an unfamiliar path deep into the woods, that sense of safety quickly unravels. Cut off from anything familiar, and unsettled by Tess’s strange behaviour and an eerie stillness in the trees, Martin is forced to confront something he can’t explain — and can’t escape.
This short story explores themes of nature, isolation, and the unknown, blending an everyday setting with a slow-building, unsettling twist.
Level: B1–B2
Thomas is nearly sixteen and tired of spending his nights alone in the cramped crow’s nest of The Good Hope. But when he notices what appears to be an enormous cloud moving across the ocean, his ordinary night watch takes a disturbing turn. As the mysterious shape draws closer, Thomas discovers that it is a ship—one that seems impossibly familiar.
This supernatural maritime story explores themes of isolation, fear, and the unknown, transforming a routine night at sea into a slow-building encounter with something that defies explanation.
Level: B1–B2
Jason has spent his life avoiding attention after years of being mocked for his weight. When an ordinary man’s online story persuades him to join a gym, he expects judgement from everyone he meets — especially two enormous gym regulars who seem to be watching his every move. But Simon and Leslie are not quite the people Jason imagines them to be.
This funny and uplifting short story explores themes of confidence, kindness, and prejudice, using exaggerated gym-bro language and a warm comic twist to challenge the way we judge people by appearances.
Genre: Comedy / Inspirational
Level: B1–B2