✉ The Letter That Arrived Too Late
In the app, the story is read aloud and you can write or speak your answers — the site corrects your mistakes.
Listen to the story and answer the questions →When Daniel moved into his new flat, he found an envelope hidden behind the kitchen cupboard. It was addressed to a woman called Helen Marsh and had been posted in 1998, but it had clearly never been opened.
Daniel hesitated. Opening someone else's post felt wrong, yet he couldn't stop wondering what was inside. Eventually, he decided to track Helen down. After weeks of searching online, he found an elderly woman with that name living in a village not far from the city.
When he handed her the letter, Helen's hands were shaking. It was from her brother, who had emigrated to Canada decades earlier. In the letter, he apologised for their argument and asked whether she would visit him. Helen told Daniel that she had always believed her brother had never forgiven her. "Had the letter arrived on time," she said, "we wouldn't have lost twenty years."
Not only did Daniel return the letter, but he also helped Helen find her brother's family. Last spring, she finally flew to Toronto to meet her nephews for the first time.
Key words
Questions about the story
- Where did Daniel find the envelope?
- Who had written the letter?
- What had Helen always believed?
- What did Helen do last spring?