Author: Ariel Goodbody
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One-Eyed, Two-Eyed, Three-Eyed (Beginner)
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Genre: Children’sSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Asleep, Awake, Dig a hole, Fringe, Goat, Hoof, Horn, Marry, Pick (fruit), Skin, Work hardWord Count: 2083Original Author: Fairy TalesSuddenly, the goat started changing. It grew long and square, and became a big white table. And on the table were all kinds of food: bread, cheeses, jams, pickles, tomatoes, olives, and so on. The girl was hungry from the work, so she ate lots and lots of food, and when she was done, she…
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Have You Seen This Woman?
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Genre: Science FictionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Christian society, Doughnut, Drunk, Embarrassed, Hungover, I wish I had…, Lecture, Poetry, SurprisedWord Count: 1345Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyShe was singing. She was drunk, I think, the way she sang. Maybe she had drunk a big glass of vodka. But her singing was good. She sounded sad, but the music was good. We were all so surprised to see her there.
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Sleeping Beauty (Advanced)
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Genre: Children’sSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Beloved, Cloak, Compassion, Compliment, Crack, Curse, Dye, Gladiator, Seafoam, Throne, Under a spellWord Count: 2354Original Author: Fairy TalesDella stopped suddenly. The fairy’s face changed, filling with anger. She jumped towards the wings, and her spell was broken. The guards ran forward, grabbing her thin arms and easily holding her back. ‘If she will not give me my wings, then let her suffer like me! If I cannot fly, then she must sleep.…
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It’s a Small World
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Genre: Science FictionSetting: FutureNew Vocabulary: Apocalypse, Beehive, Cure, Gut instinct, Nuclear weapon, Seed, Shrink, Squirrel, Sting, ThroneWord Count: 1811Original Author: Ariel Goodbody‘You know, for an apocalypse, we live quite well.’ The soldier was eating seeds with honey. Normally, the food would have been very small, but he was small, too. So each seed was the size of his head. They were sitting in a small house made of dried grass. ‘You know I hate that word,’…
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The Shadow Club #12: The Elephant in the Room
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Assume, Distract, Elephant in the room, Jealous, Knight, Pretend, Seagull, Shake your head, Step down, SwoopWord Count: 2178Original Author: Ariel Goodbody‘No!’ said Max, shaking his head. ‘You don’t understand. I want to do this. Not just because I’ll have more time for Heroes of Forever. If you’re all busy at the academy, one of us has to deal with the sh—I mean, one of us has to stay and run The Shadow Club.’
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Strange Friends (Intermediate)
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Genre: Children’sSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: ‘Good things come in threes’, Altar, Anticipation, Christening, Deter, Evoke memories, Fantasise, From top to bottom, Gravely, Spare (Give)Word Count: 1384Original Author: Fairy TalesBut as the weeks passed, she thought more and more about the fat, and her thoughts began to turn selfish. She fantasised about going and eating the fat. It would taste so good! So the cat came up with a plan. She came to the mouse and said, ‘Dear mouse, I have to ask you…
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The Shadow Club #11: Fighting Cats and Fighting Bulls
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: An escape, Apparently, Copy (Media), Echo, Fluent, Football academy, Foundation programme, Get the feeling, Share a look, Through gritted teethWord Count: 1929Original Author: Ariel Goodbody‘Here you go,’ I said, giving her the book. ‘Los Gatos Luchadores. You like cats, right?’ Willow looked up at the word ‘cat’, and then her eyes grew wide. ‘Fighting Cats!’ She grabbed the book out of my hands and immediately started reading it. It was a Spanish translation of a Fighting Cats book, apparently.
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The Tightrope Walker
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Arrest, Beauty, Break the law, Drop by drop, Imagine, Leak, Shoot, Step by step, Suddenly, Tightrope, Worried to deathWord Count: 1147Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyThe people began to shout and cheer: ‘You can do it!’ ‘He’s three quarters of the way across!’ ‘Just a bit more!’ Everyone’s hearts were open to the tightrope walker. They did not imagine him dying now. They imagined him making it to the end. They imagined the feeling, when he would make the last…
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The Shadow Club #10: An Easy Game
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Genre: ActionSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: ‘The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife’, Awkward, Bible, Catholic, French toast, Girly, Pale, Shut up, Tackle, WeirdWord Count: 2185Original Author: Ariel GoodbodySo Saturday came, and I woke up nice and early to go to the football match. Normally, I’d be excited, but today my stomach clenched and I felt tired before the game even began. ‘I just have to make it through this,’ I told myself. ‘It’s half term afterwards and then I can have a…
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Misty the Snake
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Genre: ComedySetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Bubble wrap, Ex, Lick, Marmite, Owner, Parcel, Prison bars, Put a bounty on someone’s head, Queue, Sneak, TongueWord Count: 1457Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyWhy could nobody understand it? I loved Marmite, and so did my pet snake, Misty. Well, she wasn’t my pet. She was my ex-boyfriend’s. But I loved her more than him. And she loved me, too. As soon as that letter had come through the door, I knew it. I was her real owner. Not…