Emma checked her mailbox on a cold Tuesday morning. Usually, she only received bills and advertisements. Today, there was something different inside. Emma found an old envelope made of thick paper. Her name was written on it in beautiful handwriting. There was no return address on the envelope. Emma went back inside her small apartment. She sat down at the kitchen table and opened the letter. Inside, she found a letter written on yellow paper. The letter began: 'Dear Emma, I am your grandmother's sister.' Emma stopped reading and put the letter down. Her grandmother had never mentioned having a sister. Her grandmother had died three years ago. Emma picked up the letter and continued reading. 'Your grandmother and I had a disagreement many years ago,' the letter said. 'We stopped talking to each other after that.' 'I moved to another country and never came back.' Emma felt confused and curious at the same time. She kept reading the mysterious letter. 'I recently learned that my sister passed away,' the woman wrote. 'I feel deep sadness that we never made peace.' 'I am now eighty-nine years old and live in Canada.' Emma was surprised to learn she had a great-aunt in Canada. The letter continued with more details about the past. 'Our disagreement was about a family secret,' the great-aunt explained. 'I wanted to tell the truth, but your grandmother wanted to keep it hidden.' Emma read these words several times. What was the family secret that caused so much trouble? She turned the page to find out more. 'Our mother had another child before us,' the letter revealed. 'This child was given to another family when he was a baby.' 'I discovered this truth when I was young and wanted to find our brother.' Emma could not believe what she was reading. She had a great-uncle that nobody told her about. The letter included an old photograph. Emma looked at the photograph carefully. It showed three children standing in front of a house. Two of them were girls, and one was a boy. On the back of the photograph, someone had written their names. 'Helen, Margaret, and Thomas, 1952,' Emma read. Helen was her grandmother's name. Emma looked at the young girl in the photograph. She could see some resemblance to herself. The letter ended with an important request. 'I found our brother Thomas a few years ago,' Margaret wrote. 'He is still alive and lives in Ireland.' 'Would you like to meet your family?' Emma sat in silence for a long time. She thought about her grandmother who kept this secret. She wondered why her grandmother never told anyone. Perhaps she was afraid or ashamed. Emma decided to write back to her great-aunt. She wanted to know more about her family history. She also wanted to meet her great-uncle Thomas. The unexpected letter changed everything for Emma. She discovered that families can have hidden stories. Sometimes, secrets from the past can bring people together. Emma wrote a long letter to Margaret that same evening. She thanked her for sharing the truth after so many years. She told Margaret that she wanted to meet the whole family. A few months later, Emma flew to Canada to visit Margaret. She met her great-aunt for the first time at the airport. Margaret was a small woman with white hair and kind eyes. They hugged each other and cried happy tears. The mystery of the unexpected letter led Emma to a new family.
English Story (A2)The Unexpected Letter
This A2 English story is designed for elementary learners. Click any word for instant translation and build your vocabulary as you read.
aboutStory
Emma receives an unexpected letter from her grandmother's sister Margaret, whom she never knew existed. The letter reveals a family secret: Emma's great-grandmother had a son named Thomas who was given away as a baby. Emma decides to reconnect with her newfound relatives in Canada and Ireland.
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Comprehension Questions
4 questions
1
Who wrote the unexpected letter to Emma?
2
What was the family secret revealed in the letter?
3
Where does Emma's great-aunt Margaret live?
4
What did Emma do after reading the letter?
Vocabulary
30 words from this story
