The snow was falling peacefully from the sky. The air was fresh and frosty and it was snowing heavily. Most people were sitting at their windows and watching this winter show, with a cup of steaming tea or chocolate in their hands.
Jenny was no exception. She was enjoying her peaceful day in the company of her faithful golden retriever, Max, who, from time to time, lifted up his sleepy head and looked at Jenny with his warm and loving eyes. She was finishing her cup of hot chocolate and thinking how beautiful some winter days could be.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, interrupting their peaceful time. Max’s ears shot up, and Jenny turned her eyes towards the door. She was curious about the unexpected visitor. With a hesitant sigh, she rose from the comfortable armchair near the window and went to answer the door. Max jumped to his feet and went to the door with her.
When she opened the door, Jenny found herself face to face with the postman, who was wearing a thick winter jacket with the post logo on it printed all in yellow. In his hands, he was holding a small package, addressed to her neighbour.
‘Good afternoon, ma’am,’ the postman greeted, his voice muffled by his scarf. ‘I have a package here for Mr. Thompson, but he’s not at home. Would you be so kind as to take it for him?’
Jenny hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. She didn’t want to get involved in her neighbor’s business.
‘Can you not just take it to the post office and leave it there for him to collect it later?’
‘Yes, I could do that Ms Perkins, but this is my last job today. You would do me a big favour if you took the package for him. Otherwise, I would need to go back through half the city only because of this one package.’
‘OK then. I’ll take care of it,’ she said and reluctantly took the package from the postman’s outstretched hand.
‘Thank you, Mrs Perkins! You saved my day!’ said the postman with a happy smile and started walking through the snow back to his car.
Jenny closed the door and placed the package on the table in the living room. She then made her way to the kitchen, her footsteps echoing in the empty house. The kettle hissed, the steam went up and she prepared a comforting cup of tea, trying to shake off the feeling that something was not right.
As she was returning to the living room with her steaming mug in hand, Jenny’s heart stopped beating. She was laying the mug on the table, when she noticed that the table was empty. The package was gone! Panic filled her mind as she quickly looked around the room, her eyes looking for the lost package. She turned to Max, who was faithfully sitting right next to her and looking at her face.
‘Max, did you see what happened to the package?’ she asked. Her voice was trembling. Max tilted his head, his eyes filled with attention.
‘What is going on?’ said Jenny to herself. Her fear was growing. She rushed to the door and opened it quickly. It wasn’t snowing anymore. The freezing air touched her face, and she froze, too. But not because of the cold weather. She was looking at the blanket of snow in front of her confused eyes. She was looking for the postman’s footprints, but there were none.
‘What the hell is going on?’ she said out loud for everyone to hear.
But nobody heard.
frosty /ˈfrɒsti/ – (mrazivý) – (of the weather) extremely cold; cold with frost
interrupt /ˌɪntəˈrʌpt/ – (prerušiť) – to stop something for a short time
hesitant /ˈhezɪtənt/ – (váhavý) – slow to speak or act because you feel uncertain, embarrassed or unwilling
sigh /saɪ/ – (povzdych) – to take and then let out a long deep breath that can be heard, to show that you are disappointed, sad, tired, etc.
muffled /ˈmʌfld/ – (tlmene) – (of sounds) not heard clearly because something is in the way that stops the sound from travelling easily
reluctantly /rɪˈlʌktəntli/ – (zdráhavo) – in a way that involves hesitating before doing something because you do not want to do it or because you are not sure that it is the right thing to do
Sparrow's English Reader 