It was Monday morning in the small office of Green & Co. Everyone was sleepy, and the coffee machine was already working hard.

Claire, the office manager, had brought in a big tin of biscuits to cheer everyone up. “Help yourselves,” she said proudly. “I bought all the best ones.”

Within minutes, people were munching and dipping biscuits into tea and coffee. Mark, who always thought he was clever, reached into the tin without looking and grabbed a biscuit. He took a big bite and immediately pulled a strange face.

“Ugh! What is this?” he cried.
Everyone turned to stare at him.

“It’s a biscuit, Mark,” Claire replied. “What’s the problem?”

“This doesn’t taste like a biscuit,” Mark said. “It tastes… spicy?”

The office went silent. Then Lucy, the intern, started laughing. “Mark, you’ve just eaten a dog biscuit!”

The room exploded with laughter. Claire gasped. “Oh no! I must have picked up the wrong tin at home. That was for my dog, Chester!”

Mark ran to the sink and tried to wash his mouth out with water. But it was too late. The damage was done. For the rest of the morning, everyone called him “Chester.”

To make things worse, whenever someone said “Sit!” or “Fetch!” Mark responded automatically, just to keep the joke alive. At one point, Lucy even threw a crumpled piece of paper across the room, and Mark—without thinking—caught it in his mouth. The office howled with laughter.

By lunchtime, even Mark was laughing at himself. “Alright,” he admitted. “Maybe I deserved this. But tomorrow, I’m bringing in my own biscuits. Human ones!”

The next day, Mark arrived with a big tin clearly labelled in huge letters: NOT FOR DOGS.

And from then on, nobody in the office ever trusted Claire with biscuits again.

---

Vocabulary Notes

Munch (verb)
Meaning: To eat something noisily, usually in small bites.
Example: “Within minutes, people were munching and dipping biscuits into tea and coffee.”
Similar words: chew, crunch, nibble.
Extra example: The children were munching crisps while watching TV.

Gasp (verb)
Meaning: To breathe in suddenly, usually because of surprise, shock, or fear.
Example: “Claire gasped. ‘Oh no! I must have picked up the wrong tin at home.’”
Similar words: inhale sharply, pant, choke (in surprise).
Extra example: She gasped when she saw the price of the shoes.

Howl with laughter (phrase/idiom)
Meaning: To laugh very loudly and uncontrollably.
Example: “The office howled with laughter.”
Similar words/phrases: crack up, roar with laughter, burst out laughing.
Extra example: The audience howled with laughter at the comedian’s joke.

Labelled (verb/adjective)
Meaning: To attach a piece of paper, writing, or sticker that shows what something is.
Example: “Mark arrived with a big tin clearly labelled in huge letters: NOT FOR DOGS.”
Similar words: tagged, marked, named.
Extra example: All the boxes were labelled with the customers’ addresses.

Deserve (verb)
Meaning: To be worthy of something, usually a reward or punishment, because of your actions.
Example: “Alright, I deserved this,” Mark admitted.
Similar words: earn, merit, be worthy of.
Extra example: She studied hard and deserved to pass the exam.

Story written by ChatGPT AI.

Image created by 1min.ai.

#Britishshortstories #learningEnglish #Englishspeaking #Englishspeakingpractice #Englishreading #Englishreadingpractice #readingEnglish #ieltslistening #Englishlisteningpractice #shortstory #storytime