Barry was a new employee at Freshco Supermarket. It was his first day, and he was very nervous. His manager, Brenda, gave him a simple job. “Barry, just stack the tins of custard in Aisle Three. You can’t go wrong.”

Barry went to Aisle Three. He started to put the yellow tins on the shelf. He was very careful. But then, Mrs Higgins arrived.

Mrs Higgins was a regular customer. She was small, but very loud. “Young man!” she shouted. “The price on this custard tin says one pound, but the scanner says two pounds! This is an outrage!”

Barry did not know what to do. “Um, I’m new,” he said.

“That is no excuse!” said Mrs Higgins. She picked up a tin and shook it at him. Unfortunately, the lid was not on properly. A big splash of yellow custard flew through the air. It landed on the head of another customer, Mr Parker, who was looking at biscuits.

Mr Parker was a very quiet man. He slowly turned around. His glasses were covered in custard. “My goodness,” he said quietly.

“Oh dear!” said Barry. He grabbed a roll of paper towels to help. But as he pulled a towel, the roll fell off the holder. It rolled down the aisle like a white snake. It wrapped around the feet of Brenda, the manager, who was coming to see what the noise was about.

Brenda waved her arms and fell backwards. She landed in a big display of pillows. ‘Buy One, Get One Free!’ the sign said. She was not hurt, but she was stuck. “Barry!” she shouted from the pile of pillows.

Barry felt terrible. He tried to pull Brenda up, but he slipped on the custard on the floor. He fell into a trolley that was full of tins of beans. The trolley started to roll away.

“Stop that man!” shouted Mrs Higgins, who was now enjoying the drama.

The trolley with Barry in it rolled quickly towards the entrance of the supermarket. A very strong security guard named Big Dave saw the trolley. Big Dave put out his arms and stopped the trolley. “Alright, mate?” said Big Dave. He helped Barry out.

Everyone was looking at Barry. Mrs Higgins, Mr Parker (with custard on his head), and Brenda (still in the pillows) were all there.

Barry took a deep breath. “I am very sorry,” he said to everyone. “It is my first day.”

Mr Parker took off his custardy glasses and cleaned them. He started to laugh. “Well,” he said, “it’s certainly a day to remember.”

Then Brenda started to laugh. Soon, Mrs Higgins and Big Dave were laughing too.

In the end, Brenda decided Barry was better at helping customers on the till, not stacking tins. And Mrs Higgins always said hello to him when she shopped. She never bought custard again.

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Vocabulary Notes

Employee (noun)
Meaning: A person who is paid to work for someone else, for example, in a shop or an office.
Example: “Barry was a new employee at Freshco Supermarket.”
Similar words: Worker, staff member. (The opposite is an employer – the person or company that pays the employee).

Stack (verb)
Meaning: To arrange things in a neat pile, one on top of another.
Example: “Barry, just stack the tins of custard in Aisle Three.”
Similar words: Pile, arrange, build up. (The noun form is also stack – e.g., a stack of books).

Outrage (noun)
Meaning: A strong feeling of anger and shock because you think something is unfair or wrong.
Example: “This is an outrage!” said Mrs Higgins.
Similar words: Scandal, disgrace. (The adjective is outrageous – e.g., “The price is outrageous!”).

Unfortunately (adverb)
Meaning: Used to say that something is unlucky or disappointing. It introduces a bad piece of information.
Example: “Unfortunately, the lid was not on properly.”
Similar words: Sadly, unluckily. (The opposite is fortunately or luckily).

Display (noun)
Meaning: An arrangement of objects in a shop, designed to attract people’s attention so they will look or buy.
Example: “She landed in a big display of pillows.”
Similar words: Exhibition, arrangement, show. (It can also be a verb – e.g., “The shop displays its best fruit at the front.”).

Story written by DeepSeek AI.

Image created by aimagicx AI.

CC Music: Drifting at 432 Hz – Unicorn Heads.

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