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Season 3 Episode 5

Thank you for downloading this episode.

👉The story begins at 1:40 and the tiny lessons begin at 12:56

👉You can find the transcript after the Credits!

👉Visit our website to download the Podcast User's Manual and find out more! https://alittleenglish.com/

A Little English is written, produced, recorded, edited, mixed, mastered and scored by Edward Cooper Howland.

All stories are either in the public domain, or written by me.

Copyright 2023 Edward Cooper Howland

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hi. My name is Cooper, and this is…A Little English. Every episode, I read a short story. After the story, there are three tiny lessons.

And we are back into Forty Stories! So, this story was written by me. I have to apologize, I have tried to do two different accents. Now to be fair, I’m from Massachusetts, and I spent six years living in South Carolina, so I think I’m probably OK at doing accents from those places. But I guess I’ll let you decide. If it’s hard to understand people talking, go check out the show notes! Read along with the text as I’m speaking. It’s good practice for weird American pronunciation. Let’s check it out!

Frog Pond

It was not a good day to be outside. Kim shivered in her overcoat. Her cheeks hurt, even inside the mask. Boston Common in February was not beautiful. It was gray, and the parking in the garage was twelve dollars an hour!

Cassie was excited, though. She pulled Kim’s hand as they approached the  Frog Pond. “Look, Mom! They’re skating!”

There were maybe fifteen people on the ice. They were trying to go in circles, but the wind pushed them back, crashing them into the railing and each other.  Kim and Cassie fought their way to the ticket counter.

“That’ll be thirty-two dollars, ma’am.” The woman in the booth shrunk down into her enormous parka as Kim stared at her.

“Thirty-two?” Kim couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s eight dollars for you, free for your daughter. Plus skate rental is fifteen for adults and ten for kids.”

Kim sighed, and pulled another twenty-dollar bill out of her wallet.

“You shouldn’t be out here in this weather,” said Kim.

“I haven’t got much else to do,” said the lady. “and I’m used to it. Some days are awfully pretty, especially after a good snow.”

Kim looked around. “Pretty like today?”

“Oh, no,” said the woman. “But tomorrow should be nice. Is this your first time in Boston?”

“No,” said Kim. “Well, sort of. It’s our first time in the Common. We’re renting a place in Cambridge. But Cassie just HAD to go skating before the season ended.”

“Is it her first time skating?” asked the woman.

“It’s both of our first times. We’re from South Carolina, originally. My husband got a job, and we just…moved up here. Just like that.”

“Well, you might want to try a lesson.” The woman pointed to a poster on the wall.

“We can’t afford that much,” Kim turned to take Cassie’s hand, but she wasn’t there.

“Cassie? Cassie? Cassandra?” She was trying to sound calm. She clapped her hands, but the gloves muffled the sound, and the wind carried it...