Cooking Dinner Alone for the First Time
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Brynn cooks her first solo dinner while her parents are out and fixes a salty sauce along the way.
Brynn is fourteen. Her parents are going to a work dinner tonight. She is home alone.
"There's food in the fridge," her mom says. "You can cook something. You'll be fine."
Brynn looks in the fridge. She finds pasta, tomatoes, and cheese. She decides to make pasta with tomato sauce.
She fills a pot with water and puts it on the stove. She cuts the tomatoes next.
The water boils, and Brynn adds the pasta. She checks the clock and sets a timer for ten minutes.
She tries to make the sauce next. She adds too much salt by accident. The sauce tastes strange.
Brynn tastes it again and frowns. She remembers a video about cooking and adds a spoon of sugar.
She tastes the sauce again. This time, it tastes good.
The timer rings, and Brynn drains the pasta. She mixes it with the sauce and puts it on a plate.
She sits at the table and eats her first solo dinner. It isn't perfect, but she finishes every bite.
When her parents come home, Brynn tells them about the sauce mistake. "I fixed it myself," she says with a big smile.
Her mom tastes a small bite from the pot. "This is really good, Brynn," she says. "You did this all by yourself?"
"All by myself," Brynn says proudly. She washes the dishes and feels ready to cook again next week.
