The Humming Noise
A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A strange humming sound wakes Elena up every night, and she traces it to an unexpected source next door.
Elena had lived in her apartment for three years without any trouble. Then, one night in early spring, she woke up to a low humming sound. It seemed to come from somewhere behind the kitchen wall. She lay still and listened for almost ten minutes, but the noise never stopped.
The next morning, she mentioned it to her neighbor Marcus, who lived in the apartment below hers. "I haven't heard anything unusual," he said, "but I sleep with earplugs, so that doesn't mean much."
For the next few nights, the humming kept returning, always around midnight. Elena started to wonder if it might be something wrong with the building's wiring. She called the building manager, who promised to send someone to check the electrical panel.
An electrician came the following week and tested every wire in her apartment. He found nothing unusual and left, telling her the sound probably wasn't dangerous. Still, Elena couldn't relax, since the humming continued every single night.
One evening, she decided to investigate herself. She stood in the kitchen with her ear close to the wall. Slowly, she moved along it until the sound grew louder. It was strongest near the shared wall with the apartment next door. That apartment had been empty for months.
Curious, she knocked on Marcus's door again. She asked if he knew who had just moved in next to her. "Actually, yes," he said. "A woman moved in last week. She runs a small pottery business from home."
That explained everything. The humming was the sound of her pottery wheel. She used it late at night, after her day job ended. Once Elena introduced herself, the woman apologized and agreed to stop working after ten o'clock. The mystery, it turned out, had a surprisingly creative explanation.
