The Piano That Played at Night
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Valentina hears piano music coming from a locked room while cleaning the community center and finds an old self-playing piano left running.
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Valentina cleans the community center every night after it closes. She locks the doors and turns off most of the lights. One night, she hears piano music from the music room. The door to that room is always locked.
Valentina stops and listens carefully. The music continues, soft and slow. She walks toward the music room door. To her surprise, the door stands open just a little.
She pushes the door open and looks inside. No one sits at the old piano in the corner. But the keys move up and down by themselves. Valentina takes a step back, a little worried.
Then she looks carefully at the piano. A large paper roll turns slowly inside it. The keys move with the paper as it turns. Valentina remembers this piano now.
The music teacher uses this piano for her afternoon class. It can play songs by itself with the right roll inside. The teacher forgot to turn it off after class.
Valentina finds the switch on the side of the piano. She turns it off, and the room goes quiet. She checks the door and locks it again.
The next morning, Valentina tells the music teacher what happened. The teacher laughs and says sorry. "I always forget that switch," she says. "Next time, I'll check it twice before I leave."
Valentina smiles and pushes her cart down the hallway.
