Short Story: The life-changing envelope

Photo by VD Photography on Unsplash

The envelope lay unopened on the table, though everyone in the room knew what it contained. Laila, her parents, Shireen and Cyrille, and her brother, Marc, sat at the dining table staring at the unopened envelope. The letter was small - the size of a postcard. It was flat, as it contained only one sheet of paper. Everyone knew what it must hold. The envelope had Laila’s first and last name on it: Laila Sovinder. She knew, as everybody else at this table, that this was a message from the college she applied for. It was the only mail she expected. As small as the envelope was, no one in the room anticipated an acceptance. However, it was a family thing to stand next to each other in support in everyone’s individual life-changing moments. This WAS such a life-changing moment for Laila - or actually should be with a college approval. Laila could have been the first member of her family going to college. She could have broken the long family’s history of a working class and start the line of academics. Besides, making them proud was her way of giving back, of proving that their love and care all those years had mattered, paid off. However, now Laila sits at this table with her family, staring with tension at this envelope. She does not dare to open it. She fears to confirm the disappointment of rejection. She wished she would have been the one getting the mail this morning out of the mailbox. So, she could have fished out this letter and avoid this weird situation now. Instead her mother got the mail and excitedly called everyone to sit at the family table. Shireen, her mother, looks at her demandingly. “I don’t need to open it. We all know what is says.”, Laila reacts sharply to her look. Quietness. Not one word comes out of the mouth of her parents nor her brother. Instead, her mom maintains this demanding look at her while her dad and her brother keep staring at the letter on the table. Laila sighs. In a fast and annoyed move she raises her hand. She feels her heart beating heavy in her chest. She bends over to reach for the envelope. Her heart beasts faster causing pressure on her stomach and making her feels sick. Her hands are shaking. Tears well up in her eyes as she fears the coming disappointment. She opens it by sliding her right thumb rapidly through the envelope’s paper. She pulls out the one sheet of paper, unfolds it in a haste to disguise her shaking hands. She looks at it. Her eyes are moving from left to right while reading silently what it says. Her hands holding the letter fall down into her lap. She looks at her family in disbelief, her body shaking of the fear that maintains. “It is a receipt of my application which they are processing now.”, Laila says in a calm and astonished way.

Here are some questions to practice your reading comprehension:

1. Which phrase captures the main idea of this short story most appropriately?

   A) Life is unpredictable.

   B) Our life is influenced by the decisions of others.

   C) We are depended on others’ decisions.

2. The envelope is life-changing for Laila, because …

   A) … it may offer her the career of her life.

   B) … she could start the first line of academics in her family.

   C) … she can finally get away from home and life on her own.

3. True or false? When Laila opens the envelope she feels excited.

4. What themes does this short story cover?

   • hope

   • desperation

   • love

   • pressure

   • eagerness

   • family expectations

5. What do you think? Will Laila be accepted for college?
   Feel free to email me your thoughts.

Solutions: 1. C; 2. B; 3. False; 4. Hope, pressure, family expectations