Shadowing Practice: 4 Valentine's Day Horror Stories Animated - Learn English Speaking with Video
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295 sentences
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This story was submitted by one of the subscribers of our Broccoli fam, Jacqueline.
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Special thanks to her for sharing her story.
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Kudos to her for being an awesome person and staying strong through all these years.
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When my ex -boyfriend Mike texted me to see if I'd be willing to come over and talk, I tried not to think much of it.
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We broke up three years ago, so I was curious to see what it was all about.
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Maybe he wanted to catch up with me, or things didn't work out with his ex -wife, who he went back to when he broke it off with me.
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Mike and I met in high school and dated on and off since then, so we've known each other for about 20 years and spent 11 years in a relationship.
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During one of the periods when we weren't together, he met Haley.
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They fell in love, got married, and had two kids.
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Unfortunately, Haley didn't turn out to be the most stable person or mom, so Mike ended up leaving her.
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When they went to court, Haley lost custody of her kids because at the time she was deep in addiction.
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After he left her, Mike and I reconnected and picked things back up.
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When I came back into the picture, Mike's two kids were about three and five years old.
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He struggled to provide for them and be a present father, so I stepped in to help.
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was my pleasure.
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I loved Mike, so loving and caring for his kids was easy.
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For six years, I helped raise those two kids.
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I made sure they had nice clothes to wear to school, packed their lunches, helped with their homework, comforted them when they had nightmares, and tried to show up for them as I could.
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When their mom learned that I stepped up when she couldn't, she began and sending me these horrible, hateful messages.
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She went as far as to threaten my life for raising her kids.
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Mike told me not to worry about her and that she wouldn't bother us, per court order.
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Haley posed no issue for us until three years ago, when Mike decided to get back together with her so his kids could have their real mom back.
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It broke my heart for him to leave, but I guess I can understand that he wanted to reunite his kids with their biological mom.
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When he told me we needed to break up, he stressed that he didn't really want to get back together with Haley, but it seemed like the right thing for his kids.
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Apparently, Haley had done a lot of work to get clean to be in her kids' lives once again.
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It was difficult to let go of him and those kids, but I don't care to be where I'm not wanted.
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So when he texted me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago to talk, it surprised me.
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The last I'd heard, he was still with his ex, who despised me, so what could we have to talk about?
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Since we've known each other for so long, I agreed.
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I got ready for the day and headed over to his place.
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I walked up to his door and knocked.
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He opened the door with a sigh.
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Hey, Jackie.
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Mike, I responded.
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He invited me in and offered to sit at his kitchen table.
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Any chance you have a cigarette to spare?
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He asked.
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I checked my pack, and I, in fact, did not.
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I only had two left in the pack.
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Would you mind if I ran to the corner store to get a new pack?
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Yeah, do what you need to do, he told me.
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I rushed out the door and walked to the store.
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I bought two packs and headed back.
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This time, I lightly knocked and opened the door myself.
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I walked into the kitchen to see Haley had joined Mike at the table.
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She glared at me like a lion hunting prey.
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Well, well, well.
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If it isn't the woman who tried to replace me, Haley started.
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Can we please not do this, I said.
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Mike said, can you please sit down and talk with us?
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Absolutely not.
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Not with that unhinged bitch, I said, backing up.
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I started towards the door and almost made it, when a hand reached into my hair and yanked me back.
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Haley wrapped her other arm around my neck and dragged me back into the kitchen.
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With one hand, I pulled her arm down, which had me in a chokehold so I could breathe, and I used my other to punch her in the face.
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She recoiled back at this blow.
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Before I could make it out, she grabbed my arm and with all her strength whipped me onto the couch.
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She straddled me and wrapped her hands around my throat, completely cutting off airflow.
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I struggled to breathe and tried to push her face to get her away from me
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but she was stronger the more I fought back the tighter her grip got I couldn't even think of Mike
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you very much.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Before I could argue, she raced out of the car and started running toward the street.
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The only thing I could do was follow her.
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We both ran as fast as we could.
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Lori kept looking over her shoulder to see if Tom was chasing us.
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If he was, we couldn't see him.
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Eventually, Lori turned onto a side street and I followed.
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I was starting to get pretty scared.
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I'd never seen Lori this upset before, and now we were on a dark residential street with no one nearby.
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It didn't seem safe.
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She led me toward a two -story house at the end of the street.
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I thought she was going to knock on the door and ask for help, but instead, she pulled out a house key and rushed inside.
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I followed her in. Where are we?
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She explained that this was one of the houses that her real estate office was trying to sell.
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She thought this would be the safest place for us to wait.
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She locked the door behind her and told me to check the other locks.
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As I walked around the house, Lori explained that Tom had been following her all day.
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She'd spotted him outside her office and then again at an open house.
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He said he wanted to get back together with her, but she told him no. She worried that he was turning violent, and with her car's tires slashed, she was right.
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When I finished checking all the locks, I got back to the living room and gave Lori a big hug.
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I absolutely hated that we were stuck in a situation like this.
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I was scared but I couldn't imagine how scared she must have felt.
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She got on her phone and called the police.
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I could only hear her side of the conversation
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but it sounded like they were telling us to stay where we were and wait for an officer to arrive.
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She ended the call and then assured me that everything was going to be okay.
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She walked into the kitchen and came back with a glass of wine.
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She didn't drink so I knew it was for me.
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She handed it to me and said it would help calm my nerves.
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lori and i sat together i drank some of the wine and finally started to feel safe again
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that's when i realized that there was something strange about this house
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if it was an empty house
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that she was trying to sell then why did it have wine why were there magazines on the table
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and photos on the walls i took a good look at
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the place it definitely looked like it was a house where
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people lived i noticed a giant crucifix on the wall along with a bunch of pictures of Jesus and framed Bible quotes.
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Then I looked closer at the family photos on the mantle and I gasped.
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The photos were all of Lori and Tom.
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This wasn't a house Lori was trying to sell.
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This was Lori's house.
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The one she lived in with her husband.
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I started to ask what was going on but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth.
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I felt really woozy.
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Lori had put something in my drink it looks like you
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figured it out a bit too late though she laughed coldly
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then she explained
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that she was still married to tom they were very happy
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together she nodded toward the crucifix on the wall saying that she and her husband were deeply religious
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they took it upon themselves to find wayward women like me they just wanted to help me to fix me.
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She explained some other things too, but I could barely hear what she was saying.
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I was seconds away from passing out.
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I heard the front door unlock and saw Tom walk in.
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Lori had lied to me about everything.
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Our relationship has never been real.
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Nothing she told me was real.
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This whole night had been one long game that she
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and Tom were playing
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and i was the pawn i couldn't keep my eyes open
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i couldn't move i kept trying to fight against the in my system
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but it was no use i fell asleep i don't know how long i was out but
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when i woke up lori was standing over me with a
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roll of duct tape she was halfway through tying me to
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the couch tom stood off to the side watching his wife and smiling in approval He had a box in his hands.
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He had no idea what was inside or what they were planning to do to fix me. Is she awake?
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Tom asked.
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I quickly closed my eyes as Lori examined my face.
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I didn't want them to know that I had already woken up.
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Nope.
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Out like a light.
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Get ready.
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She was about to finish taping my wrist to the couch.
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It was now or never.
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I quickly raised my arm and punched Lori right in the face.
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From a sitting position, I wasn't able to use a lot of force.
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But Lori was still caught off guard.
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She fell backwards and landed hard on the glass coffee table.
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It shattered under her.
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Tom rushed forward to hold me down.
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But by the time he reached me, I was already standing.
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My feet were taped together, so I wasn't very steady.
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But I was able to grab him by the neck and squeeze until he couldn't breathe.
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He begged for me to stop, but his words could barely come out.
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I didn't stop.
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I kept squeezing and squeezing until he lost consciousness and fell onto the ground.
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Lori stood up.
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We were just trying to help you. Of course you were.
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Thank you so much.
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I used all the strength I had to punch her again.
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My fist connected with her nose and she fell backwards, back onto the broken table.
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That gave me enough time to peel off the tape around my ankles and run out of there.
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I hid in a neighbor's yard and made a real call to the police.
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By the time they got there, the house was empty.
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Lori and her husband must have left out the back.
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The police found them two days later.
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I'm excited for the trial.
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Can't wait to testify against them.
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It's been over a month since this all happened, and I'm once again single.
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I have no complaints.
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The first time the roses appeared, I was just about to leave for work.
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I was running a little late, so I practically tripped out of my apartment and slammed the door, almost trampling on the beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on the mat behind me.
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I blinked in surprise at the mysterious gift, glancing down the hall as if expecting to see someone waiting for me, but I was alone.
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Crouching down, I picked up the roses and searched for a tag or note, but there was nothing.
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Whoever had left them there clearly wanted to remain anonymous.
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The flowers were sweet and fragrant, at least a dozen of them with blood -red petals and leafy stems.
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Knowing I would be late for work regardless, I unlocked my apartment and headed back inside to put them in water.
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If only I knew who they were from.
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The second time the roses appeared, dusk was already falling outside.
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I was lounging in my apartment after a long day of work when I heard someone knocking on the door.
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It was more like scratching, like fingertips scraping against wood, so I peered through the peephole first.
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At the very edge of the corridor, I glimpsed a shadow disappear around the corner, a flicker of movement and then stillness.
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With a frown, I unlatched the chain and opened the door, stepping out.
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The corridor was empty, but another bouquet of roses were sitting on the map.
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It's only a couple of days since the last one.
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I knew Valentine's Day was right around the corner, but I wasn't seeing anyone, and I had no idea who could be leaving these roses for me.
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I was simultaneously pleased and unnerved by their appearance, especially after seeing that mysterious shadow.
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Someone clearly didn't want me to see them. But why?
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Shaking the thoughts away, I reached down for the roses, wincing when I pricked my finger on a thorn.
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Blood immediately welled, staining part of the stem red.
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Great, I muttered under my breath, trying not to focus on the soft sting in my finger.
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At least the thorn hadn't gotten stuck in my flesh.
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That would have been painful.
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Throwing one last glance down the hall, I hurried back into my apartment and locked the door, careful not to touch any more thorns.
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These roses smelled less fresh than the last ones, with some of the petals already wiltering, but they still smelled sweet.
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I put them in the same vase as the others after cutting some of the stems, setting them on the cupboard in my open, sitting dining area.
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They at least added a splash of color to the otherwise drab -looking apartment.
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Still, not knowing who they were from bothered me.
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I wish they'd at least left a note.
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A week before Valentine's Day, I got my third bouquet.
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I was at work when one of the office administrators, Mary, came over to me holding the roses.
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Liz, look what you got, she said excitedly, thrusting the flowers into my face.
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Someone left these at the front desk.
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It has your name on it.
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I quickly snatched them out of her hand and looked for the tag, but the only thing it said was Elizabeth in printed script.
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Still no sender's name.
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Did you see who left them?
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I asked desperately.
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Mary shook her head, shrugging cluelessly.
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Didn't see.
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When I came back from my break, they were just sitting there.
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Did anyone see who left them?
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Mary's brows furrowed.
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No, I don't think so.
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Why?
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I sighed, putting the roses on my desk.
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The petals were crumpled, browning around the edges.
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This is the third bouquet I've got this week.
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I just want to know who keeps leaving them.
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Oh, that's romantic, Mary said, but I shrugged.
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Maybe, unless it's some stalker, I mumbled.
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If they knew where I lived and where I worked, it had to be someone who knew me. But who?
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I threw a vague glance across the room.
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It couldn't be any of my co -workers.
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None of them had ever shown interest in me, and most were already married.
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Who else could it be?
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Mary left, and I stared at the roses.
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A slightly putrid smell wafted from them, like they'd been left in a dark warehouse for a while.
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I hesitated for only a second before tossing them into the bin.
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I didn't need this many roses, especially from some stranger.
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I just wish they would reveal themselves soon.
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A few days later, I was jolted awake in the middle of the night by someone knocking at my door.
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I sat up in bed, bleary -eyed and groggy, staring into the darkness of my room.
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Outside, the pale crescent of the moon silvered the windowsill, shadows creeping along the walls.
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The apartment had gone silent now, but the echo of the knock still rang in my ears.
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Was someone at the door?
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I threw back the covers and climbed out of bed, switching on a lamp as I shuffled past.
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It was just past midnight, far too late for a visitor, unless it was an emergency.
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Maybe one of my neighbors needed help.
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Stifling a yawn, I switched the light on in the hallway and walked up to the door, checking the peephole.
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The corridor outside was empty.
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Something strange tugged at my stomach a little bit of fear mixed with apprehension.
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Who had been knocking?
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Had I just dreamt it?
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But part of me knew that when I opened the door, something would be waiting for me on the mat, just like all those other times.
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I swallowed, freezing with my hand on the doorknob.
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I could wait until morning to check.
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It was late, and I was working early tomorrow.
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in the end I gave in
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and opened the door as expected a bouquet of roses were
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sitting on the mat outside this time the roses were half dead some of them were withered
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and curled their brown petals breaking off
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when I picked up the flowers from the floor there was
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a sharp tangy smell rising from them like old soil
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and roots like the last ones they would be going straight
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in the bin why would they leave me rotting roses starting
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to creep me out now since i was still no closer
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to figuring out who was behind it i couldn't even tell
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if the gesture was supposed to be romantic anymore
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or something else i retreated back into the apartment locking the door
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and sliding the chain through the latch the thought of someone
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visiting my apartment in the middle of the night didn't sit
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well with me maybe i should set up a camera or something
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That way I could catch whoever it was in the act and confront them about it.
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I tossed the roses straight into the trash and went back to bed.
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Valentine's Day finally rolled around the following Wednesday.
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I hadn't received a bouquet of roses since that midnight drop -off a few nights ago, and I had hoped that the whole charade was finally at an end.
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I was wrong.
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When I got home later that evening, after spending all day burying myself at work, I knew that something was off.
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The door to my apartment was sitting ajar, shadows bleeding out into the hallway.
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Fear clenched my gut as I approached the door, breathing shallowly.
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Had someone broken into my apartment?
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There was no way I would have left it open like that, even if I had been in a rush that morning.
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Swallowing back the lump in my throat, I walked up to the door and slowly pushed it open with my fingers.
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Inside was dark, and it took a second for my eyes to adjust, but I couldn't see anyone.
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Instincts told me to call the police before I did anything rash, but I didn't want to waste their time if it turned out to be a false alarm.
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Instead, I pushed the door open wider and stepped inside.
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The entire apartment was silent.
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Nothing stirred.
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since i was still close to the door i switched the
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light on letting it flood out into the open kitchen dining area there was one change
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that became immediately noticeable to me
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the roses i had kept on my sideboard were gone instead
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a single bouquet sat in the middle of the kitchen table the petals were a dark grimy brown color
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and the stems were twisted and broken black thorns sticking out.
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The flowers were rotten.
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I took a step closer and almost gagged on the smell.
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They smelled like something that had been left in the dark for too long, something putrid and sick.
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What the hell was going on?
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Who had left these here?
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Had they broken into my apartment?
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That's when I noticed the notes sitting beside the flowers.
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Pinching my nose, I walked over to it and read the black script.
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I barely read the words when door behind me slammed shut
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and something hard hit the back of my neck sending me to my knees.
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The rotten roses were the last thing I saw before my mind faded to black.
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This is what you did to my heart and it's what I'll do to yours.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “4 Valentine's Day Horror Stories Animated”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: door, roses, lori. This video has 295 sentences and 3530 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:24. The speaker talks at a steady 139 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| shadow noun | /ˈʃædəʊ̯/ | A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object. |
| stem noun | /stɛm/ | The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| punch noun | /pʌnt͡ʃ/ | A hit or strike with one's fist. |
| couch noun | /ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/ | An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa. |
| squeeze verb | /skwiːz/ | To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once. |
| corridor noun | /ˈkɒɹɪdɔː/ | A narrow hall or passage with rooms leading off it, as in a building or in a railway carriage. |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| silent adjective | /ˈsaɪ̯lənt/ | Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet. |
| tape noun | /teɪ̯p/ | Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape. |
| desk noun | /dɛsk/ | A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a… |
| romantic adjective | /ɹoʊˈmæn(t)ɪk/ | Fantastic, unrealistic (of an idea etc.); fanciful, sentimental, impractical (of a person). |
| whoever | /huˈɛvɚ/ | Who ever: an emphatic form of who. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. | |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. | |
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. | |
| break off verb | To remove a piece from a whole by breaking or snapping. | |
| come back from verb | To become successful, confident or effective again after an injury, setback, failure, embarrassment, etc. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Any chance you have a cigarette to spare?
- Did you see who left them?
- Had I just dreamt it?
- Had someone broken into my apartment?
- Had they broken into my apartment?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was submitted · was still caught · were taped |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've known · has never been · It's been |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | woman who tried · someone who knew |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 49 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, couldn't, wasn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/, threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, thorn /θoɹn/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rush /ɹʌʃ/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, trash /tɹæʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: mysterious /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/, residential /ˌrɛzɪˈdɛnʃəl/, biological /ˌbaɪ.əˈlɑ.d͡ʒɪ.kəl/, practically /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/, anonymous /əˈnɒn.ə.məs/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like knock, rush, shadow.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.