Younger

Rita’s fortieth birthday was approaching, and she wasn’t feeling happy about it. Every time she looked in the mirror, she saw grey hairs and lines around her eyes. When she touched her skin, it no longer felt smooth. Other women in the street looked young and full of life, but Rita only felt older each day. She wanted to look young again, no matter what it cost.

One day, she read about an old woman in the town who could make special creams and drinks. People said the woman’s cream could stop ageing and make you look younger. Rita was curious. She visited the woman in a small dark house at the end of the street.

The woman smiled and gave her a small jar. “Use this cream every night,” she said. “It will make you feel young again. But remember—never stop using it.”

Rita went home and put the cream on her face. When she looked in the mirror the next morning, she started crying with happiness. Her skin was smooth. The lines were gone. She looked twenty-five. She laughed and danced around the room.

Every day, she used the cream. People at work said, “Rita, you look wonderful! What is your secret?” She only smiled. Inside, she was proud. She was young again.

But after a few weeks, strange things started to happen. At night, she felt her skin burning. Occasionally, she woke up with scratches on her face. Once, she saw a shadow move across the mirror when she was alone.

Rita went back to the old woman. “Something is wrong,” she said.

The woman looked at her with cold eyes. “You wanted youth. The cream takes something in return.”

Rita felt afraid. “What does it take?”

The woman whispered, “Take your time.”

That night, Rita stared at herself in the mirror. She still looked young, but her eyes were dark, and her smile seemed strange. She put the cream back on her skin. She could not stop—she remembered the warning.

Days passed. Rita’s body felt weak, even though her face looked young. She needed more and more sleep. When she walked, her legs shook. Her friends asked, “Are you sick?” but she only smiled. She could not tell them.

One evening, Rita dropped the jar. The last of the cream spilt onto the floor. She screamed. She tried to put it back into the jar, but it was gone.

That night, she went to bed without the cream. At midnight, she woke up to a terrible pain. Her skin was changing. Wrinkles appeared on her face. Her hair turned white. She felt her body grow smaller, weaker, older.

She ran to the mirror and saw an old woman, a stranger she didn’t recognise. The eyes were hollow, and the mouth was dry and thin.

Rita screamed again, but no sound came out.

The next morning, the neighbours found her house empty. On the table, they saw a broken mirror and a photo of Rita smiling when she was young. But no one ever saw Rita again.

📒 Key vocabulary

• creams – soft, thick liquids you put on your skin
• ageing – the process of getting older
• curious – wanting to know or learn something
• scratches – thin marks or cuts on the skin or surface
• shadow – a dark shape made when something blocks the light
• youth – the state of being young
• whisper (whisper, whispered, whispered)  – speak very quietly, with a soft voice
• warning – words that tell someone to be careful about danger
• weak – not strong
• shook (shake, shook, shook) – move up and down or side to side quickly
• spill (spill, spilt, spilt) – when liquid falls out of a container by accident
• wrinkles – small lines on the skin that come with age
• hollow – empty inside

🤔 Comprehension quiz

How much of this story did you understand? Test yourself with this easyEnglish quiz!