The First Day at the Bakery (A1 Reading Story)

A1 · BEGINNER Reading practice · ~1,300 words · 9-min read

This is a short, easy story for beginners. The sentences are simple. First, read the eight key words. Then read the story. At the end, there is a small quiz to check what you understand.

The story

1 · Five o’clock in the morning

Maria is nineteen years old. She lives with her aunt in a small house near the centre of town. Tonight is a big night, because tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow is Maria’s first day of work.

Maria has a new job at a bakery. A bakery is a shop that makes and sells bread and cakes. The bakery is called Rosa’s. It is small, but everybody on the street knows it. The bread is always fresh. The cakes are beautiful. And the smell — oh, the smell is wonderful.

Tonight, Maria cannot sleep. She is nervous. Nervous means you feel a little afraid before a big thing. She looks at the dark window and thinks many thoughts. “What do I say to the customers? Where do I put my coat? What do I do if I make a mistake?” A mistake is a thing you do wrong.

Her aunt knocks on her door. “Sleep, Maria,” she says softly. “Morning comes fast.”

The alarm rings at five o’clock. It is still dark outside. The streets are quiet and empty. Maria drinks a glass of milk, puts on her warm coat, and walks to the bakery. Her hands are cold. Her heart goes boom, boom, boom.

The town is different at five o’clock. There are no cars. There are no people. A cat sits on a wall and watches her. Maria walks fast and says the words in her head: “Good morning. Can I help you? Thank you. Have a nice day.” She wants to be ready.

The lights of the bakery are already on. Inside, there is a small woman with grey hair and strong arms. Her name is Rosa. It is her bakery — for thirty years.

“Good morning, Maria!” Rosa says with a big smile. “Are you ready?”
“I think so,” Maria says. Her voice is very small.
“Good answer,” Rosa laughs. “Nobody is ready on the first day. Come in. It is warm here.”

2 · Flour on the floor

Inside, the bakery is warm and bright. There are three big ovens. An oven is a hot machine — you cook bread and cakes inside it. There are long tables with bread on them. There are big white bags on the floor.

“That is flour,” Rosa says. Flour is a soft white powder. We make bread with flour and water. “Bread starts here, in these bags.”

Rosa shows Maria everything. “The hot bread comes out of the oven. You put it on this tray.” A tray is a flat thing — you carry food on it. “You put the tray in the window. You smile at the customers. Easy!”

It is not easy.

First, Rosa gives Maria a white apron. Then the work starts. Maria carries trays of hot bread from the oven to the window. The trays are heavy. The bread smells wonderful. “Do not run,” Rosa says. “In a bakery, we walk fast, but we do not run.”

At seven o’clock, the first customers come. The little shop is suddenly full. Maria tries to work fast. She carries a big bag of flour across the room — and she drops it. Boom! White flour goes everywhere. It is on the floor. It is on her shoes. It is on her nose.

“I am so sorry!” Maria says. Her face is red.
“It is only flour,” Rosa says. “Take the brush. And smile!”

Then a woman buys bread for three pounds. She gives Maria a five-pound note. Maria must give her the change. Change is the money you get back in a shop. Maria counts the coins. Her hands shake. She gives the woman one pound. That is a mistake — it is not enough.

“One more pound, dear,” the woman says kindly.
“Sorry! Yes! One more pound,” says Maria.

At eight o’clock, Maria wants to cry. Rosa puts a warm bread roll in her hand. “Eat,” she says. “And listen. Everybody drops flour on the first day. On my first day, many years ago, I drop forty eggs. Forty! On the floor of my mother’s kitchen.”

Maria laughs. The bread roll is warm and good. She feels a little better.

3 · The man with the small cake

At nine o’clock, the door opens again. An old man comes in. He wears a long grey coat and a black hat. He is very quiet. He does not look at the bread. He does not look at the big cakes. He points at one small lemon cake in the window.

“One, please,” he says.

Maria puts the little cake in a small white box. The man pays with exact money — no change. He takes the box with two hands. He carries it carefully, like something very special. Then he says “Thank you” and goes out into the street.

“Who is that?” Maria asks.
“We call him the nine o’clock man,” Rosa says. “Every day, at nine o’clock, he buys one small lemon cake. Only one. Every day, for ten years.”
“Every day? Why?”
Rosa opens her hands. “I don’t know. He never says. And I never ask.”

Maria watches through the window. The old man walks slowly down the street with his little white box. She thinks about him all day. One small cake. Every day. Ten years. Who eats the cake?

“Maybe the cake is for his wife,” Maria thinks. “Maybe it is for a friend. Maybe he just loves lemon cake.” But no — nobody buys the same small cake every day for ten years. There is a story here. Maria is sure of it.

4 · The question

The days go by. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Every morning, Maria wakes at five o’clock. Every morning, she walks to the warm, bright bakery. And every day, her work gets better.

Every day at nine o’clock, the old man comes. “One, please,” he says. Maria gives him the small white box. He always pays with exact money. He always carries the box with two hands. And every day, Maria wants to ask her question. But she is too nervous, and the words do not come.

On Friday, there is no flour on the floor. The trays go into the window on time. Maria counts the change fast, with no mistakes. She knows the names of the customers now. “Good morning, Mr Green! The brown bread is hot today!”

Rosa watches her and smiles. “One week,” she says. “Look at you now.”

Maria feels proud. Proud means you feel happy about a good thing you do. Her first week is hard, but she does not stop. Her aunt is proud too. “The bakery girl!” she says every evening. “My Maria, the bakery girl!”

At nine o’clock, the door opens. The old man comes in, quiet as always. He points at the small lemon cake. “One, please,” he says.

Maria puts the cake in the white box. Her heart goes boom, boom, boom — like on the first morning. But today she is not nervous. Today she is brave. She looks at the old man and asks, very softly:

“Excuse me… the cake. Is it for somebody special?”

The shop goes quiet. Rosa stops working. The old man looks at Maria for a long, long moment. Then he smiles — a small, warm smile.

“Yes,” he says. “Very special. Do you want to see?”

He points at the door. Maria looks at Rosa. Rosa takes Maria’s apron and says one word: “Go.”

Maria follows the old man out into the morning street. Where are they going? And who is the little lemon cake for?

Check your understanding

Read each question. Think about your answer. Then click “Show answer” to check.

Words to remember

Here are the key words again, in new sentences. Say each one out loud.

• bakery — I buy fresh bread at the bakery every Saturday.
• nervous — I have a test today. I am very nervous.
• mistake — I write “brid”, not “bird”. It is a small mistake.
• oven — The cake is in the oven. It is hot — be careful!
• flour — We need flour, water, and salt for this bread.
• tray — She carries the cups on a big tray.
• change — The book is four pounds. I pay five and get one pound in change.
• proud — My son can swim now. I am very proud of him.

Talk about it · Write about it

Talk about it: Do you remember your first day at a job or a new school? How do you feel — nervous, happy, afraid? What mistakes do people often make on a first day?

Write about it: Write 5 simple sentences about a shop you like. Use there is and there are. For example: “There is a small bakery on my street. There are many cakes in the window.”

🎉 Well done — you read a whole story in English! That is a big step. And did you notice? You now know the eight new words too.

But wait — Maria is following the old man down the street. Who is the little lemon cake for? You will find out in the next story…

Next story: Read another easy A1 story →

About this story: This is an original A1 graded reader (~1,300 words). It uses simple, controlled vocabulary and the present simple tense, so beginners can understand about 98% of the words. Any harder word is explained before the story and used again inside it.

Khamis Maiouf

I’m Khamis Maiouf. English is not my first language – I learned it as an adult in the UK, passed Functional Skills Level 2 in English, qualified in Hairdressing at Level 3, and I’m now studying Business at university. For over five years I’ve taught ESOL classes in my community and tutored students through GCSE English. I write every lesson on this site myself, for the learner I used to be.