Learn English with Stories ⭐ I Ran Away | Level 3 English Listening & Speaking Practice

My name is Helena. I am 30 years old and I grew up in a small village in Minas Gerais. Our house was old and made of wood. We had chickens walking around and cows in the corral. Life was simple and hard. Every day we worked before the rooster even sang. Since I was a girl, I had dreams of

another life. I helped my mother in the kitchen, carried water from the well, and worked on the land. But every evening, when the sun went down behind the hills, I sat on the fence and looked at the train far away. To me, that train was a door to a new life. One day my little brother asked, "Why do

you look at the train so much?" "Because it goes to places where people are not stuck." I said quietly. My parents were good, but strict. My father, with sunburned skin and a strong voice, believed the world outside was dangerous. My mother also worried, but even with fear in my heart, I felt I

did not belong only to that small place. One night during dinner, my father said, "You have your head in the clouds." "I just look at the train, father." I answered. "Trains are not for dreamers." He said. "A woman alone is not safe out there." "I don't need someone to protect me." I whispered.

My father became angry. "You don't understand the city. Here you have your home." "And if my place is not here?" I asked. The kitchen fell silent. My mother looked down. My father clenched his fists. After that night, the house was full of arguments. My father wanted me to marry someone from the village.

I didn't want that life. One late night, I told my mother, "I don't want to spend my life waiting for others to decide for me." My mother hugged me and said, "The world is not kind to a woman alone." "I know," I said, "but I want to fight for my own life." She gave me a small cloth bag with coins