The void shattered. Mariana woke up slumped over her keyboard, cheek pressed against the keyboard, drooling on page 401 ( “To wring: wrung” ). The PDF was still open, harmless and static.
Here’s a short story inspired by 501 English Verbs.pdf . The Conjugation Crisis
Mariana panicked. “I drink, I drank, I have drunk—no, I have drank ?” Verbius buzzed red. “Incorrect. Drunk is the past participle.” A trapdoor opened beneath her left foot. 501 English Verbs.pdf
The screen flickered green, and a robotic voice crackled from her laptop speakers: “You have neglected 501 verbs. Now they will neglect you.”
She passed the exam the next day. And she never, ever made fun of 501 English Verbs.pdf again. The void shattered
“That’s insane,” Mariana whispered.
At 2 a.m., the PDF glitched.
“Begin.”
Mariana laughed nervously. “That’s the first one in the book.” She took a breath. “I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, they are. Past: I was, we were. Future: I will be. Present perfect: I have been. Past perfect: I had been. Future perfect: I will have been. Present progressive: I am being. Past progressive: I was being. Present perfect progressive: I have been being…” Here’s a short story inspired by 501 English Verbs
Mariana had a deadline. Her ESL certification exam was in 48 hours, and she hadn’t touched the legendary 501 English Verbs.pdf since downloading it three years ago. The file sat on her desktop like a digital paperweight.
“Tonight,” she told her cat, Mittens. “Tonight, we conquer tenses.”