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0:26 b2 c1 english story true
0:27 true happiness
0:34 what's the one place or thing that
0:37 brings you true happiness
0:39 carol contemplated this question as she
0:42 ate a ready meal and looked out across
0:49 she was sure she wasn't going to find
0:52 true happiness in that office and she
0:54 was most definitely sure that true
0:58 happiness didn't involve eating another
1:01 bland ready meal
1:04 carol had just moved into her new flat
1:06 with her eight-year-old son and the
1:08 property owners hadn't yet finished her
1:10 kitchen renovations
1:13 she had no cooker no working fridge and
1:17 no warm running water so for the last
1:20 week she had lived off sandwiches and
1:23 salads at home and ready meals at the office
1:24 office
1:27 this didn't please carol as she liked to
1:29 eat a healthy and varied diet and she
1:32 particularly enjoyed experimenting with food
1:33 food
1:36 her son charlie was gluten intolerant so
1:39 she had to be incredibly careful with
1:42 what she cooked she felt very restricted
1:45 by not having a working kitchen but she
1:47 was assured by the builders that it
1:55 she really hoped that was the case
1:57 charlie was already looking forward to
2:00 having a hot bath and a lovely
2:07 as she ate her tasteless spaghetti
2:10 bolognese she daydreamed about what she
2:12 wanted to make for dinner she had
2:15 visions of creating a delicious homemade
2:17 pie with fresh vegetables and buttered potatoes
2:19 potatoes
2:22 for pudding she really fancied an apple
2:30 charlie loved anything that had apples
2:33 as an ingredient he'd be so happy if he
2:35 could eat an apple crumble while
2:44 the autumn knights were drawing in and
2:46 carol and charlie loved to spend their
2:49 evening snuggled up on the sofa watching
2:52 their favorite films in their old flat
2:55 they had a big clear wall so carol used
2:57 to project films onto it
2:59 it was better than going to the cinema
3:01 as they had surround sound and there
3:04 were no other people making noises or
3:06 getting out of their seats and blocking
3:14 in the new flat they didn't have that
3:16 luxury but they did have space for
3:20 carol's amazing new sofa she had also
3:23 invested in an up-to-date television now
3:25 all they needed was for the kitchen to
3:28 be finished so they could really feel at home
3:34 for carol having a flat that really felt
3:37 like home would make her genuinely happy
3:40 she really wanted to create a space for
3:49 carol's husband louis had sadly passed
3:52 away when charlie was only four
3:55 since then it had just been the two of them
4:01 true happiness for carol was always
4:03 going for long walks with her husband
4:06 with charlie in his push chair
4:08 she loved to endlessly walk and talk
4:11 with louis they would tell each other
4:13 silly stories and daydream about their
4:20 now carol had to find a new true happiness
4:22 happiness
4:24 she would always miss lewis any
4:27 happiness she experienced didn't eclipse
4:29 her past happiness with him
4:31 she was trying her best to create a
4:35 stable and loving home for both her
4:41 carol was interrupted from her thoughts
4:43 by her colleague who was making their
4:46 seventh cup of coffee of the day
4:48 she smiled politely and made idol
4:51 chitchat then went back to looking out
4:54 of the window and thinking about what
5:01 she was so excited to use all her new
5:03 cooking and baking equipment
5:06 she had decided to move flats as she had
5:09 got a promotion and wanted to have a
5:11 bigger living space now charlie was
5:14 growing up
5:17 the flat was a new build and consisted
5:20 of two large double bedrooms an open
5:23 living and kitchen area a bathroom a
5:26 small spare room which carol had set up
5:30 as a study one ensuite a lounge and a
5:36 a lot of carol's friends couldn't
5:39 understand why she didn't want to live
5:42 in a house but she wasn't a big gardener
5:44 and the terrace was big enough for her
5:47 and charlie to sit out and do exercise
5:49 if they wanted to
5:51 it was also south facing so she could
5:55 sunbathe in the summer the sun and warm
5:57 weather were definitely something that
6:05 having said that she also loved the
6:08 autumn as it was no longer too hot to
6:11 cook and bake all her favorite things
6:13 she was encouraging charlie to get
6:16 involved in cooking and to her surprise
6:19 he loved it he was rather good at it too
6:22 though carol did sometimes get nervous
6:25 when he was using the oven she was
6:33 carol loved her job she worked as a
6:36 volunteer support coordinator for a
6:38 large cancer charity it was something
6:41 close to her heart as not only her
6:44 husband louis but also her father and
6:47 uncle had died from the disease
6:49 the only thing carol didn't appreciate
6:52 about her job was having to go into the
7:01 she liked to go in sometimes when they
7:02 had team events
7:05 or if she was delivering workshops for
7:08 volunteers but generally she liked to be
7:11 in her cozy bubble at home
7:14 working from her study and listening to
7:20 carol ate the last spoonful of her ready
7:23 meal cleared away her dishes and made
7:25 her way back to her desk she could not
7:29 stop fantasizing about her new kitchen
7:32 and the amazing dishes she would cook in it
7:38 back at her desk she plowed through her
7:41 work quickly she felt focused and wanted
7:44 to get out of work on time so she could
7:47 pick charlie up from after school club
7:49 she had a little time to spare and
7:51 decided to search for some gluten-free
7:53 recipes online
7:56 she realized that a lot of the recipes
7:59 weren't always as exciting as the things
8:07 she decided that once the kitchen was
8:10 complete she would start posting her
8:12 cooking and baking creations on
8:15 instagram to try and help other parents
8:18 and carers with gluten intolerant children
8:24 on the way to pick charlie up from
8:26 school she stopped off at the
8:29 supermarket and got all the ingredients
8:32 she needed to make a gluten-free pie and
8:35 a delicious apple crumble
8:37 she hid the ingredients from charlie as
8:41 she wanted it to remain a surprise
8:44 charlie was excited to see her and
8:46 wanted to get back to the flat to see
8:49 what their new kitchen looked like
8:52 as they took the stairs up to their flat
8:54 carol felt a sense of apprehension
8:56 brewing inside her
8:58 she really hoped the builders had done
9:06 she opened the door slowly and there on
9:10 the table was a large bunch of flowers a
9:13 bottle of champagne and a card
9:15 carol almost burst into tears the
9:18 builders and the property owners had
9:20 left the presents to say sorry for
9:29 carol and charlie were overjoyed their
9:32 new home was so sparkling and new
9:40 carol encouraged charlie to go to his
9:43 room and do his homework while she
9:46 secretly cooked his favorite dinner she
9:49 set the table with fairy lights and a candle
9:50 candle
9:53 then she called charlie
9:57 he was delighted he ate every last bit
10:00 he knew what efforts his mum went to to
10:02 make sure the food he ate didn't make
10:11 after dinner charlie helped carol wash
10:14 the pots and clear the table
10:17 then they put their cosy pjs on and got
10:19 themselves comfortable for a night on
10:21 the sofa with one of their favorite films
10:22 films
10:25 they also tucked into the scrumptious
10:29 homemade apple crumble
10:32 as carol laid on the sofa laughing along
10:34 to the film with charlie
10:37 she realized that this was her happy place
10:38 place
10:40 she didn't need lots of money or a
10:43 lavish house or a fancy job
10:47 all she needed was her family tasty food
10:49 and a good laugh
10:52 she decided to take each day as it came
10:55 and enjoy every second of her lovely
11:03 where do you find true happiness
11:11 we hope you enjoyed this lovely english story
11:12 story
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