One Drawer Each Evening

Your goal

Report progress using the present perfect with for and since.

Read the story

The costume room behind a local performance hall contained twelve wide drawers. Each drawer held a mixture of cloth, belts, labels, and notes from earlier events. When Tomas joined the volunteer team, he offered to organise everything in one weekend. He imagined a quick transformation and a useful photograph at the end. After two hours, however, he had emptied three drawers onto the floor and could no longer open the door fully. His ambitious beginning had made the room harder to use.

Ruth, who managed the hall, helped him put the materials back temporarily. She explained that the room still had to serve several groups that week. They needed a method that allowed ordinary work to continue. Tomas chose one drawer and measured how long careful sorting actually took. He checked each item, removed scraps that nobody could use, and wrote clear labels for the remaining sections. One drawer took forty minutes. This was slower than he had expected, but the finished drawer was easy to understand.

He then made a smaller plan: one drawer each evening when he was available. On a card beside the door, he recorded the date, the drawer number, and the next action. After the first week, he had finished four drawers. He had also learned that belts needed more space than ribbons and that labels were useful only when other people understood them. Ruth tested each completed drawer by asking another volunteer to find an item. Their questions helped Tomas improve the arrangement.

During the second week, Tomas missed two evenings because he had other commitments. He felt tempted to abandon the schedule and wait for another free weekend. Instead, he read the card and returned to the next unfinished drawer. The written record made restarting easier because he did not have to remember every earlier decision. He also stopped adding extra tasks. Washing the curtains might be useful later, but it was not part of organising the drawers. A clear boundary protected the time he had available.

By the end of the month, eleven drawers were ready, and the final one needed only new labels. Tomas had worked on the project for four weeks, and he had kept a record since the first Tuesday. The room had become easier to use through repeated, limited actions. He still liked the idea of a dramatic final photograph, but he now valued something less visible: each evening ended with the room ready for the next person, and each return began with a manageable step.

A conversation to practise

Ruth: How long have you worked on the drawers?

Tomas: I have worked on them for four weeks.

Ruth: Have you kept the same record since Tuesday?

Tomas: Yes, and it helps me restart after a break.

Understand the story

1. What went wrong during the first two hours?
2. How did Ruth test the arrangement?
3. Why did the written record help after a break?

Practise the language

1. Choose for or since: He has kept a record ___ Tuesday.
2. Choose for or since: They have used these labels ___ two weeks.
3. Complete with the present perfect of finish: Tomas ___ eleven drawers so far.