Anna and her younger brother were returning home from school. They were excited as they knew their mother was cooking spaghetti with meat balls for lunch. They were still a block away from home, when Anna noticed thick black smoke coming from a building to her right. Soon, fire engines arrived, bringing many fire fighters. […]
Once, there was a poor orphan boy. He was very fond of painting. Though he did not have a paintbrush yet he used to paint scenery with twigs. One day, it was his birthday. A fairy gifted him a magical brush. Whatever the boy painted with the brush became real. So, whenever the boy felt
Mini and Suzy were enjoying themselves–splashing in the sea, building sand castles and drinking cold, sweet lemonade. Just then, a man came running across the beach and bumped into Suzy. Instead of apologising, he scowled at her, “Get out of my way, girl.” Before Suzy could react, Mini caught her hand and told her to
Once, Claire and her mother went to a wedding. Claire’s father was unwell, so he stayed at home. When they reached home, mother rang the bell. But nobody came to open the door. Claire said, “Papa is at home, so why is he not opening the door?” “He must have taken his medicine and gone
Bob and his family lived in an apartment on the seventh floor. Every evening, the family would sit down after dinner and watch the news together. Bob’s grandfather called it the ‘Family Hour’. One day, during the Family Hour, Chelsea noticed that the fan was swaying strangely. Before she could say anything, her grand-mother screamed,
Sienna did not like her neighbour’s cat, Tom. She found him very rude. Every time Tom saw Sienna, he would hiss at her and walk away with his tail high in the air. ‘What is wrong with the cat?’ Sienna wondered. One day, Sienna went out cycling. In her excitement, she cycled away from her
Alex and his school mates were on a trekking trip to the mountains. On the first day, the excited children had their breakfast and left for their trek with Sam, the camp organiser. It was a clear and beautiful day, but slowly clouds started rolling in. Sam looked worried. Suddenly, they all heard a loud
Once, a king had two queens. The elder was cunning and ugly while the younger was kind and beautiful. The elder queen was jealous of the younger queen. One day, she decided to get rid of the younger queen. So, she brought a golden pin and put a spell on it. Then she went to
Angela was bored. Her father had taken them all on a hectic tour of Rome–showing them the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon–and Angela was tired. She did not care much for old buildings or their history. She wanted to do something exciting and eat an authentic pizza! All of a sudden, Angela noticed a man push
Pterodactyluses were the winged reptiles that lived during the Late Jurassic Period. They had wingspan ranged from 2 to 11 metres, which made them the largest flying birds. Pterodactyluses were carnivores, and ate meat, such as fish, eggs and crabs. Pterodactylus had a striking similarity to the present day giraffe. They had huge bodies but
Once, a farmer had an old apple-tree in his farm. The tree had stopped bearing fruits but it was home to many creatures. The man decided to cut the tree and use its wood for furniture. So, he brought an axe and was about to cut the tree when the birds cried, “Please do not
Ellen was excited. Today was her first flight as Captain Ellen! The four stripes on her sleeve shone as she entered the cockpit and took her seat behind the main controls. She smiled at Ben, the other pilot. They waited for clearance from Ground Control for a take-off and were soon in the air. Everything
‘It is so hot! I wish I could sleep,’ thought Michael as he struggled to complete his homework. ‘But if I sleep now, I will have to do these Maths sums later.’ Michael shifted his books closer to the window to allow the gentle breeze to enter his room. As he moved, his gaze fell
Nessa and her family were boating in the river in a coracle, which is a small and circular boat. Nessa’s younger brother, Simon, was dangling his hand in the water. His mother pulled him back, saying, “Don’t do that, Simon. The river is full of crocodiles.” Simon angrily moved away from his mother. This movement
Once, a palmist was very famous. People queued up to have their palms examined. But they did not realise that the palmist was not an expert. He just made guesses that turned out right. Sometimes, he knew about his clients by making enquiries about them. One day, in the middle of one such session, a