An old woman lived in a little hut in a village. She had a little red hen. The woman loved her hen very much. Every day, she would feed the hen mixed corn and let her out in the courtyard. The hen would walk around, pecking at bugs and insects. Then she would lay an […]
Pip’s family had moved to a big, two-storey house. It had huge empty rooms and wooden floors. One evening when Pip came home from school, the house was dark. “Mom, Sheryl,” he called out. “Tralalaa,” his sister’s voice boomed from upstairs, accompanied by piano music. He wondered when his sister, Sheryl, had learnt to play
Harry looked at the placid lake. This was the perfect campsite, peaceful and beautiful. He recalled that the earlier campers had been scared and had left quickly. What could be wrong with this peaceful scene? Harry pitched his tent, spread out a mat, opened his picnic basket and ate a leisurely lunch. He watched herons
Terry and his cousin Greg rowed towards the swamp. “Look,” said Greg. A decayed boat lay between two rotting tree stumps. “My uncle told me that children who got lost in swamps were cursed to live there forever,” said Greg. “Let’s go back now,” said Terry scared. The children turned back, but their boat ground
Dorothy’s mother had warned her not to buy anything from Mrs. Growell’s shop, but the cookies had smiley faces on them. Dorothy happily bought them. At home, Dorothy bit into one cookie. Weird! The smiley faces were frowning. It tasted terrible, so she threw all of them away. At night, she dreamt that the cookies
Larry had moved into a new house near the edge of the village. Many said the house was haunted, but it had come too cheap to resist. One day, Larry went to the attic. He was flipping through some old books, when he heard a faint rapping sound. Was it his imagination? ‘Rap, rap.’ This
A hunter went to the forest one day. He was a skilled archer and all the animals were afraid of him. They ran away and hid in burrows and dens whenever they saw him. But a tiger was feeling very brave that day. He decided to stay back and fight with the hunter. The hunter
Two young men, Nicholas and Adrian, were returning home after a late night out. As they passed through a lonely road, they saw an abandoned white house to their left. Just then, their vehicle stalled and stooped. Lightning flashed, clouds rumbled and rains came crashing down. Adrian got out and checked the engine. It was
There was once a poor farmer who had lost his crops and his money. One cloudy night, he was walking back home. A dusty black car stopped next to him. “Ronald, I can help you,” said the stranger. The farmer was stunned. He had not introduced himself. The stranger had a thick grey beard and
Sophie and her twin brother Sam climbed down the rope ladder into the deep dark well outside their house. They were following their mother. Of late, their mother had behaved very strangely. She was always in a foul temper. They clambered down, till they saw a tunnel. It led to a room. Through a wisp
Derek waited for Mr. Galsfield, his mathematics teacher, to come out of the school. Derek found him strange, so he decided to follow him. He kept a safe distance from Mr. Galsfield, who lived in an old house on the edge of town. Mr. Galsfield entered his house. Derek crept behind him and stood on
Tom, a young man, used to sell clothes. Once he took his pony and set off towards a remote village in the mountains. On his left, there were high black cliffs that towered over the pine trees on the right. It was a gloomy path, even at noon. As Tom entered a glen, the air
Juan de Grijalva was born around 1489 in Cuellar, Spain, and he died on 21st January 1527 (aged 38 years) in Nicaragua. Juan was one of the earliest people to explore the shores of Mexico. He accompanied Velaquez when he voyaged to Cuba. Velaquez sent Juan to explore the Yucatan Peninsula and after rounding the
The four hunters trooped along the forest trail in a single file. They had lost their way and their horses and were almost crazy with hunger. Darkness descended early as the dense blanket of trees blocked all sunlight. The four men sat below an oak and fell into uneasy sleep. Suddenly, they felt something strong
There was once a wolf who lived in a forest on the hills. One day, he was wandering in search of food when he came across a meadow. Two rams were fighting there. He hid behind some bushes and watched them. ‘If both the rams die fighting, I will have food for at least a