THINK TALES 3

A collection of short stories

By
Sirhajwan Idek

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 Table of content

Short Stories Page

Ollie’ Sleepless Nights 3
Bonnie the Shepherdess 5
Molly the Grocer 8
Brian the Farmer 10
Dave and the Trolls 12
Polly and the Talking Toys 14
Fiona The Wood Nymph 16
Lola Lovelocket 20
Mike and the Siren 22
Sam & Sally 28
Willa and the Blue Rose 30
Hardy the Porcelain Figure 31
Three Friends and the Treasure 34
Darry the Alien 37
Zobart the Cyborg 42
Chloe’s Bad Hair Day 46

“Think Tales” was originally created by Mohd Sirhajwan Idek

The materials can be downloaded from:
ESL Printables: http://www.eslprintables.com/
ISL Collective: https://en.islcollective.com/

For inquiry, please contact Sirhajwan Idek:

Mobile number: 0168065621
Email address: sirhaj87@gmail.com
Keningau Vocational College, P.O Box 04, 89009, Keningau, Sabah, Malaysia

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 Ollie’s Sleepless Nights

One night, a boy called Ollie could not sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed but he just could
not sleep. When he closed his eyes, he could hear his father slapping the buzzing mosquitoes.
He tried to put earplugs in his ears but he could still hear his mother snoring. He tried to put the
pillow over his head yet his brother’s sneeze was still loud. “Whatever I do, I just cannot fall
asleep,” said Ollie furiously.

Ollie wished that a miracle would happen and that he would fall asleep. Out of the blue, the
Sandman appeared right before his eyes. “Hello, Ollie, I have been waiting for you to fall asleep
so I could sprinkle you with dream dust but here you are still wide awake,” he said. “I couldn’t
sleep because of all the noise. Every time I try to go to sleep I hear a noise,” replied Ollie. “Can
you make me fall asleep and grant me some awesome dreams?” requested Ollie.

“I am going to give you a blanket, a pillow and some pajamas”, said the Sandman. “These three
items will help you to sleep well at night,” he added. “Wow! This is just amazing to have these
magical things,” exclaimed Ollie. “You will find them very helpful,” said the Sandman, handing
Ollie the three items. “Thank you, Sandman,” Ollie said gratefully before the Sandman
disappeared.

Ollie put on the pajamas and placed the pillow on his bed. He climbed into bed and pulled the
blanket over him. “I hope I can dream I am on the moon tonight,” said Ollie just before he fell
asleep. That night, Ollie dreamt of being on the moon where he could actually float in space. He
saw a cow jumping over the moon and when he was trying to reach the cow, he felt a strong gust
of wind blowing followed by the loud sound of someone sneezing. “Gosh, what was that?” cried
Ollie as he woke up. “That was my brother, Tom Tombie Tomkat, sneezing. He mustn’t be able
to sleep because it’s cold. He may need my pajamas to keep him warm,” whispered Ollie. He
went to his brother’s room and asked him to wear the pajamas. His brother stopped sneezing
when he wore the pajamas so Ollie decided to go back to bed. “I still have the blanket and the
pillow”, he murmured.

Ollie went to bed and as he fell asleep, he had another dream. He dreamt of being in their
backyard where all the inanimate objects were alive and frolicking around. He could see the dish
and the spoon were chasing each other. He wanted to join them but then he felt a strong vibration
and heard a rumbling sound that woke him up from his sleep. “That must be Mom snoring,” said
Ollie. “If she continues to snore, I will not be able to sleep,” he whispered. He went to his
parents’ room and replaced his mother’s pillow with the one that the Sandman had given him. He
went back to his room and he couldn’t hear his mother snoring anymore. He decided to continue
his sleep.

In his third dream, he was in a town where all the residents were animals and they were all going
about their everyday business. Ollie heard some nice music coming from a fiddle played by a
cat. He wanted to try the fiddle but before he could, he was startled by a loud thumping sound

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and he felt that the ground was shaking hard. He immediately woke up from his sleep. He
realised that his father was repeatedly slapping at the mosquitoes which were buzzing around
him as he tried to sleep.

“Dad must be having a problem sleeping with the mosquitoes, he may need my blanket,”
whispered Ollie. He went to his parents’ room and put the blanket over his sleeping father. He
went back to his own room and decided to continue to sleep. “Hmm…I no longer have the
pajamas, the pillow and the blanket, I wonder whether I can sleep without them?” said Ollie.
Nevertheless, he still went to bed and tried to sleep.

Ollie felt so calm and comfortable when he was in his bed. He did not hear his brother sneezing
anymore, his mother had stopped snoring and his father did not need to slap the mosquitoes now
he had the blanket. Since all the noise had stopped, he realized he had no more problems falling
asleep. “I don’t need those magical items after all, I just need to make my family feel as
comfortable as me in bed,” said Ollie. This time when Ollie fell fast asleep he had a dream
beyond imagination.

Question

1. What was the message that the author tried to convey using this story?
2. Come with other different ways of how Ollie could go to sleep?

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 Bonnie the Shepherdess

The moment she heard her father’s cough, she knew her father would not be able to work that
day. Bonnie looked through the window and she could see their sheep in the enclosure. Her
father had not watched the sheep for three days and they had already lost two of them. Bonnie
was concerned that the wolf might have been preying on their sheep. When her father fell asleep,
she said to her mother, “Mom, let me watch the sheep today, we cannot afford to lose any of
them anymore.” Her mother hesitantly said, “Alright but remember, don’t fall asleep while
you’re watching the sheep.” “Absolutely Mom, you can count on me,” replied Bonnie happily.
“I will make sure those sheep are safe and sound,” she promised.

Bonnie took her crook and walked to the sheep enclosure. She opened the gate and then led the
flock to a pasture so they could feed on the grass. She sat in the shade of a tree and read a book
she had brought from home. Unfortunately, she fell fast asleep.

When she woke up, she was surprised that she did not see any of the sheep around. “Oh no, the
sheep are gone!” cried Bonnie. “I need to find them and get them back home before dusk.”

Bonnie saw the tracks of the sheep on the ground and decided to follow the trail to see where
they had gone. She kept on walking and walking along the trail until she reached a river where
the tracks could no longer be seen. There was a tree in front of her that divided the trail into two
and there was a bridge on the river which led to another trail. Bonnie heaved a sigh, “I wonder
where those sheep have disappeared to”, she said.

Luckily, Nalissa the water sprite overheard her and immediately emerged from the river. “I
know where your sheep went and I could show you the way,” she said.

“Please, show me which way, I need to get the sheep back home before dusk,” begged Bonnie.
“Alright, but you have to give me something precious in return,” said Nalissa the water sprite. “I
want a bright white pearl as a reward for showing you the right way.”

Bonnie replied, “I do not have the pearl at this time but if I manage to find the sheep, I will find a
pearl and I will give it to you.” Nalissa the water sprite agreed and she showed her the right trail.
“The sheep crossed this bridge and went to the wood,” said Nalissa the water sprite before diving
back into the river.

Bonnie followed the trail and she could see sheep tracks again. However, she lost the trail when
she went deeper into the wood. She saw there were two small hills ahead. Bonnie said, “I
wonder which hill the sheep went to?”

“Hmm…hmm.” Bonnie heard a man clearing his throat. She tried to find where the sound came
from and she looked up in a tree and saw a small man in a green coat and a hat. “I am Lucky-
Dory the leprechaun and I think you may need my help,” he said.

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“I am looking for my sheep and I have lost all trace of them,” cried Bonnie. “I could show you
which way the sheep have gone to but I have a request you must fulfil,” said Lucky-Dory the
leprechaun. “I will give you whatever you wish as long as you help me,” promised Bonnie.
“When you have found the sheep, you must give me a gold bar,” demanded Lucky-Dory the
leprechaun. Bonnie agreed to his wish and he showed her which way the sheep had gone.

The moment Bonnie climbed up the slope, she could see the sheep in a nearby meadow
surrounded by hills. “There are my sheep!” yelled Bonnie joyfully. She gathered all the sheep
ready to take them home. However, she noticed one of the sheep was trampling on a bottle.
“Dear oh dear, what are you up to?” asked Bonnie as she picked up the bottle from the ground.

Bonnie was about to throw away the bottle when she heard a voice calling for help. “Help! Help!
Let me out!” yelled the voice. Bonnie was surprised that the voice actually came from inside the
bottle. There was a genie trapped in there and he was asking Bonnie to help him and let him out.
“I am Toby the genie and I can grant you three wishes if you release me from this bottle,” he
said. “Ok, I will let you out,” replied Bonnie as she opened the cap of the bottle.

“Now make your three wishes,” said Toby the genie as he hovered in the air. Bonnie thought of
her own wishes but she remembered the two wishes of the water sprite and the leprechaun. “My
first wish is for a bright white pearl as a gift to the water sprite,” said Bonnie. “My second wish
is a gold bar for the leprechaun,” she added. “Granted,” boomed Toby the genie. With a puff of
smoke and a popping sound, a white pearl and a gold bar appeared before Bonnie.

“You have one last wish my dear,” said Toby the genie. “You have used the first two wishes for
others. Don’t you want to make one wish for yourself?” he asked. “It would be nice if I could
have it for myself,” said Bonnie, “but my sheep are very thirsty and it is my fault that I have not
looked after them well. Therefore, I am asking for a bucket of water,” she said. “Granted,” said
Toby the genie, and a bucket of water appeared. The sheep immediately surrounded it and drank
the water. “You are a selfless person, you could have used the three wishes for yourself but you
decided to use them for the sake of others,” said Toby the genie before he disappeared.

On her way back, Bonnie stopped at the tree to give the leprechaun the gold bar. Then at the
river she gave the water sprite the bright white pearl. She arrived at home before dusk with her
flock. She was surprised to find a huge herd of sheep in their yard and she could see that her
father had recovered from his illness. “Dad, Mom, what is going on?” asked the confused
Bonnie. “Whose sheep are these?”

Her father replied, “Honey, a genie came to our house and he said that he admired your
selflessness and that he had decided to reward us with these sheep.” “Not only that, the genie has
also healed your father’s illness,” said her mother. “Unbelievable!” cried Bonnie. She was
extremely happy.

Questions

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1. Why did Bonnie choose not to grant herself any wish when she had the opportunity to do
so?

2. Write a different ending for the story. You may change the characters, settings and plots
if necessary.

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 Molly the Grocer

There was a grocery shop that was well-known in the town. It was a place where all the people bought
milk, fruit, vegetables, chickens and many more. The grocer was Mr. Muffet and he ran the shop with
the help of his three children. The youngest child and the only daughter was known as Molly.

One day, when Molly was eating a piece of curd at the back of the shop, she was shocked by a big black
spider that hopped onto her shoulder. “Oh Gosh, it’s Itsy Bitsy Spider!” cried Molly in fear. She was
about to run when the spider said, “Wait, Wait, I am not here to frighten you”. “What do you want?”
asked Molly. “I want to taste a little bit of the curd you were having, I feel so hungry looking at it,”
begged Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

“You could have some of it,” said Molly. She took a pinch of the curd and fed it to Itsy-Bitsy Spider.
“Him…It is extremely delicious,” complimented Itsy-Bitsy Spider. Suddenly, Molly heard a buzzing sound
from outside the window. She saw a bumble bee was bumping onto the glass window again and again.
“What is the bumble bee trying to do?” wondered Molly. “It is trying to get inside,” said Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Molly opened the window and the bumble bee flew in.

“I am Buzzy-Bizzy Bumble Bee,” said the bumble bee. “Well, welcome Buzzy-Bizzy Bumble Bee, you can
call me Molly,” replied Molly. “I smelled something good from your shop and I want to taste
it,”requested Buzzy-Bizzy Bumble Bee. “Sure, let me get you some,” replied Molly. Soon, Squeaky
Squirrel, Hunky Monkey, and Fluttering Finch came into the shop to take a bite of the curd. They all love
the curds made by Molly.

“You have been so kind to us, Molly,” said Itsy-Bitsy Spider. “I think as a return, we could offer you some
help in making the curd,” suggested Squeaky Squirrel. “I agree. At the same time, we could have more of
the curd,” said Hunky Monkey in excitement. “Ok, you can help me if you want,” replied Molly. “Yeah!”
cheered Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Buzzy-Bizzy Bumble Bee, Squeaky Squirrel, Hunky Monkey, and Fluttering
Finch altogether.

The following days, all of them came to help Molly in making the curd. Unfortunately, while Itsy-Bitsy
Spider was trying to taste some of the milk, it fell into the milk unnoticed by others including Molly. “Did
anyone see Itsy Bitsy Spider?” asked Fluttering Finch. “No, I didn’t,” answered Hunky Monkey. “Itsy-Bitsy
Spider was next to me a while ago but I did not know where he went to,” said Squeaky Squirrel. “I guess
Itsy-Bitsy Spider had already left,” said Molly. They all continued making more curd without realizing
that Itsy-Bitsy Spider had fallen into a bowl full with milk that they later used to make the curd. Itsy-Bitsy
Spider was actually trapped in the curd that they had made.

Mrs. Buffy came to their shop that afternoon and she bought the curd from Molly. When she went
home, she sliced the curd open and she was surprised to see a big black spider in it. “Oh Gosh, what a
big spider!” cried Mrs. Buffy in fear. She ran out of the house and yelled, “Molly put a spider into my
curd!” Everybody in the town heard about the news and they felt disgusted with it. They decided not to
buy anything from the shop anymore.

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“This is my fault, I am really sorry Molly”, Itsy-Bitsy Spider apologized to Molly. “It’s not your fault Itsy-
Bitsy Spider, It’s my fault, I should have checked the curd first before I gave it away,” said Molly. “I felt
terrible for Mrs. Buffy for we gave her a defected good,” said Molly. “I think we should make it up for
her,” said Buzzy-Bizzy Bumble Bee. “We could make her the most delicious curd ever,” suggested
Fluttering Finch. “I could bring honey,” said Buzzy-Bizzy Bumble Bee. “I will bring some crunchy nuts,”
added Squeaky Squirrel. “I think some ripe banana will be a great addition to the curd,” said Hunky
Monkey. “Some rice will make the curd tastier I believe,” said Fluttering Finch. “This is great, we could
make the best curd in the world with these ingredients,” said Molly.

On the next morning, they all came together to the shop and started making the new curd with all the
ingredients they had brought. When they managed to make the curd, they brought it to the Mrs. Buffy’s
house. Molly knocked on their door and Mrs. Buffy opened the door. “I am sorry for the incident on the
curd you bought from us, Mrs. Buffy. We want to make it up for you with this new curd,” said Molly
while proffering the curd to her. “How can I be sure there is no spider in it?” asked Mrs. Buffy. “I have
checked this one thoroughly and it is perfect. In fact, it is the tastiest curd I have ever made,” said Molly.
“Ok, I will take it,” said Mrs. Buffy.

Mrs. Buffy took a pinch of the curd and ate it. “Hmm…Yummy Yummy, this is the most delicious curd I
have ever eaten!” exclaimed Mrs. Buffy in delight. “I am sorry for badmouthing on your curd and your
shop on the other day,” said Mrs. Buffy immediately. “I am going to tell the whole town about this
delicious curd and persuade them to try it,” said Mrs. Buffy. Molly was delighted that Mrs. Buffy loved
the curd.

By afternoon, the whole town was lining up in Mr. Muffet’s shop to buy the curd. They were so eager to
try the new curd that Mrs. Buffy claimed to be the most delicious delicacy in the world. “We have done
a great job on the new recipe of the curd,” said Molly to her animal friends. “Our effort had paid off,”
said Itsy-Bitsy Spider. “I could have not done this without you all”, said Molly. Since then, Mr. Muffet’s
shop became more well-known in the whole kingdom for making the best curd in the world and the
bond between Molly with Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Buzzy-Bizzy Bumble Bee, Squeaky Squirrel, Hunky Monkey
and Fluttering Finch grew stronger than ever.

Questions

1. How would you describe Molly’s characteristics?

2. Do you think the incident could have been avoided? how

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 Brian the Farmer

There was a boy called Brian who loved farming so much that he chose to be helping his father in his
farm. One day, his father told him that he needed to take the cows to the market in the town. “I leave
you in charge of the farm, make sure you harvest all the crops and look after the plants,” said his father
before he left.

Once his father left, Brian went up to a haystack and blew his horn huuuuuhhggg! Upon hearing the
horn, all the cows, horses, sheep, chickens and ducks gathered around the haystack. “I call all of you so
that we could have a meeting,” announced Brian. “My father had left, thus, I am now in charge of the
farm and I think we should equally divide the works that need to be done,” added Brian. “Agree?” asked
Brian. “Agree!” cheered the farm animals.

“Now, the first thing that we have to do is to reap the rice,” said Brian. Thus, all the animals and Brian
went to the paddy field and started harvesting the grain. Once, they returned to the farmhouse at night,
they stored all the rice in the barn. “You all can rest and sleep now, we will continue the harvest
tomorrow,” said Brian.

On the next day, Brian went to the barn and discovered that the rice they had gone. Brian immediately
blew his horn huuuuhhgg! All the animals immediately gathered around him. “It appeared that the rice
we had gathered yesterday is gone,” said Brian. “Does anyone know what has happened to the rice?”
asked Brian. The chickens looked at each other and one chicken immediately replied, “We ate the rice,
we are so sorry, we were so hungry.”

“Never mind, we still have plenty of crops we could collect today,” said Brian. “That should make up for
the loss of the rice,” added Brian. “Today, we are going to reap the wheat,” announced Brian. Then, all
the farm animals followed Brian to the wheat field. The animals worked together with Brian in reaping
all the wheat. Once they finished, they immediately went back and stored the wheat in the barn.

On the next morning, Brian was surprised to see that the wheat had gone. He immediately went to the
top of the haystack and blew his horn. All the animals quickly gathered around the haystack. “I found
out that the wheat we had gathered yesterday has already gone, does anyone know anything about it,”
asked Brian. The cows were shoving themselves against each other. One cow finally confessed, “We
actually ate the wheat yesterday, we were tired and starving, we are really sorry.”

Brian heaved a sigh. “Never mind, we still have the maize to be reaped,” said Brian. “Everybody, follow
me to the corn field,” ordered Brian. Brian and the animals reaped all the maize in the corn field and
they stored it in the barn once they returned to the farmhouse.

On the following day, Brian went to the barn and found out that the maize had been also eaten. He
immediately blew his horn and all the animals quickly gathered around him. “I have just discovered that
the maize has also been eaten, does anyone know anything about it?” The horses immediately replied,
“Yes, We have gobbled all the maize because we were so hungry.”

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“What should we do now?” asked one of the ducks. “We have harvested all the crops and now, all of
them are gone,” said one of the sheep. “It appears that the crops that we gathered are also the food
that we all eat,” said Brian. “We have to figure a solution on this problem,” said one of the cows. “We
have a wide land that we could use to cultivate crops, why don’t we use it all?” asked one of the horses.
“If we use all the land, we have enough crops to eat and to sell,” suggested one of the chickens.

“That is a good idea, we should use all the land to plant the crops,” exclaimed Brian. “We all are going to
plant the crops and harvest its yield together, is that alright?” asked Brian. “Yes,” answered the animals.
They all went to the wide land and start to plough the land and plant the seeds. After several weeks,
they all started to harvest the crops and they had more than enough crops not only for sell but also as
their food.

Questions

1. Why do you think Brian never got mad over the animals that ate their crop?
2. Describe Brian’s characteristics?

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 Dave and the Trolls

In a faraway land, there was a town next to a forest where 3 terrifying trolls lived. Every year, the trolls
would visit the town and took the food supplies of the people. Nobody dared to go against them as they
were strong and cruel. One day, a cunning boy called “Dave”, thought of tricking the trolls so he could
save his town. “Mom, I think I could beat the trolls,” said Dave to her mother. “What makes you think
so?” asked his mother in surprise. “Those trolls are strong, fierce and vicious,” added his mother. “They
may be tough and ferocious, but I am smarter than them,” exclaimed Dave. “Oh dear, I can’t let you do
it, it’s for your own good,” advised his mother.

One night, Dave sneaked out of his house and went into the forest. He brought a candlestick and lit it up
so he could see clearly through the night. He finally found the lair of the 3 trolls. When he reached the
lair, he his behind a tree and he could see the 3 trolls sleeping. The first tolls was the biggest and the
heaviest of all , the second one was the tallest while the third one was average in height and weight, in
fact, the third was just as big as Dave himself.

Dave threw a stone to the first troll. “Hey you, Sloppy creature, if you are strong and fast enough, why
don’t you try to catch me,” whispered Dave to the troll without awakening the other two trolls. “You
don’t stand a chance with us, little boy,” replied the first troll once he spotted Dave. “I will wake my
brothers up and we will crush you into nothing,” said the first trolls. “I am just a little boy, you do not
need your brothers to beat me,” said Dave. “Especially when you are the strongest,” added Dave
cynically.

“How dare you challenge me!” yelled the first troll angrily. Upon hearing that, Dave ran while shouting
“Catch me if you can! It’s a shame if you couldn’t”. The first troll rose and chased Dave. He could not see
in the dark night but he could follow the flickering light of the candlestick Dave was carrying. Dave ran to
a river and crossed the bridge to the other side where he decided to wait for the troll. When the troll
arrived at the river, he could see the light of the candlestick in a distance but he could not see the
bridge. He decided to jump over the river but he fell into it. Since he was big and heavy, he was drowned
in the river.

Dave went back to the lair and woke the second troll. “You may be tall but I can run faster,” Dave teased
the second troll. “I swear I will strangle you once I get you,” said the troll angrily. The troll chased Dave
into the wood by following the light from the candlestick that Dave carried with him. Dave hid behind a
tree and the troll could no longer see him. “Catch me if you can!” yelled Dave but the troll still could not
find him. The troll ran around and around until his head bumped to a huge tree trunk. He then fell onto
the ground.

He went back to the lair and woke up the third troll. “I have already beaten your two brothers, now it is
your turn to be defeated,” said Dave. “You may beat them but you can never beat me for I am the
smartest of all tree,” replied the third troll. “If you are the smartest, try to catch me,” yelled Dave before
he ran off.

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Dave ran to the river and crossed the bridge. Once the third troll arrived at the river, he carefully
managed to find the bridge and walked over it to the other side. “I told you I am smart,” said the third
troll. “You may have crossed the river, but you could never catch me,” replied Dave while running.

Dave went into the wood and hid behind a tree. The third troll stopped running when he could no longer
see Dave. He walked around slowly and slowly until he reached the tree where Dave was hiding at.
“Found you,” said the third troll. “You may have found my hiding, but you have not yet caught me,”
yelled Dave. Dave continued to run.

Dave climbed up a hill and found a fallen tree trunk on top of it. He put the candlestick inside it and then
hid behind a big rock near the tree trunk. When the third troll arrived, he saw the light from the
candlestick inside the fallen tree trunk and thought that Dave was hiding inside. “You have nowhere to
escape now,” said the third troll. He went inside the tree trunk and Dave immediately pushed the tree
trunk down the hill. “You may be the smartest but you could never catch me,” exclaimed Dave in joy. He
finally managed to beat all the three trolls.

Dave went back home and he told his mother everything he had gone through. His mother told the
entire town the next day about how her son, Dave, beat the three trolls. Dave was hailed as the hero in
the town and since then, the town was no longer terrorized by the trolls. They all lived joyfully together.

Questions

1. Why do you think Dave decide to trick the trolls?

2. What would have happened if Dave never decided to trick the trolls?
3. Do you think what Dave did can be considered as something legendary

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 Polly and the Talking Toys

Polly love to play with her toy, she had five toys and she named them all. She named her teddy bear as
Sukey, she named her rag doll as Holly, she called her “Jack-in-the-Box” as Jack, she named the dancing
ballerina on the music box as Rina and she loved to call her ventriloquist’s wooden dummy as Poppy.
Polly loved to have a tea party with her toys. She would boil water in a kettle, put the kettle on the
dining table, placed her toys around the table with their own cups and poured hot tea on each of the
cup.

One day, Polly’s parents and her brother went to the town to buy some groceries and Polly was left
alone in the house. She decided to play with her five toys. She boiled the water in the kettle and put the
hot kettle on the table. She went to the kitchen to take some cookies and when she returned, she saw
the kettle had been moved from the dining table to another table. “Hmm, I thought I put the kettle on
the table, how can it move to the other table?” asked Polly. “The kettle is too hot, I can’t stand it, so I
move it to the other table,” Polly heard someone talking to her but she did not see anyone in the house
except her. “Who’s that?” asked Polly. “It’s me, your teddy bear, Sukey,” said the teddy bear.

Polly was stupefied when she heard her teddy bear talking to her. “You actually could talk,” said Polly
incredulously. “Yes, I could talk,” said Sukey the teddy bear. “Me too,” said Holly the rag doll while
waving her hand to Polly. “I can talk too,” said Poppy the ventriloquist’s wooden dummy. “So does she,”
added Polly while pointing at Rina the ballerina on the music box. “And me!!!” exclaimed Jack when he
sprung out of the box. “We all can talk and we have been waiting for the right time to actually talk to
you,” said Holly.

“I never knew about this, why didn’t you all tell me before,” asked Polly. “We could not reveal ourselves
to you before because your parents and your brother were always around,” said Poppy. “We can only
reveal ourselves to those who actually believe in us,” said Rina. “Since you are still a child and you loved
playing with us, we could reveal ourselves to you”, added Jack. “This is great, I now have real friends I
could play with,” exclaimed Polly. Polly and her five new friends started to play around. They played hide
and seek game, they sang nursery rhymes together and they also pretended to have a tea party.

While they were playing, someone knocked on the door hard. Boommm! boommm! The door was
knocked repeatedly. “Open this door now!” yelled the person behind the door. “Who is that, my parents
and brother are not supposed to be at home this early,” whispered Polly. “They would never forget to
bring the key,” added Polly. “Let me take a quick look,” said Jack. He hopped to the window and popped
his head to the window. “It’s a stranger, I think he is a thief,” said Jack. “Gosh! a thief! What am I going
to do?” cried Polly in fear. “He would break the door if I do not open it,” added Polly.

“Don’t be worry, we will beat this man if he enters this house,” said Sukey. “He may be a thief but he
does not know what he is dealing with,” said Poppy. “Do you all have a plan?” asked Polly. “Sure we do,
we always have a plan,” said Holly. Sukey whispered their plan to Polly’s ear and Polly nodded. “I agree, I
hope this works,” said Polly. “It will work,” said Rina.

14
True enough, the thief broke the door and went into the house. He was looking around for any valuable
items he could steal. He heard music being played from a music box with a figure of ballerina was
dancing on it. “That is absolutely beautiful, I am going to take that,” said the thief.

The thief approached Rina and when he was about to pick her, Jack sprung out of the box to the man’s
face. The man was startled and he tripped onto the floor. Poppy at once hopped onto the man’s body
and pinned his body onto the floor. “How dare you enter this house!” said Poppy. “Let me go, you
useless toy,” yelled the thief while struggling to stand up. Holly and Sukey immediately came out of their
hiding and tied the thief’s hands to the pillars in the room so he could not move. Sally came out from the
kitchen with the hot kettle that contained boiled water.

“Promise me you will leave this house and never come here again,” yelled Polly while holding the kettle.
“Otherwise, I will pour this hot water on you,” said Polly to threaten the man. “Please no, I promise I will
immediately leave and never come again to this house,” cried the thief. “Please, let me go,” begged the
thief.

“I will let you go but you have to keep your promise,” replied Polly. “You can never beat my friends and I
if you try to steal again from this house,” said Polly. They finally let the thief go and the thief ran as fast
as he could away from the town. He left the bag that contained all the items he had stolen from the
previous houses. “We should return these items back to their owners,” said Polly. “Yes, we should,”
replied Holly.

Polly and the five toys returned all the items back to their owners. They went back to the house and
they were so happy that they managed to frighten the thief and returned the items he had stolen to
their owners. “I have to thank all five of you, I can never beat the thief without the great help from you
all,” said Polly. “You owe us nothing Polly, you have been a friend to us and you have looked after us all
this while, it is time for us to return your kind deed,” replied Sukey. Polly was so happy that she now had
five friends with her and she would never be alone anymore.

Questions

1. Do you consider the talking toys as living things? Why?

2. Do you believe those toys should be treated the way humans are generally treated?
3. Why do you think Polly considered the toys as her friends?

15
 Fiona the Wood Nymph

“When are they going to stop?” asked Fiona, annoyed by the incessant rumbling of the
lawn mower near the tree she lived. Being a wood nymph allowed Fiona to magically
enter any tree and stayed inside it.

“They are not going to stop until the entire park has been cleared of overgrown grass,”
said Avery the sparrow, adjusting her position on one of the branches of the tree.
Though Fiona was inside the tree, any animal could easily sense their presence and
hold conversation with her.

“All the wood nymphs have fled to the woods and I am the only one left here,” added
Fiona with envious tone.

“Fiona, you’re the only reason the trees in this city are still alive, their lives are
connected to you, if you leave, they will die”, Avery expressed her deepest worry. “The
trees in the city are already withering.”

“The humans don’t need me anymore, they have cut many trees and built all these
concrete towers,” lamented Fiona. “They never appreciate my contribution. They don’t
even know I exist,” cried Fiona with anger and frustration. Brown leaves fell from the
nearby trees as she became emotional.

“My sister said they were having a lot of fun in the woods, partying and playing,” said
Fiona once she regained her calmness. “You and your family can move to the woods.”

“I like staying with humans, humans are good creatures, you just have to understand
them,” replied Avery.

“The trees and shrubs in this park won’t last long Avery, the leaves are turning brown
and the flowers are shriveling,” murmured Fiona. “You cannot live here anymore.”

I rather stay here with the humans, I think I am safer here, plus, plenty of free food,”
replied Avery. “You should see how the humans live,” suggested Avery. “

“I’m going to disguise as a human tomorrow and leave this tree for the first time”, said
Fiona. “I always wanted to do it since I was little. Now that I’m leaving, I need to fulfill it.”

On the next day, Fiona sprayed her luminescent green skin with tanning spray and put
on a comfy shirt with jeans. The squirrels had been very helpful of getting these items
for from a nearby store including a pair of sunglasses, shoes and gloves. Avery had
also managed to get her a green scarf to cover her leafy hair. “I am ready, how do I
look?” asked Fiona.

“You look human,” answered Avery.

16
“Wish me luck,” replied Fiona before she stepped out of the tree and headed towards
the centre of the park where most humans were.

Fiona saw an old lady was walking slowly with her walking cane towards a bench. She
immediately helped her with it. “Thanks for helping me, you’re very nice my dear,” the
woman expressed her gratitude to Fiona.

“I like it here, the air is fresher, cooler and it’s shady, the downtown area is quite
polluted.”

“I thought the city was a great place,” asked Fiona, she sat next to the lady.

“It’s nice but it has fewer trees, just buildings and cars, if it’s not because of the trees in
this park, I would have moved to the countryside,” moaned the old woman. “It’s a shame
that these trees are withering,” grieved the lady while looking at the fallen leaves on the
ground. Fiona felt pleased that the woman liked the trees that she had nurtured and
nourished.

Fiona continued her stroll around the park. She was intrigued by the noise that came
from several people who gathered around the lake. She quickly approached the crowd
and noticed that they were admiring a squirrel. It immediately scurried away to a nearby
bush once a man tried to pat it. Fiona breathed in relief when she saw the squirrel
managed to get away. She followed the squirrel to the bush. “What were you thinking?
It’s dangerous to expose yourself to the humans, they could have harmed you,” Fiona
confronted the squirrel.

“I like the humans, they never harmed me, they always admire me,” replied the squirrel.

“Humans are harmful creatures, look what they have done on this place,” asserted
Fiona. “They have changed it from a beautiful and luscious green land to a city of brick
and cement,” added Fiona. “This is not a place for us to live, the woods are much
better.”

The squirrel stopped munching the nut he was holding and looked at Fiona. “I like it
here even better, it is good enough for my family and I to live, we could be easily lost in
the wide forest full of predators and traps,” said the squirrel. “As long as these trees are
preserved, we will be able to stay here and enjoy the humans’ presence.” The squirrel
quickly disappeared to the deeper bush. “Keep up the good work, wood nymph!”
shouted the squirrel from a distance. Fiona was surprised that the squirrel knew who
she was but she felt joyful that he praised her work with the park.

Fiona was about to walk back to her tree when she heard the bush next to her rustled
repeatedly, it was then followed by a giggly whisper of a human voice. “Is anyone

17
there?” asked Fiona and she was surprised when a young boy jumped out of the
shrubs.

“You got me!” the boy cried. “Oops, I am sorry Miss, I thought you were my friend,
Tommy,” said the boy.

“It’s ok my dear, what are you doing here?” asked Fiona, still recovering from the
sudden surprise.

“My friends and I were playing hide and seek, this is the only place in this city where we
can play it,” replied the boy.

“Really, can’t you play it in your neighborhood?” Fiona further asked the boy a question.

“Nope, there is no place to hide, this park has lots of tall trees and large bush, just
perfect for the game,” said the boy. “Well, I need to hide myself back, if my friends
come, don’t tell them where I am, it’s our secret,” the boy winked his eyes and crawled
back to the bush.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” replied Fiona, amused by the boy’s behavior. “Never knew that
my trees could be a setting for playing game.”

Fiona was smiling all the way back to her home, thinking about the experience she had
in the park. She never realized that the humans and the animals were enjoying what
she had done with the park.

Once she arrived at her tree, she was surprised to see her dying tree has turned
greener and lush. She took a glance around the park and she realized the trees had
become greener and the flowers were blooming. Fiona was immediately filled with
sudden joy and excitement. She started to dance around.

“Looks like someone is very happy,” Fiona recognized the voice, it’s Avery, the sparrow.
She perched on one of the branches in the tree that Fiona lived in.

“I think you’re right, humans are good creatures,” replied Fiona. “I am staying, the city
needs me and I have a lot to catch up with the humans.” Fiona further added, “They
might not know who I am or acknowledge my existence, but they really enjoy the trees
and that alone is enough to keep me happy,” said Fiona.

“Well your happiness is the reason why the trees are blooming, if you’re happy, the
trees will be “happy” as well,” said Avery.

18
Questions

1. Why did Fiona want to leave the city?

2. Why do you think she change her mind? Explain the causes that she decided to
stay.
3. Do you think humans are ruining the environment? How and why? Explain the
effects of their action.

19
 Lola LoveLocket

Lola Locket’s mother passed away when she was just a little girl. Before she passed away, she gave Lola
her beloved locket that she always wore. Inside the locket, Lola put a ribbon that her mother used to tie
her hair with as a remembrance of her mother. Lola always wore the locket until she was nicknamed
“Lola Lovelocket” by the people who usually shortened it to “Lola Locket”.

Lola Locket went to a river that she and her mother used to spend their time together. She sat at the
riverbank and sang her mother’s favorite song. While she was singing, a prince disguised as a peasant
heard her voice. The Prince, whose name was William, was so mesmerized by the voice that decided to
follow it all the way to the graveyard. When William arrived, he hid behind a bush and took a peek at
Lola Locket. He was captivated by the beauty of Lola Locket. “Wow, I have never met a woman whose
beauty is divine and whose voice is heavenly,” whispered William. He decided to wait for Lola Locket.

When Lola Locket was leaving, William revealed himself to her. “Hi there, I am William, I live nearby and
I can’t help but to fall for your beautiful voice,” said the Prince. “I am Lola but people called me Lola
Locket,” replied Lola Locket coyly. “I love to sing but I never thought my voice was great,” added Lola
Locket. “It sounds marvelous to me,” replied William. They both struck up a long conversation.

“Why are you called Lola Locket?” asked William. “This locket was my mother’s gift to me before she
passed away, she always wore it,” said Lola Locket. “I am so sorry, I did not know that,” William
apologized to Lola Locket. “It’s fine, don’t take it seriously,” replied Lola Locket. Lola Locket held her
locket and opened up the pendant which revealed a coil of ribbon. “My mother always used this ribbon
to tie my hair when I was little,” said Lola Locket. “After she passed away, no one tied my hair anymore,
so I keep it here in the locket,” added Lola Locket. “That is so sweet,” said William. After some time,
William had to excuse himself to return to his home but he promised that he would visit her again.

One day, Lola Locket went to the town to buy some groceries. However, on the way home, a group of
knights from the other kingdom came and raided the village. Lola Locket was kidnapped by the knights.
“Help! Help!” cried Lola Locket but no one could even help her. Before they brought her away, she took
off her locket and dropped it onto the ground. She wished that someone would find it.

After the raid, all the villagers were cleaning up the mess left by the invading knights and no one saw the
locket. Luckily, Kitty Fisher, a close friend of Lola Locket, dropped her penny and while she was looking
for it, she accidentally found the locket and knew it belonged to Lola Locket. “Oh gosh, what has
happened to Lola Locket?” Kitty Fisher wondered. She at once informed Lola Locket’s father and the
villagers. “She never took the locket off,” said her father. “Unless if something bad has happened to
her,” added Lola Locket’s father. “Maybe she has been kidnapped, no one has seen her since the
incident,” said Kitty Fisher. Lola Locket’s father went to see the king and reported the news to him. Upon
hearing the news, William immediately rode his horse and made his way to the kingdom. He brought
along the locket of Lola Locket.

20
When he arrived, he challenged the king to free all the innocent hostages and prisoners he had been
keeping. “I challenge you on a duel,” exclaimed William. “If I beat you, you must release all the hostages
and prisoners,” yelled William. The king took the challenge and after a long and arduous duel, the king
surrendered for he could no longer stand the fight.

“You may beat me but you can never the only prisoner you want,” said the king when all the prisoners
were released. Their faces and clothes were stained with dirt and ash that was hard to recognize any of
them. When William asked them for a woman named Lola Locket, all of the women claimed that they
were Lola Locket for they all wanted to be with the prince. “I brought a locket that belonged to the
woman that I am looking for,” said William. “Whoever can guess the content of this locket right, that is
my beloved Lola Locket,” said William. The girls, one by one, guessed the content of the locket and their
guesses were diamonds, pearls, pennies and many more. “Inside of the locket is a ribbon that my
mother used to tie my hair with,” said one woman who was indeed Lola Locket. “That my dear, is
correct,” exclaimed William. “Lola Locket, I have finally found you,” exclaimed William. “You never told
me that you were a prince,” said Lola Locket. “Well, you never asked,” replied William.

William freed all the prisoners and hostages and brought Lola Locket back to their kingdom. When they
arrived, the king and all the villagers were expecting them both. William confessed his love to Lola
Locket in which she reciprocated with mutual feeling. The king was so happy that he declared a three
days of celebration and feast in the whole kingdom. As for William and Lola Locket, they at once got
married and lived happily.

Questions

1. Why did Lola treasure the locket so much that she never took it off?
2. Do you think William had made the right decision to identify Lola by asking the women to guess
the content of the locket? Why?

21
 Mike and the Siren

“Don’t even think of sailing past the island, Mike,” warned his mother, placing a plate of

omelet at the dining table in front of Mike who just arrived from the town.

“But Mom, I’m curious about the siren, I heard so many from the other sailors of her

beauty, her seductive voice and the treasure that she had,” retorted Mike, spreading

strawberry jam on a slice of bread.

“Yes and how they used their gifts to lure and trick the sailors into giving their goods,

foods and money,” replied his mother from the kitchen.

“They said the siren has lots of precious jewelries, and if we are able to escape her

temptations, we can have them,” Mike tried to defend his reason of visiting the forbidden

island. “I think I can give it a try.”

“Don’t let your greed get you into trouble son, stay away from the island,” asserted his

mother.

“ Alright Mom, but still I will have to go to the sea tomorrow to catch fish, storm is

coming soon,” said Mike, an excuse he came up with in order to carry out his plan of

catching sight of the siren.

“Whatever you hear, ignore it, it is the plea of the siren to lure you into their trap,” Mr.

Batson advised Mike when he was untying his boat from the pier. “If you are able to

resist the temptation, you will get reward,” added Mr. Batson.

“Thank you, Mr. Batson, I will keep that in mind,” replied Mike as he started paddling his

boat away.

22
“Just be careful, young man,” yelled Mr. Batson, shaking his head. “Stubborn boy,” he

muttered.

Mike sailed to the sea and headed to the island of Kratua, the island where many sailors

had claimed that the seductive siren lived. As long as I listen to the advice of the sailors,

I will be fine, thought Mike as his boat got closer to the island.

The island was quiet except for the breeze and the sound of waves crashing the rocks

near the beach. There was no sign of living being anywhere. Mike tried to spot the siren

but he did not see any winged beautiful woman playing harp as the sailors had

described. He kept paddling his boat around the island. Soon, he heard seductive voice

singing, accompanied by soft rhythm of music.

Come and See,

Witness the beauty you most desire,

The one you will forever admire.

The voice was soft and gentle that was nearly irresistible. Mike felt the strong urge to

paddle his boat towards the voice.

“I can do this, I have to ignore it,” uttered Mike, closing his eyes, covering his ears with

his hands and tried to think of his mother. Soon the voice stopped. “What a relief.”

Come and see,

The priceless and precious treasure,

So much you cannot measure.

23
The voice was still alluring but it was really assertive at that time, it was so compelling

that Mike struggled to suppress his desire to lay his hands on tons of gold. He told

himself repeatedly the advice given by the sailors he had met. Soon, he no longer heard

the voice.

Come and help me,

End my imprisonment in this misery,

Set me free from this purgatory.

The voice sounded sincere and urgent, it was not assertive and alluring as before. Mike

felt the need to help the siren. “Maybe she is really in trouble,” uttered Mike silently. “No,

she’s trying to trick me,” argued Mike, assuring himself of the cunning tactics of the

siren. However, the voice continued to beg and plead Mike to help.

“She really needs my help, I can’t afford to leave someone in trouble,” Mike decided to

help the siren. He paddled his boat quickly to the shore and tried to find the siren once

he was on the land.

“Where are you? I’m coming to help you,” cried Mike in the darkness. He lit up a torch

and followed the wail of the siren until he reached a woman dressed in a silk robe that

shimmered under the moonlight, her wings were sparkling, and her feathers were gold

adorned with diamonds at the tips. She was learning on a rock to which her legs were

shackled and chained to.

“Are you here to help me?” asked the siren while trying to hold her tears. She kneeled

on her legs and stared into Mike’s eyes.

24
“Yes, I heard you asking for help,” replied Mike. He was not terrified of the siren. He

walked closer and sat in front of her. “What do you want me to do?”

“Please break this shackle that had kept me here for years,” begged the siren.

“If I break it, how can I be sure you won’t hurt me, I heard many stories about you,”

replied Mike.

“I always asked for help from the passing sailors but they always ignored me, they

would only come when I seduced them with my voice and offered them treasures,”

explained the siren.

“How come none of them ever set you free?” asked Mike.

“They did not have the intention to help me, they just wanted to witness my beauty and

demand for more treasures,” answered the siren. “They wanted to pluck all my feathers

and sold me in exchange for more money,” sobbed the siren. “I have no choice but to

sing a song that made them forget about me and return to their ship.”

“That’s a pity, I’ll never do that, I’ll break you free,” said Mike. He ran back to his boat

and took a hammer. He hit the chain repeatedly that it finally broke.

“Thank you young man,” cried the siren joyfully. “You may pluck some of my feathers,

they are made of gold and diamond,” the siren offered Mike a reward in return for his

help.

“No thanks, I am here to help you, I don’t want any reward,” replied Mike. He swallowed

his saliva staring at the gold feathers embellished with diamonds.

25
“Thank you,” cried the siren as she spread her wings, flashing golden light to her

surrounding. She effortlessly jolted to the air and soared higher to the sky. She then

disappeared with a blink of bright light.

Mike returned to his boat and decided to sail back home. He realized that the stories

about the malevolent siren were myths told by sailors who had threatened the siren for

personal gain. As he paddled his boat, he felt it was heavier than before.

“This can’t be true,” uttered Mike, he turned his back and saw a pile of feathers made of

gold with diamonds at their tips. Mike was surprised to see them there.

You resisted the lure for an evil deed,

You put your heart above your greed,

You helped those who’re in need,

You passed all the tests indeed.

The voice was at first soft for the first line. Then it became assertive at the second one

and later urgent at the third line. The final tone was joyful. It was followed by melodic

echo and ended in cheerful laugh.

“The one where she asked for help was actually the final test,” uttered Mike, trying to

make sense of the song he had just heard. “I helped her, I ignored my selfishness and I

took the risk to set her free,” exclaimed Mike. “The myth was true after all, I escaped the

temptations and I’m rewarded!”

26
Questions

1. Why did the Siren reward Mike? Do you agree with her decision?

2. In your opinion, is the Siren good or evil? Why?

27
 Sam and Sally

Sam and Sally were two siblings who always quarreled over everything. When Sam got a new pair of
shoes, Sally would be jealous and demanded a new one as well. If Sally was able to bake a cake properly,
Sam would refuse to eat it. They never settled down on anything except rivalry and squabble.

One morning, when Sam and Sally and their parents were having their breakfast, Sam complained
“Mom, why did Sally get more portion than me?” “Because mother loves me more,” teased Sally. “You
never actually finished your meal, Sam, are you sure you want some more?” asked their mother. “I can
finish them all today,” said Sam. Their mother put more scrambled eggs on his plate and he gobbled
them all up. “Mom, I need more juice, I am thirsty,” said Sam. So their mother poured more juice into
his glass.

“Dad, why did Sam get more juice more than me?” cried Sally. “Because he drinks a lot more than you
do,” said their father. “Because father loves me more,” exclaimed Sam. “That is not unfair, I also want
more juice,” cried Sally. Therefore, their father poured more juice on her glass.

That afternoon, their mother was baking a pie and asked Sally to help her in the kitchen. “Mother, can I
help you too?” asked Sam when he saw Sally was helping their mother. “Mom, let me roll the dough for
you,” said Sally. “No, let me do it for you,” yelled Sam. Sam grabbed the rolling pin from Sally. “Hey,
that’s mine,” cried Sally. They both were tussling over the rolling pin until they accidentally knocked a
bowl of the pie filling down. The filling was splattered all over the floor. “Sam, Sally, look what you have
done!” yelled their mother. “It’s not my fault, it’s her,” replied Sam while pointing his finger to Sally.
“No! he started it,” cried Sally.

That night, their parents were discussing on their children’s constant squabble. “I love them both but
they have to learn to tolerate each other,” said their father. So the parents came up with a plan to make
them stop fighting.

On the next day, their mother called both of them. “ There is a pail of water on the hill next to our farm,
I want you two to fetch it, whoever brings it first to me will get extra dessert for tonight’s dinner,” said
their mother. “I will get it!” exclaimed Sam and Sally at the same time.

Sam and Sally both ran as fast as they could to the hill. They were pushing each other while running to
the top of the hill. “I will be there first, you can’t beat me,” said Sam. “Oh no, you’re wrong, I am faster
than you think,” said Sally. Sally managed to overtake Sam and when she was on the lead, she decided
to hide behind a tree and put a stick on the route that they were using. As Sam came closer, he tripped
on the stick and tumbled down the hill. As Sam tumbled, he dropped a bunch of marbles that scattered
all over the ground.

Sally went out of her hiding and tried to rescue Sam but she tripped on the marbles and fell on her
knees. “Ouch, my head hurts,” cried Sam. “My knees hurt”, cried Sally. They both realized their own
faults and apologized to each other. “I am sorry Sam, I was the one who tripped you with the stick,” said

28
Sally. “I am sorry too, I was the one who dropped the marbles that you tripped on,” said Sam. “I won’t
mind if you are the one who fetches the pail,” said Sam. “I promise I won’t argue with you anymore,”
added Sam. “Well, I think you are the one who deserves the extra dessert,” replied Sally. “I won’t be
jealous of it,” added Sally. “Well, how about if both of us fetch the pail and hold it together on the way
home,” suggested Sam. “That sounds like a good idea,” exclaimed Sally. They both went up to the top of
the hill and fetched the pail of water together. They kept on laughing on their way home over their nasty
tumble.

When they reached home, they called both of their parents. “Dad, Mom, we’re home. We got the pail
you have asked for,” said Sam. “So which one of you that got the pail first?” asked their mother. “Both
of us,” said Sam and Sally. “We both fetched the pail and brought it home together,” said Sally. “Didn’t
you two bicker over who would bring the pail back?” asked their father. “Nope, from now on, we will
not argue over anything anymore,” said Sam. “Yup, we are siblings and we will learn to work together,”
added Sally. “That’s my children,” said their mother. Their parents have both of them a big hug. They
treated their wounds and together, they had their dinner. Since then, Sam and Sally had been really
caring to each other.

Questions

1. Why do you think Sam and Sally constantly bickered?

2. What was the lesson that could learn from what happened to them?
3. Why do you think the parents asked them to fetch the pail of water and bring it home?

29
 Willa and the Blue Rose

Willa was a bossy princess. Since she was a princess, she demanded a lot from her father. “I want a
tower of 12 floors as my bedroom,” Willa once insisted to her father for a tall tower, hence, the king
commanded hundreds of the bricklayers to build the tower. “I want a dress made purely of gold,”
requested Willa and the king had to command dozens of tailors and goldsmiths to design the dress. “I
want a garden full with blossoming flowers,” demanded Willa on her 16 th birthday.

The king commanded all the servants, maids and knights in the castle to build the garden. The maids
planted the flowers, the knights built the fountain and the servants painted the walls. Willa was happy
with the garden and she always enjoyed seeing the garden from her tower. However, as winter arrived,
the flowers started to wither and Willa felt upset. “I want the flowers to blossom all the time,” cried
Willa to her father. “The flowers do not blossom during this season, there is nothing much we can do,”
said the king.

“No, I will ask the maids to keep the flowers blossom all the time during this season,” said Willa. On the
next day, Willa asked all the maids to be in the garden and make sure the flowers blossom all the time.
“In order to make sure you work all the time, each of you is going to wear this silver bell on your neck
and as long as you move around, this bell will continue to ring,” said Willa. “Then I know that you are
working, if I stop hearing the ringing of the bell, that means you have stopped working,” added Willa.
“You will be punished if you stop working,” asserted Willa.

The maids were trying to make the flowers blossom day and night but no matter what they did, the
flowers still remained withered and shriveled. Willa felt dissatisfied that she suspected the maids were
not working hard enough. “From now on, the paths around the garden had been layered with cockle
shells and every time you step on them, they will be cracking and that means you are working,” said
Willa. “If I do not hear any cracking sound anymore, that means you are resting and I will punish you,”
added Willa. However, the flowers never blossomed and Willa was furious over it.

One day, Willa saw a beautiful blue rose that blossomed all the time during a parade in the town. The
rose was located in a backyard of an old wooden house. “I want you to bring the rose to me and tell the
owner that the princess wants the rose,” commanded Willa to the knights. The knights went to the
house and took the flower. The old woman who lived in the house warned them not to do so but the
knights ignored her since the princess demanded to have the rose.

The knights brought the blue rose to the castle and Willa commanded the maids to plant the flowers in
the garden. “Now I feel happy that the most beautiful flower I have ever seen in the world will always
blossom in my garden,” exclaimed Willa.

That night, the old woman sneaked into the tower where Willa was sleeping in and woke her up. “What
are you doing here? Get out of my castle!” yelled Willa. “You stole the flower from me, my precious

30
possession,” cried the old woman. “It is mine now, I can give you as many as gold bars you want,”
replied Willa. “Now get out of my castle or I will call the guards,” yelled Willa.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, you are a princess but you do not have the graceful manners of a
princess,” cried the old woman. ‘I curse you to a worthless pebble and until you show the graceful
manners of a princess, you will remain as a pebble,” cried the old woman while pointing her staff to
Willa. Willa, at once, turned to a pebble and the old woman threw her to the pool in the garden.

On the next day, the maids discovered that Willa and the blue rose had disappeared. The maids told the
king and the king commanded the whole knights, maids, and servants to find Willa but no one ever
found her. Weeks passed by and there was no sign of Willa in the kingdom. The king was so upset over
the disappearance of her beloved daughter.

One day, one of the knights, that guarded the garden, tripped into the pool. When he was about to
swim out of the pool, he heard a whisper from the bottom of the pool. He saw a shiny pebble among the
pebbles in the pool. He took the pebble and brought it closer to his ear. “Help me, help me, I am
Princess Willa,” whispered the pebble. The knight was shocked when he heard it. “How can I be sure of
this, Princess Willa never talked with such manner,” said the knight. “Please help me, I am sorry for
being rude to you all before this, I beg you to help me, please,” begged the pebble. “Yes, I will help you,
but how?” asked the knight.

The moment the knight asked the question, translucent lights started to come out from the pebble and
it slowly formed a figure of a woman. In a blink of an eye, the pebble had turned back to Willa, the
princess of the kingdom. She finally had shown the graceful manners of a princess when she politely
asked for the knight’s help. “Thank you for setting me free,” Willa thanked the knight and gave her a kiss
on the cheek.

That day, the king announced the return of her daughter and the whole kingdom celebrated her return
for a week. Willa apologized to everybody on her awful manners before and she had learned to be more
polite, generous and loving. Willa and the knight eventually got married and they lived in a great joy for
the rest of their life.

Questions

1. Do you think Willa deserved to be turned into pebble? Why

2. Do you think she had truly learnt to be kinder and more polite? Why?

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 Hardy the Porcelain Figure

Hardy was the most favorite pet of Amy, the princess of the Sunny Land kingdom. Hardy was a porcelain
figure with detachable body parts which include his eyes, mouth, nose, ears, hat, shoes and arms. One
day, Hardy was playing ball with Amy Pussycat Pussycat and Baa Baa Black Sheep in the castle’s garden.
While they were playing, Baa Baa Black Sheep threw the ball so hard that it landed on the top of wall.

“I’ll get it,” said Hardy. He ran to the wall and climbed it up. “Be careful”, advised Amy. Hardy reached
the top of the wall and walked slowly towards the ball. Once he reached it, he grabbed the ball and
jumped “Yahoo!! I got the ball,” exclaimed Hardy. Hardy lost his balance and fell onto the ground.
Crash!!!!!! “Hardy has smashed into pieces,” cried Baa Baa Black Sheep.

They immediately informed everybody in the castle. The king commanded all the knights and servants to
put Hardy together but none of them was able to do so. Amy, Pussycat Pussycat and Baa Baa Black
Sheep did not want to give up. They decided to bring the pieces and the body parts of Hardy to meet
Doctor Foster, the best doctor in the kingdom.

“Doctor Foster, my pet Hardy, has shattered into pieces, can you put him together?” asked Amy once
they arrived at Doctor Foster’s clinic. “I subscribe you a Hyper Glue,” said Doctor Foster. “This glue can
stick him together,” added Doctor Foster. Amy, Baa Baa Black Sheep and Pussycat Pussycat put all glue
on all the pieces and put them together. “I am back,” exclaimed Hardy but he could not move because if
he moved, he would break into pieces again. “Alas, I can never play with you guys anymore,” wailed
Hardy.

“It’s ok Hardy, as long as we can be together,” said Amy. “But it can never be the same,” cried Hardy.
“You still can sing songs with us and watch us playing,” said Pussycat Pussycat. Since then, whenever
Amy, Pussycat Pussycat and Baa Baa Black Sheep played in the garden, Hardy would be sitting on the
wall and watched them playing. He felt jealous that he could not play with them.

One day, there was news that a baker had made a talking gingerbread man. The gingerbread was alive
when he took it out of the oven and it immediately ran away when the baker wanted to serve it. The
baker and some animals chased the gingerbread man until he was eaten by a wolf. However, the baker
replaced the gingerbread man’s eaten legs by simply baking him two new legs out of flour and sugar.

“I got an idea,” said Amy excitedly. “What if we just make a new body for Hardy,” suggested Amy. “After
all, all his body parts are detachable,” added Amy. “That is a good idea,” said Hardy. “You can just attach
my body parts to the new body,” exclaimed Hardy.

Amy, Pussycat Pussycat and Baa Baa Black Sheep informed the king on their idea. The king commanded
the best woodcarvers in the kingdom to carve a perfect wooden body. It took only one day for the
woodcarvers to finish the wooden body.

“Now we can attach you to the new body,” exclaimed Amy. They all took off the body parts of Hardy and
attached the mouth, the ears, the eyes, the hat, the nose, the shoes and the arms on the new wooden
figure. “Done,” said Baa Baa Black Sheep when they finished attaching all the body parts on it.

32
“I am back to my old look,” exclaimed Hardy while jumping around in his new body. “Only stronger,”
said Pussycat Pussycat. “I don’t have to worry on breaking into pieces again, I can never break with this
wood-made body,” said Hardy. “Let’s play!” he added.

Since then, Hardy, Amy, Pussycat Pussycat and Baa Baa Black Sheep can play as much as they could for
they have no worry on Hardy. However, whenever the ball landed on the top of the wall, they preferred
to take ladder to bring it down.

Questions

1. Why did everyone try really hard to put Hardy together? Why was he so important to them?
2. Imagine living as something that can break easily like Hardy? What are the issues that you may
be facing? Describe your answer.

33
 Three Friends and the Treasure

“I still feel hungry,” said Rocky as he rubbed his belly. “I only ate peanuts. That’s the only food
left.” Flora looked at Rocky with full sympathy. “Poor you Rocky, I have some bread,” Fiona
opened her satchel and offered Rocky a loaf of bread. “Thank you, Flora.” “Our food source is
running out, the trees are dying,” expressed Firo. “How I wish there’s something that we can
do.”
“I heard about wizard who lived somewhere in the wood, maybe, he can help us,” said Flora.
“My grandfather said he is a very knowledgeable person,” replied Rocky. They both looked at
Firo for his decision. Firo frowned, “I don’t believe in magic, but I guess we can try,” said Firo.
“Let’s go.”
They went to the wood and eventually found a shack surrounded by tall trees. “This looks scary,
we should leave,” whispered Rocky who started to shiver. “No, we need to see the wizard,”
replied Firo. Firo walked closer to the shack and said, “Hello, is anybody inside?” There was no
response except the sound of the rustling branches. Hinggg…the door slowly opened. “What’s
that?” Rocky jumped on his feet. “Just the door,” retorted Flora. “He wants us to come inside,”
said Firo. Together, they entered the house.
They met a bearded man wearing robes in the room. “I see, you came here for a purpose,” said
the wizard, raising his head and stared at three of them. “Our village has been inflicted with
disaster, dispute and famine, we need your help,” said Firo. “There is a treasure far in the land of
nowhere, find it, bring it back to your village, it will end all the troubles,” said the wizard. “What
kind of treasure?” asked Firo but the wizard was already gone.
Three of them then embarked on a quest to find the treasure in the thick forest.
“It’s already late, we should find something to eat,” said Rocky. “Yup, we need to find a place
to sleep for tonight,” replied Firo. Flora glanced around the wood and said, “But there’s nothing
to eat here, it’s all shrubs and bush.” “Not if we ask for some food and shelter,” said Firo as he
pointed his finger on a small brick house at the end of their trail.
They knocked on the door and once it opened, they saw a woman standing before them. “Hi
dear, are you lost? I reckon you need some food and shelter, come in,” the woman welcomed
them to her house. They were surprised that the woman knew why they came to her house.
“What are you doing in the wood?” asked the woman while they were having their dinner.
“We’re looking for a treasure that could help to develop our town,” said Firo before he took a
bite of a peanut butter cookie. “We basically have no more food left,” said Rocky with his mouth
full. “I’m sure you will find that treasure.” “The stew tastes really good,” exclaimed Flora.
“Where did you get all these vegetables and fruits?” asked Flora, “I have a wide vegetable
garden behind this house,” replied the woman.
The woman brought them to her backyard where she showed them her lush garden filled with
fruit trees and vegetables. “Wow, this is amazing. How did you do this?” asked Flora. “Well,

34
there are techniques you need to master for you to have a garden as lush as this,” said Mrs.
Garry. “Can you teach me?” “Sure I could.”
The next morning, they were ready to leave when Flora said, “I’m staying.” “Staying? We need
to find the treasure,” retorted Rocky. “, I want to learn how to grow vegetables and fruits well
enough, we can have an abundance of food if we know how to grow them,” explained Flora.
“Ok, you can stay Flora,” said Firo. “We will find the treasure,” said Firo. “Thanks Firo,”
exclaimed Flora. She hugged both Rocky and Firo and wished them good luck.
While they were trudging through the forest, they heard the horse’s hooves cluttering from their
behind. They saw a man was riding a wagon pulled by a horse. The man stopped and said, “Do
you need a ride? jump in,” said the man. “Sure,” said Firo. They climbed into the wagon.
“What are these?” asked Rocky, stooping on the side of the wagon with his eyes fixed on the
wheels. “We called them wheels. They make it easy for us to carry loads,” explained the man.
“That’s cool,” exclaimed Rocky.
The man dropped them once they reached town. “Thank you,” said Firo. “Let’s go Rocky.” “I
want to stay in this town, Firo” said Rocky. “Why?” asked Firo, surprised. “I want to learn how
to make those wheels. With these, we don’t have to walk to the town to get goods and food,”
answered Rocky. “Ok, you can stay, I’ll find the treasure,” said Firo. He tapped Rocky on his
shoulder. “Good luck, Firo.”
Alone, Firo continued his journey. He stumbled upon two children. Firo saw some oranges on a
tree stump that stood between them. “Is there anything wrong?” “Yes we do,” said the girl. She
nudged the boy. “We found three oranges, we don’t know how to divide them equally,” said the
boy. “Each of you gets one.” Firo gave them two oranges each. “But how about that?” asked the
boy, pointing his finger to the last remaining orange. “This one, slice it into two and each of you
can have half of the orange.” Firo took out his sword and cut the orange at once. “Enjoy,” said
Firo. “Thanks!” exclaimed the children.
Firo suddenly smiled and said, “Of course.” “Thank you guys, you have helped me to find my
treasure,” said Firo before he strode away. The children looked at each other and shrugged.
Firo went back to the town where he left Rocky. He found Rocky was riding a wagon pulled by a
horse. “ Firo, have you found the treasure?” asked Rocky. “I did, but I’ll show you later, we need
to get Flora,” said Firo. “Hop in,” said Rocky. They fetched Flora from the house that they had
stayed before. “Where is the treasure?” asked Flora. “I’ll show you later, let’s get back to our
village first,” replied Firo. “What are those?” asked Rocky. “These sacks contain all the seeds
that we can sow in our village,” said Flora.
“The wizard said that the treasure could help us to build our village and we must seek for it.I
realized what he meant with that.” Firo looked at Flora and Rocky and said. “In case you haven’t
noticed, we have already found the treasure, it’s already in us,” said Firo. Rocky and Flora
frowned, trying to digest the meaning of Firo’s words.
“I got it! I learned how to grow plants which will be our source of food,” exclaimed Flora.
“That’s my treasure. With these new skills, we are not going to be starving anymore.” “And I
have learned how to make wheels and use them for transportation,” said Rocky. “We don’t have

35
to walk to carry all the loads and goods.” “What is your treasure, Firo,” asked Flora. “Our village
is in chaos and feud, I can be a leader to our village” said Firo. “Our village needs us.”

Questions

1. What is the real treasure in the story?

2. In your opinion, what does it take to develop a society? Why

36
 Darry the Alien
Darry was a wind-up alien from a planet called Zoha where all the inhabitants of the planet were
wind-up creatures. He looked pretty much like humans except his green skin, his plump butt
cheeks, and two tentacles on his head. Darry was an alien who could dance if the handle on his
back was turned. There were not many wind-up aliens who could dance when their handle was
turned and because of that, Darry was a top dancer in his planet where he won numerous dance
competitions. He eventually was selected to represent his planet in an intergalactic dance
competition.
“You have to win this for our planet dear,” said his father, rubbing his son’s smooth hairless
head. “Don’t worry dad, I will win the cash prize,” promised Darry. “ Darry had dressed in grey
star-spangled suit for the competition. “Don’t forget your shoes,” said his mother who handed
him a pair of roller skates. “I’ll make both of you proud,” said Darry. He kissed his parents’
cheeks before he headed to his spaceship. “I have packed everything in your bag, money, food
and whatever that you need,” yelled his mother when Darry was already away from his parents.
“Yeah mom, I know,” replied Darry. He turned back and waved at his parents.
In a matter of seconds, Darry’s silver disc-shaped spaceship was already in the outer space,
hurtling fast through the vacant and quiet space. “I’m going to win this time, no doubt,” said
Darry to his computer screen that was showing the videogame he was playing.
His spaceship was automatically operated to land on planet Formaza where the dance
competition was held. As the flying saucer heading towards the planet, an unexpected incident
took place…Bangggg……Grrrrhhhhh…. “What is happening?” asked Darry when he heard the
bang. “Gosh, it’s meteoroids,” exclaimed Darry when he saw torrents of meteoroids moving fast
towards his direction. He was busy playing video game that he missed the coming meteoroids.
He tried to steer his spaceship to dodge the meteoroids but it was too late, his flying saucer had
been already damaged by a collision with one of the meteoroids. He had no choice but to crash-
land his flying saucer on any planet as fast as possible. Darry looked through the cockpit window
and he could see a blue planet in a distance. “That’s a perfect planet to crash-land on,” whispered
Darry. He steered his flying saucer towards the planet.
“Found you,” exclaimed Alex. He tapped his cat, Zhumi, on his back. The cat was sitting under a
bench next to the fountain in the garden. “How did you do that? You always manage to find me
whenever I hide,” complained Zhumi. “This garden is wide but you always hide in the same
place again and again, that’s why it’s easy for me to find you,” replied Alex. “I never like
playing hide and seek,” Zhumi curled on the ground. Alex stooped and fingered its body. “You
will like it if you learn how to hide better,” said Alex jokingly.
“What’s that? Is that a shooting star?” asked Zhumi. Alex looked to the sky and he saw a shiny
object was hurling down from the sky before disappeared in the horizon with a puff of smoke
and a loud crashing sound. “Whatever it is, it has landed just few miles from here, let’s go and
have a look at it,” said Alex. They immediately ran to the direction where the object had fallen.
Darry’s flying saucer fell right on a tree and it was stuck among the branches. Darry opened the
cockpit window and he jumped out of his flying saucer onto the ground. He was wiping the dust
on his suit when Alex and Zhumi arrived.

37
“Who are you?” asked Darry when he saw a human and an animal. “Forget who we are, who are
you? An alien,” exclaimed Alex delightedly. “What planet is this?” asked Darry, confused over
Alex’s sudden excitement. “It’s called Earth, welcome, anyway,” replied Alex. He grabbed
Darry’s hand and shook it firmly. “I’m Alex and this is my cat, Zhumi,” Alex introduced himself
and Zhumi to Darry. “Nice to meet you,” added Zhumi. “I’m Darry, I’m from a distant planet
called Zoha, what planet is this?” asked Darry. “It’s earth,” replied Alex. “Never heard of it
before,” Darry wondered whether he had ever recalled of anyone in his planet talked about the
existence of Earth. “Yeah, I’m sure, I never heard of it before.”
“Are you ok?” asked Alex to Darry when he saw the damaged flying saucer on the tree. “I am
good but my flying saucer cannot longer fly,” said Darry in dismay. “We can send it to the car
repair shop,” suggested Zhumi. “That’s a good idea,” exclaimed Alex. “But how?”
Alex and Zhumi sought the help of the people in the neighborhood including his parents and the
sheriff to carry the flying saucer to the car repair shop. They were surprised that a wind-up alien
landed on their neighborhood. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell the authority,” said Mr. Major the
sheriff to Darry shortly before he and the other folks left the car repair shop.
In the car repair shop, Bob the mechanic inspected the damage. “How is it?” asked Darry. “It
needs a new engine, said Bob. “ I don’t have the engine and it’s really expensive,” added Bob.
“It’s about 200 dollars.”
“I have some money,” said Darry. He opened his bag and grabbed something out from it. Alex,
Bob and Zhumi were surprised to see a lump of colourful feathers on Darry’s hand. “What are
those?” asked Zhumi. “It is money, each feather represent different value, the longer the feather
is, the more valuable it is. Aren’t you all familiar with money?” Darry was baffled over their
surprised looks. “We do have money but they don’t look like this, we cannot use this to buy
anything here,” said Alex.
“Really, in that case, I can never go back,” said Darry in dissapointment. “Don’t be sad Darry, I
am pretty sure there is something that we can do,” said Alex to him. “How are we going to raise
such amount of money?” asked Darry. “We’ll figure something out, don’t worry,” replied Zhumi
although he did not have any idea on how they would gather such amount of money.
“Hey what is this?” asked Bob when he saw a handle at the back of Darry. “Well, if you turn it,
you will be surprised over what I can do,” answered Darry. Bob grabbed the handle and turned it
several times. The handle rattled when it was turned.
Splattt……Darry automatically switched to his dance mode. He bobbed his head, swung his
hands back and forth, swayed his hips from side to side, and he even did the split, extending his
legs to the left and right of his torso. Alex, Zhumi and Bob were surprised by the dance routine
that Darry was able to do.
“So you could actually dance,” said Alex in surprise. “Yes, if the handle on my back is turned, I
will be able to do all the moves,” replied Darry. “In fact, I was on my way to a intergalactic
dance competition to represent my planet, until my spaceship crashed,” added Darry. “Really, I
wonder who represents planet earth,” said Alex. “I doubt anyone does, there are not many

38
species who could dance like us, we’re wind-up aliens, we wind our handle, we can do any skill
based on our own specialty, my specialty is dancing, it’s a natural gift,” Darry proudly explained
the uniqueness of his kind as wind-up aliens.
Alex’s face immediately lighted up. “I think I know how we are going to get the money,” he
exclaimed. “You will dance in front of everybody and we will see how much they are willing to
donate,” said Zhumi. “Great idea, I love to dance!” said Darry in joy. “How am I going to dance
looking like this?” asked Darry who was worried over his different appearance. “We’ll tell them
that you are dressed in costume,” said Zhumi.
“It will be good if you could do breakdancing, ballet, salsa and other types of dance,” said Alex.
“What are those? Can you show me?” requested Darry. “Music please,” said Alex and Zhumi
immediately took out his mobile phone and turned on the music player on it. As the music
started, Alex started to tap his feet on the floor in rhythmic moves and as the music went faster,
Alex flipped his body and landed on his hands and feet. He continued to dance with his legs
while his hands supporting his body. Zhumi stopped the music and Alex resumed his standing
position. “Wow, those are nice moves,” said Darry who was impressed with Alex’s dance
routines. “Those are tap dance and breakdance,” said Alex. “How did you do that?” asked Darry.
“You don’t have a handle on your back that could be turned.”
“Unlike you, we actually have to learn and practice to dance, only then we can have the abilities
to do it,” replied Alex. “That’s hard, we don’t have to learn anything, we are automatically
operated, we only need our handle to be turned in order to do what you just did,” said Darry.
“Humans are not like your kinds, we have to learn and practice,” said Alex. “What a pity,”
whispered Darry with a patronizing look.
The next day, Darry, Alex and Zhumi went to the busiest street in town. Zhumi turned on the
radio and Alex turned the handle at the back of Darry. Darry started to dance. He spun his body,
did a complete flip, and swung his legs with his hands on the ground. Within a few seconds, a
flock of people had already gathered around Darry and they could hear people dropping coins on
the ground. Once they were done, they counted the money they got but it was still not enough.
“We need about 150 dollars more,” said Alex.
“I have an idea, we could dance in the carnival across the road,” said Zhumi. “I will do it,”
replied Darry. “Let’s go,” said Alex. They headed to the carnival and went into the Big Top.
At the backstage of the Big Top, Alex turned the handle at the back of Darry and Zhumi played
the music from their radio. Darry went to the stage and started his performance. He did all kinds
of dance from tap dance, break dance, salsa, ballet and some were even unknown to humans.
Darry was able to copy all the dance moves that Alex had done before due to his nature of being
a wind-up being. The crowd continuously cheered during his performance. At the end, they
calculated the money that they managed to collect from the audience. “It’s enough, in fact, it’s
more than enough, we have 300 dollars,” exclaimed Alex. He put all the money into a satchel
bag and put it on Darry’s shoulder. “That’s your money. Let’s go back to the shop.”
When they were walking on the street, two men wearing a mask jumped from the bush. “Give
me your money or else,” one of the men threatened them with his knife while the other one took
their bags and rummaged them. “Hmmm, money,” cheered the man when he took out the 300

39
dollars from the satchel bag that Darry had been carrying. “Please, don’t take that money, we
need it,” begged Alex. “I need that money to go back,” cried Darry. “Well, we need it too,” said
the man ignorantly, putting the money into his pocket. “Thanks kids,” said one of the men
cynically before they ran to the nearby alley and disappeared in the dark.
“What are we going to do now? I can never make it back to my planet,” cried Darry. “Don’t give
up Darry, we just need some more money “, said Alex. “Do you have any other idea Zhumi?”
asked Alex. Zhumi frowned, he took a glance around the street and something caught his
attention. “Absolutely, Darry can join the dance competition held in the town hall tonight”,
exclaimed Zhumi. He pointed to a poster on a tree trunk across the road. “The first prize is cash
500 dollars, that’s more than enough.” “Dance competition, I am surely ready for it,” exclaimed
Darry. “I’ll show them all the dance moves that Alex had shown me,” said Darry confidently.
That night, Darry was ready to perform with the aid of Zhumi and Alex. The dance competition
required two assistants for each contestant, a deejay and an announcer. Zhumi happily
volunteered himself to be the deejay while Alex was confident that he could be the person that
introduced Darry on the stage. “I’m going to win, no one can dance better than me, they are not
like me, I have the natural gift in dancing, I just need to have my handle turned,” Darry told
Zhumi and Alex before the competition started. “We wish you luck buddy,” said Alex before he
and Zhumi went to the stage.
When Darry was on the backstage, he remembered that someone needed to turn the handle on his
back, however, Alex and Zhumi were already on the stage and he could not reach the handle by
himself.
“Presenting you, Darry, the greatest dancer ever!” announced Alex. Darry had no choice but to
go to the stage and face the audience. When the music was played, Darry was not dancing. “Oh
gosh, I forgot to turn the handle, how can he dance without being wound up,” whispered Alex
anxiously when he noticed that Darry was not dancing. Alex wanted to help Darry to turn the
handle on his back but he was already on the stage and they would see their actual trick.
The crowd started to boo Darry as he stood still on the stage. “There must be something that I
can do,” whispered Darry. Darry tried to remember all the dance moves he had performed. “I can
perform the dance without having my handle turned,” whispered Darry. Darry remembered what
Alex said about the need for humans to learn and practice before they could gain the ability to do
something. “If humans can learn, so do I,” Darry murmured to himself, he tried to boost his
confidence that he was able to dance without the help of his gift.
Darry closed his eyes and tried his best to focus on all the dance moves he had done before. He
remembered the movements of his legs, his arms, his hips and above all, he could clearly picture
himself dancing before him. Before he knew it, he was spinning like a whirlwind and moving
his legs like nobody had ever done before. He was doing all the dance routines he had done
before and he kept on switching from one dance to another. The crowd started to cheer him and
when he finished, they gave him a standing ovation.
“How did you do that? How could you dance without being wound up?” asked Alex when Darry
left the stage. “I remember when you told me that humans do not have natural gift in dancing,

40
they have to learn and practice. Well, I guess I’m a fast learner,” said Darry. He hugged both
Alex and Zhumi. “We’re so happy for you,” exclaimed Alex and Zhumi.
Darry was announced as the winner of the dance competition and he received the prize for the
winner. ‘I’ve never seen such a great dance move in my life,” commented the head judge when
he announced Darry as the champion. Darry went to the stage and received cash prize of 500
dollars. “I could have not done this without two of my friends, Alez and Zhumi, thanks to them,”
said Darry when he was delivering his winning speech.
They rushed to an automobile store and bought the engine that Darry needed for his flying
saucer. They immediately brought it to the car repair shop. In a couple of hours, Bob the
mechanic finally managed to fix Darry’s flying saucer. “Yup, it’s good to go,” said Bob when he
started up the engine. “Yippie!” shouted Darry. “I can finally go back.”
“We’ll miss you, Darry,” said Alex when Darry was about to leave. “I will miss you guys too, I
could have never done this without you all,” replied Darry. “You taught me the importance of
learning and practicing, I can do a lot more than dancing if I’m willing to learn,” added Darry.
“Well, now that your flying saucer is fixed, you can always visit us,” said Zhumi. “I will,”
promised Darry before he got into his flying saucer and flew away.
Darry might have missed the dance competition held in the other planet but he had already won a
dance competition on earth. He managed to do it not because he was simply a wind-up alien
whose dance was his specialty but because he learned and he practiced. I could not wait to show
the new dance moves to the residents of planet Zoha, thought Darry.

Questions

1. Darry was an alien from another planet but he also could dance like humans usually do. What do
you think the role that dance plays in our universe? Do you think it is a universal practice? Why?

2. What would have happened to Darry if he didn’t return to his planet?

41
 Zobart the Cyborg
Zobart was a cyborg police officer in a town called Gomania. He wore a blue battle visor, a
white helmet with red stripes around it and he was fully dressed in a special armored suit. His
suit was equipped with a special weapon of energy ball launcher in which could shoot an energy
ball from his chest. However, in a town that was peaceful and blissful, he rarely had the chance
to use the weapon. Years ago, Zobart was fully human but a car crash while chasing some
criminals rendered him severely injured. He could have died due to internal organ failures but the
doctors managed to revive him by replacing his human body with an artificial body. The doctors,
however, managed to transfer his memory to his new brain. Since then, Zobart become more
determined in fighting crime. As a law enforcer, he vowed to do whatever it took in order to
make sure the city safe. This included patrolling the streets night and day, helping a senior
citizen to cross the road, saving a cat from drowning and even putting criminals behind the bar.
On the morning of their National Day, Zobart was assigned to guard the shopping precinct of the
town where the main event would take place. He saw Mrs. Wellington ran towards him and she
anxiously said, “Officer Zobart, I have something important I need to tell you, something big.”
“What is it? Did anyone steal your purse?” asked Zobart while clenching his fists. “No, not my
purse, this is something bigger” said Mrs. Wellington as she tried to catch her breath. “Did
anyone break into your house?” asked Zobart. “No, this is the biggest ever,” answered Mrs.
Wellington. “How big it is?” asked Zobart eagerly. He powered up his energy ball launcher in
his chest. He was ready to battle any criminal to protect the town. “The biggest cupcake we had
ever made was gone!” Mrs. Wellington finally broke the news to Zobart. ‘Cupcake!” exclaimed
Zobart in surprise. He immediately turned off his energy ball launcher. “The cupcake is the
highlight of the parade and it will be presented to the mayor,” said Mr. Wellington who had just
arrived and stood next to his wife. “The parade cannot go on without the cupcake.”
“How can that be possible?” asked Zobart who was clearly disappointed. He expected something
that was more serious than a missing giant cupcake. “Well, we baked the cupcake last night in
our bakery and loaded it onto our container truck in our garage. This morning, I drove the truck
to the town hall and we were surprised that the giant cupcake was not in the container when we
opened it”, explained Mr. Wellington. “What should we do now?” asked Mrs. Wellington.
“We need to interrogate the possible witnesses and suspects,” said Zobart. Zobart started to take
the case seriously. The people would put the blame on me if I could not solve this case, thought
Zobart. He suddenly felt the pressure on finding the missing giant cupcake. He had to find the
cupcake before the parade started which would take place that night. “Did you see anyone
suspicious that night?” asked Zobart. Mrs. Wellington frowned. She tried to gather her
recollection of what she had seen on that night. She suddenly flinched and said, “I saw a dark
figure of a human outside the house around 2 p.m. last night, the figure was standing on the
street, looking on the ground.” “The person must be the one who stole the cupcake, no one else
would be walking around the neighborhood at that time,” added Mr. Wellington. “Except…” Mr.
Wellington paused temporarily and said, “Except if it was Rina, she always jogged at night, it
could be her.” “Don’t yet jump to conclusions, Mrs. Wellington,” said Zobart. “Let me
interrogate her first.”
Rina was called to the office department several minutes later. In the interrogation room, Zobart
asked Rina if she saw anything the night before. “It’s true that I jogged last night and I did

42
briefly stopped in the front lawn of Mr. Wellington’s house,” Rina admitted that the figure was
her. “However, I stopped because I saw some traces of vanilla and strawberry cream on the lawn
and on the pavement,” said Rina. “ I swear I didn’t do it, I didn’t even touch anything,” said Rina
anxiously. “Calm down, Rina, I’m not saying that it was you who took the cupcake,” replied
Zobart.
“That means the cupcake was already missing when you arrived. The traces of the cream that
you saw must have dripped from the giant cupcake when it was being carried out,” Zobart tried
to make sense of what Rina saw on that night. “Well, I did smell a freshly-baked chocolate chips
when I was jogging past a garbage truck, I found it weird since garbage truck is always stinky,”
said Rina. “Maybe the cupcake was in that truck. Maybe, the driver was the one who stole the
cupcake, you have to arrest him, Officer Zobart,” exclaimed Rina. “The cupcake is very
important to the parade and whoever stole it must be punished!”
“I cannot arrest anybody without evidence, Miss,” said Zobart. “But I’ll call the truck driver to
come here,” added Zobart. Zobart eliminated Rina from the suspect list since she was a witness
to the incident. As he had already interrogated Rina, she was allowed to leave. Zobart then
called Pete, the driver of the garbage truck who was on duty on the night before, to come to the
police department.
“I never checked what’s inside the garbage truck, but I could feel that there was something heavy
inside it, someone must have put the cupcake in it,” said Pete. “What made you think so?” asked
Zobart. “Well, when I stopped the truck in front of Mr. Wellington’s house, I was in the driver
seat, I looked to the side mirrors and I saw two figures carrying something huge towards the back
of the truck. I thought someone was helping me out with the garbage, besides, it was dark, I
couldn’t really see them,” said Pete. “Hm, the two people must have thrown the cupcake into the
truck. Who could have done that?” asked Zobart who became more and more confused on who
had stolen the cupcake. “Ask Mr. and Mrs. Wellington, they might have some enemies that want
to sabotage with them, they have a luxurious life and a lucrative business, people can get envious
of it,” said Pete. “You may not find the cupcake officer Zobart, but you still can find the culprit
that stole it,” asserted Pete.
Zobart started to lose his composure. He became more anxious on the unsolved mystery of the
missing cupcake. He went to see Mr. and Mrs. Wellington in their house. “Did you catch the
thief?” asked Mrs. Wellington the moment she saw him standing at their door when she opened
it. “Unfortunately no, I have interrogated some witnesses but I could not identify the culprit,”
said Zobart. “However, Pete did say that he saw two figures carrying something huge and
possibly threw it into his garbage truck,” added Zobart. “It may be the cupcake.”
“You mean the cupcake had been stolen and thrown into the garbage truck! Who could have
done such a wicked deed?” cried Mrs. Wellington, appalled upon knowing that someone had
thrown their cupcake into garbage. “Was there anyone who could have seen you two carried the
cupcake and loaded it into the delivery truck?” asked Zobart. “Well, only me, my husband,
nobody else was there,” said Mrs. Wellington. “Except…Mr. Butler, I saw him last night, he was
standing across the road when we loaded the giant cupcake onto the truck,” added Mrs.
Wellington. “I saw him too and he was staring at us,” said Mr. Wellington. “Or he was staring at
the giant cupcake, he was the one who stole it!” cried Mrs. Wellington.

43
“Let’s not jump to conclusions, there is no proof that he stole it” replied Zobart once he heard the
accusation made by Mrs. Wellington. “We don’t need evidence, he has been our rival in this
business and he is always envious of our success,” said Mr. Wellington. “He clearly tries to ruin
our business,” added Mrs. Wellington. “We’ll tell everybody about this, he has to pay over what
he has done,” said Mr. Wellington. “You can’t do that Mr. Wellington, he might have not done
it,” retorted Zobart but Mr. Wellington and Mrs. Wellington ignored his warning and left. Zobart
felt guilty for stirring up their suspicion on Mr. Butler as the perpetrator.
“Hey everybody, Mr. Butler was the one who stole the cupcake!” yelled Mr. Wellington in his
lawn. His voice was loud enough to be heard by the whole neighborhood. “We need to punish
him!” cried Mr. Wellington angrily. “Mr. Wellington, you cannot do this, we have no proof,”
Zobart tried to dissuade Mr. Wellington from organizing the protest. “ Leave it to me, officer
Zobart, I’ll solve this here and now,” replied Mr. Wellington determinedly. Mrs. Wellington, on
the other hand, went into their house and made several phone calls to their friends and neighbors,
telling them to gather in front of Mr. Butler’s house. The news that Mr. Butler had stolen the
cupcake spread quickly among the people and they all rallied in front of his house. “Return the
cupcake to the town, Mr. Butler, we know you stole it!” yelled Pete who was one of the earliest
persons to arrive at the house. “I did not steal the cupcake, I could have not done it!” cried Mr.
Butler from his window. “Please leave now,” he added. He had locked all the doors and the
window so they could not get inside. “Just admit it, Mr. Butler, you stole the cupcake!” cried
Mrs. Wellington in anger.
Zobart, angered by the protesting crowd outside Mr. Butler’s house, arrived at the house and
ordered everybody to be silent, “I command you all to stop shouting accusations on Mr. Butler.
None of you have the proof that he’s guilty.” Zobart went to the front door of the house and
asked Mr. Butler to let him in so he could talk to him. “If I let you in, you are going to arrest me
for something that I didn’t do,” said Mr. Butler. “I know you didn’t steal the cupcake. I’m not
going to arrest you, I just need to talk to you,” said Zobart. “You might have witnessed anything
that could lead us to the truth,” said Zobart as he attempted to persuade Mr. Butler to come out
and talk to him.
Mr. Butler finally came out of his house. “You’re going to be fine, I won’t let them hurt you,”
said Zobart to comfort him. The crowd glared fiercely at Mr. Butler. However, Zobart’s presence
had prevented them from expressing their anger. “Did you see anything suspicious the night you
saw the cupcake?” asked Zobart. “Yeah, I saw you stopped and stared at us when we were
loading the giant cupcake,” retorted Mr. Wellington. “Well, I did see something and I was
surprised to see it,” said Mr. Butler. “I wanted to tell you but since we are not really friends, I
was not sure whether you would listen to me,” added Mr. Butler. “What was it?” asked Zobart.
“I saw them loading the giant cupcake into the garbage truck. The truck had parked next to their
bakery,” said Mr. Butler. “What!!! No wonder the truck was stinky,” said Mrs. Wellington in
shock. “I thought you were throwing the cupcake away so I just kept quiet,” said Mr. Butler.
“We might have mistaken our delivery truck with the garbage truck,” said Mrs. Wellington. “It
was dark, we couldn’t really see,” added Mrs. Wellington. “So the two figures that Pete saw that
night was actually Mr. Wellington and Mrs. Wellington, there was nobody else,” said Zobart
who started to figure out what had actually happened on that night. “ It was just an accident, no
one to be blamed on,” added Zobart.

44
 “We’re so sorry that we blindly accuse you for stealing it,” said Mr. Wellington. “ Shame on us,
it’s our fault yet we put the blame on you,” Mrs. Wellington wiped her tear. She felt guilty of
accusing Mr. Butler as the thief. “Never mind, I understand how important the giant cupcake was
to you,” replied Mr. Butler.
“There’s no way we can get the cupcake, we don’t have enough time to prepare another one for
the parade,” said Mr. Wellington. “The efforts of making it have been in vain,” added Mrs.
Wellington. “We cannot give up now, there must be something that we can do to replace the
cupcake,” said Zobart. “Mr. Butler, you also own a bakery, do you have a large number of
cupcakes,” asked Zobart. ‘I have plenty, in fact, the cupcakes are more than enough to feed the
whole town,” said Mr. Butler. “Are you willing to give the cupcakes away for the parade,” said
Zobart. “I’m more than happy to give them away, I could promote my cupcakes as well,”
exclaimed Mr. Butler.
“You are a very kind-hearted person, Mr. Butler, we feel so ashamed of thinking you as a bad
person all this while,” said Mr. Wellington. “Well, now that we are friends, we do not have to
dislike each other anymore,” replied Mr. Butler.
“However, we have some problems,” said Mrs. Wellington. “The cupcake that we have made
was supposed to launch a firework to the sky, the cherry on top of it was where the firework was
positioned,” said Mrs. Wellington. “We don’t have any firework anymore,” said Mr. Wellington.
“I think I can solve that,” said Zobart. He looked on his chest and the energy ball embedded in
his chest started to glow in red.
Zobart, Mr. Butler, Mr. Wellington, Mrs. Wellington and some of the people took the cupcakes
to the town hall and started to decorate the float for the parade with the cupcakes all around it.
They arranged the cupcakes in a semicircle and Zobart was standing on a platform that had been
placed in the centre of the float. As the float was pulled by a wagon to the streets, the crowd was
cheering over the grandeur of the float decorated with cupcakes of various colors. On the centre
of the float, Zobart, Mr. Wellington, Mrs. Wellington and Mr. Butler were waving their hands to
the crowd. As they reached the town hall where the mayor was, Zobart launched his energy ball
to the sky and it exploded with colored flames and sparks. “Well, at least, this weapon has other
function than just shooting criminals,” whispered Zobart upon looking at the shimmering night
sky.
At the end of the parade, everybody was able to enjoy the cupcakes including the mayor. Zobart
felt happy that as a police officer, he managed to solve the biggest mystery in the town; the
missing cupcake.
Question
1. Do you think what happened in the society reflects the present society? Why? If yes, in
what ways that it reflects the society?
2. Do you think Zobart is a good police offer? Why?
3. How do you think the car crash and the transformation from a human to a cyborg might
have affected Zobart?

45
 Chloe’ Bad Hair Day

“ Huh…that’s close,” Chloe took a relief breath when she managed to gain her balance, she almost
tripped on the stairs when she stepped on her loose shoelaces. Slowly, she gripped the banisters and
carefully descended the stairs. Once she reached the ground, she tried to tighten her shoelaces but she
ended up stuffing the laces into the opening between the lacing and the tongue of her school shoes.

“What are you doing here?” asked Chloe when Hilary, her pet cat, sprinted from the kitchen and
snuggled on her legs. “You must be hungry.” Chloe patted her cat. She looked at her watch, it’s 7.30 am.
“Still have some time for breakfast.” She rushed to the kitchen and found the dining table empty. “
Seriously” moaned Chloe in disappointment. She took an egg and cracked it onto the pan. “ Ahhgg…I
forgot to turn on the stove,” grunted Chloe when she noticed the frying pan did not sizzle. Her second
attempt left her dismayed when the pieces of eggshell fell onto the frying pan. Plus, there was no
cooking oil on the pan. She turned off the stove and dumped the egg.

Hilary continued to meow on her feet, craving for some food. “ Hilary! I almost forgot you! Exclaimed
Chloe, she rummaged through the pantry for the cat food but she could not find one. She grabbed a
cereal box and poured some on the floor. “ Here, kitty, kitty!” Chloe tried to entice Hilary to eat them.
“Where’s the milk?” murmured Chloe while checking the refrigerator. She took out a can of what she
thought as milk. She poured it into the bowl of cereal and scooped some with a spoon into her mouth. “
Yike! What was that!” exclaimed Chloe once she tasted the milk. She looked at the label of the can
“Coconut Milk”.

Chloe took her backpack and headed to the door. She walked onto the patio and stood momentarily
there. “How can I forget? “lamented Chloe. She pulled her sleeves to her wrists when she stepped onto
the pavement along the main road. The chilly morning breeze caused her body to shiver and her face
tingled. She looked at the sky and it was dark and cloudy. She trod her ways to the school, constantly
switching her sling bag from left shoulder to right and back. “ Gosh, this bag is heavy,” uttered Chloe
under her breath.

She heard a loud cheer from her back. She turned to her back and saw a school bus was passing by.
“She’s walking!” shouted a familiar voice from the bus. Chloe immediately turned her head as she
noticed that the school children were cramming against the bus window, looking at her.

“Chloe!!! Get into a car, you might hurt your legs,” screamed another voice, an outburst of laughter
ensued. Chloe rolled her eyes and pursed her lips over their teases. She inhaled a deep breath when the
bus disappeared from her view when it turned to the corner ahead of her.

“Thummm….” A spasm of shock shot through her when the thunder rumbled, Chloe saw raindrops fell
onto the ground. “Oh Great…” Chloe raised her head and gazed at the swarm of clouds on the sky.
Torrents of raindrops pounded on her face, blurring her vision. In a few seconds, she was already soaked
in the rain. Chloe forgot to bring umbrella. She considered skipping school that day and headed back

46
home where she could rest and relax. However, hearing the growl of her stomach changed her mind.
She could imagine the warm meals served in the school canteen. As the rain got heavier, Chloe made
quick strides to the school compound before her shoes were filled with water.

She turned the corner where the school bus disappeared to, she ran as fast as possible, jumped over
puddle and crossed the road even if the traffic light was green. She had been running for fifteen minutes
but she still did not see her school, she did not even know where she was. She looked around and
nothing was familiar to her. Chloe regretted of never peeking out from the car window whenever she
was driven to school. She took shelter under a bus stop until the rain stopped. Her watch showed that it
was five minutes past eight and her first class had already started. She decided to return home.

Chloe went to a nearby food kiosk to ask for direction. She noticed nobody was there. Chloe was about
to turn but her nose, which could not resist the smell of the fried sausages, caused her to stop and stare
at the food. She gulped down her saliva and rubbed her rumbling tummy. She looked around and saw
nobody nearby, not even at the kiosk. She quickly grabbed one of the hot dogs when a voice shouted at
her, “ Hey put that down little girl!” Stunned, Chloe immediately put it back and hid her hand behind
her back, she took a few steps back. A large woman, wearing apron, was standing behind the food
stand, it seemed that she had been kneeling down the counter when Chloe arrived. She was glaring
straight at her.

“I’m sorry, I’m so hungry, I’ve not eaten anything since this morning,” stammered Chloe, hoping the
vendor would let her go.

“Oh Dear, why didn’t you tell me, poor kid,” replied the woman in sympathy. She offered Chloe a hot
dog and a cup of hot chocolate drink. “Are you lost my dear?” the woman patted her back while she was
gulping down the hot dog.

“Yes, I am…” Chloe swallowed the last morsel of food in her mouth before continuing, “ …supposed to
be in school but I don’t know how to get there.”

“It’s ok, I will ask my son to send you there, he has a motorcycle,” replied the woman.

Chloe never rode a motorcycle before. She closed her eyes throughout the ride. She felt like she was in a
roller-coaster where her safety belt had snapped and she only had the seat to hold on to. Her stomach
churned and the two hot dogs she ate before had rendered her nauseous. The vendor’s son, Dan,
dropped her in front of the school gate. “Thank you, I owe you and your mother a lot,” exclaimed Chloe.

“Ah, don’t bother, Mom always said we should help the unfortunate,” replied Dan.

Chloe had to refrain herself from lashing out at him for calling her poor. Instead, she gave a wide grin
and a wave of goodbye. Once Dan left, Chloe looked at her watch and it was already 8.30 A.M. She was
too late for class, she could just walk home and skipped the school for that day. She could easily come
up with some excuses if the teacher inquired about her absence. However, the thought of her being
alone in the mansion deterred her from doing so.

47
“Oh my, what happened to you?” asked Gini once she saw Chloe.

“Let’s just say I have a bad hair day,” replied Chloe, disgruntled by the incident.

“May you explain your reason for being late, Miss. Dylan,” Mrs. Hustler stared at her, the fierce gaze
fixated on her sent a sudden electric spasm through her veins. “You have no particular reason? I bet this
is just another typical routine for you,” teased Mrs. Hustler.

“No Madam, I walked to the school today and…” “Walk? That’s impossible for someone who comes
from a rich family, I might buy it from someone else but not from you, Chloe Dylan,” Mrs. Hustler cut her
off with assertive and crude remark. Chloe, in embarrassment, took her seat. She opened her bags and
discovered that her books were all wet, the inks of her pens had leaked and the stain was visible from
the exterior side of her bag. Even worse, she did not have “A Tales of Two Cities”, the Charles Dickens’
novel that Mrs. Hustler had asked them to bring. She glanced across the room, everybody brought their
books except her.

“Well, Chloe, where is your book? Do you need somebody to take the book out of your bag and put it
on the table?” Mrs. Hustler’s words stung her.

“ I..I didn’t bring it,” Chloe stuttered in anxiety.

“Remarkable,” said Mrs. Hustler sarcastically.

“Perhaps, you can let me see the homework I gave you last week.”

“Gosh, I haven’t done it,” murmured Chloe silently, imagining the more offensive comments she had to
endure from her teacher.

Chloe wished the bell would not ring for that day, she could picture herself walking back home, verbally
bullied by other students and if the rain did not stop, she probably had to be ready for another free
public bath. Luckily, Gini’s father offered her a ride home when he saw her standing at the school gate.
“Thank you, Mr. Fellon,” exclaimed Chloe when she got into the car. She put the plastic garbage bag that
she was planning to use as her cover from the rain. She felt relief that she did not have to go home by
foot. “You save my day, Gini,” said Chloe.

“It’s ok, we are friends, that’s what friends do, help each other,” her reply struck Chloe who felt that she
had been quite selfish.

Once she arrived at home, she was hungry and tired. She trudged along the pathway in the font lawn to
the stairs. Standing at the patio, she delved into her pocket but she could not find the house key.
“Kidding me!” exclaimed Chloe, fed up with the troubles that she had gone through. The door suddenly
opened and Chloe’s father was standing at the doorstep.

“So how’s your day?” asked her father. “Do you like it?” cynical tone was discernible in his question.

48
“Dad, I think I had enough,” replied Chloe in exasperation. “It had been a rough day and I admit I have
been very lazy and snobbish,” added Chloe.

“So, I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” asserted her father. “Promise me you will stop mistreating our
servants.”

“Yes, Dad, I won’t be rude to them anymore, I really need them back,” Chloe looked at her father’s eyes
with trickle of tears running down her cheek. “ They have been very important to me, preparing my
school attire, cooking me breakfast, driving me to school, even doing my homework,” sobbed Chloe.
“They are the best,” Chloe wiped her tears. “I regretted firing them.”

Her father kneeled before her and hugged her. “It’s Ok my dear, I am glad to hear that from you,” he
tried to calm her, patting down her hair.

Now, can we hire them back?” asked Chloe in her trembling, pleading voice. “

Done that, they are already here,” his father replied, moving away from her sight to reveal Mr. Durvan,
the driver, Mrs. Chomsky, the cook, Miss Nora, the nanny and the one that she needs most yet she used
to be most ruthless at, Mrs. McLachlan, her nanny.

Question

1. Describe the characteristics of Chloe.

2. Do you think Chloe had learnt something from the incident that she had? Why?

49