Short Story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A poverty-stricken young boy leaves his dead mother and ventures out one Christmas Eve in search of food. Hungry and freezing, he shelters behind a woodpile. He feels sudden warmth, and wakes surrounded by other happy children along with his mother around Christ’s Christmas tree.
European Folktales. A reverse chronology of the three folktales behind this classic children's story: the Brothers Grimm’s Briar-Rose (1812); Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (1697); and Giambattista Basile’s Sun, Moon and Talia (1634). As might be expected, the further back you go, the more brutal the storyline.
Young Adult Story by Brenda Wilkinson. A school friend helps a young girl deliver her unwanted baby in her upstairs bedroom while a house-full of guests celebrate her “Sweet Sixteenth” birthday downstairs. She had planned to have the child adopted, but her family encourages her to keep it.
Short Story by Angela Carter. An adult-oriented adaption of Charles Perrault's Little Red Riding Hood in which the girl saves herself by taking control and giving up her virginity to the “hungry” wolf. Instead of being eaten, next morning she finds herself sleeping between the paws of the "tender" wolf.
Short Story by Bret Harte. Strange things happen when a Californian gold prospecting camp “adopts” an orphaned baby born to its only woman resident, the camp prostitute. The birth brings a streak of good fortune, resulting in the baby being named Luck. Unfortunately, Luck’s luck cannot defeat nature.