Short Story by Ghulam Abbas. Concerned about the appearance of prostitutes plying their trade, a Pakistani city’s authorities banish them to empty land twelve miles out of town. A small marketplace develops around them, and the process repeats itself when the outpost grows into a thriving new city.
Grade 3-4 Story by Nancy Jean Northcutt. A young boy doesn’t like being kissed by his fussy extended family, partly because of the hurtful teasing by best friend Ben. One day, he receives a pleasant surprise. Although the kissing stops, the solution brings extra responsibilities.
Quick Read by Arthur C. Clarke. A radio message reassures the people of Earth that an approaching space ship comes in peace. The visitors are descendants of a group who fled Earth two million years earlier after a terrible genetic plague. They have a cure for any people still affected.
Thai Folktale. A man was born so big that his parents named him Nai Raeng, signifying strength, energy and power. After many adventures, he becomes local governor. One day, honor dictates that he must order that his own head be cut off and placed above a buried treasure.
Short Story by Estrella Alfon. In one of a parent’s worst nightmares an after-school tutor, loved and trusted by his two students, “loses control” and soils the dress of a seven-year-old girl he had placed on his knee. Her mother is magnificent in confronting and humiliating the man.