Grade 5-6 Story by Avi. The leader of a group of troublesome sixth graders is constantly trying to prove how bad he is. His father is not concerned by this in the belief that one day the boy will change. A prank that doesn’t go as planned proves him correct.
Short Story by Julio Cortázar. A man housesitting a friend’s apartment becomes concerned when he vomits up a tiny rabbit. This is normally an occasional occurrence, but ten more bunnies pop out over the following weeks. As they grow and begin to trash the place, he contemplates drastic action.
Short Story by Grace Paley. An aging man asks his writer daughter to write “a simple (Chekhovian-like) story just once more”. She relates a minimalist, open-ended tale with several possible outcomes. Their differences indicate that he has accepted the end is near; she is not ready to.
Short Story by Saadat Hasan Manto. A refined Indian man is so enchanted by the “at once foul and sweet-smelling” odour emitted by a factory worker he sleeps with that sex with other women, including the henna-smelling upper-class wife he marries years later, is less satisfying.
Short Story by Harry Harrison. An Air Force scientist buys a trick rocket from a toy fair to entertain some other scientists at a poker party. At the party, the scientists discover that the trick only works in certain conditions, and the toy may break a basic law of physics.