Hispanic Folktale. In soliciting donations, a priest alludes to the biblical concept expressed in Mark 10:30, whereby he who gives up everything for God will be rewarded a hundredfold. A misled, or more likely wily, parishioner donates a cow and takes a hundred of the priest’s cattle in return.
Short Story by H. G. Wells. An Indian prince, devastated by the death of his young wife, builds a magnificent shrine to her named the “Pearl of Love”. Over the years he makes it and grander, until one day he disassembles it because it blocks his view of a mountain.
Grade 5-6 Story by Gary Soto. A young boy looking for romance learns how Not to impress girls. Rather than being himself, he tries to prove how good he is: first academically by acing a history quiz, and later through a boastful lie and ill-fated racquet ball game.
Short Story by H. P. Lovecraft. A man who has grown up alone in a decaying castle climbs the castle tower to look further afield. He is excited to find an entry to an earth-like world above the clouds. His first encounter with other people reveals a frightening truth.
Short Story by Elizabeth Bowen. A woman recalls when, as a fifteen-year-old girl “platonically” in love with her uncle, she was forced to re-examine their relationship after snide comments by an old woman cause her to think that their comings and goings are the subject of town gossip.