Novelette by Aldous Huxley. A farm-worker’s son befriends the child of an English family renting an Italian villa. The English boy’s father notices that in addition to being musically gifted, the Italian boy has the makings of a math prodigy. Sadly he doesn’t get a chance to develop these abilities.
Quick Read by Ambai. Amid the splendour and frenetic activity associated with the return of a fishing fleet, a grieving mother arranges the rescue of a discarded fish dying on the shore because its struggles remind her of those of her premature baby before she died.
Grade 5-6 Story by Edward Hoch. A traveling zoo makes annual visits to world cities. But this is no ordinary zoo. It is a space ship displaying strange creatures from different parts of the universe, and the distinction between visitor and exhibit is not clear.
Quick Read by Virginia Woolf. A living couple share their home with two ghostly lovers who continuously search the house and garden for lost or hidden “treasure”. The treasure exists in both the hearts of the living couple and the cherished memories of the ghostly pair.
Puerto Rican Folktale. A wish granted by a travelling sorcerer solves a problem for an old woman whose precious pear tree is constantly stripped of its fruit by mischievous children. It also helps her cheat Death when it comes for her and force him to grant her immortality.