Author: Ariel Goodbody
-
Cacica Gaitana, an Indigenous Hero
Pedro de Añasco was a coward. He didn’t know how he had gotten here, in the hills of South America, almost 5000 miles from his home in Spain, but here he was, standing outside the perfectly-white house of Sebastián de Belalcázar.
-
New Year, New Me
—
Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: All at once, Childhood, Frown, Go off (sound), Gym, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s resolution, Pour, Serious (person), Smile, Spontaneous, WiseWord Count: 1515Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyDiana was surprised. ‘You don’t make resolutions? But you’re the most serious person I know! You go to the gym, and cook healthy food, and read books… How do you do all that without New Year’s resolutions?’ Minerva drank some wine. ‘Let me ask you something. How much are you planning on drinking tonight?’ Diana frowned. ‘You plan how much you’re going to drink?’
-
Nasreddin the Wise Man
—
Genre: ComedySetting: MedievalNew Vocabulary: Basketful, Equally, In that case, No reason, Precious, Stroke, Sunlight, Train (animal), Truly, Vineyard, WiseWord Count: 941Original Author: Middle Eastern MythsSo today’s story is actually a collection of six short folk tales and they’re all about a funny character called Nasreddin. So, Nasreddin is a character who appears in folk tales in many parts of the world. He mainly appears in stories in the Middle East and Europe, mainly Eastern Europe, and he’s known by many different names.
-
Open Sesame
He gasped. The mountain was full of treasures! There was gold and silver and thousands of jewels. They sat in piles, like piles of seeds, but these treasures were so much better than seeds. The poor man did not know what to take. He did not want the thieves to kill him. So he took just a bit of gold, filling his pockets. He wanted to take the jewels, but he thought that the thieves…
-
Mother Death
‘You wicked boy!’ they spat. ‘I raised you, I gave you everything you needed, and you disobeyed me!’ ‘I did not,’ said Mortimer, smiling wickedly. ‘You stood at the head of his bed, and so the King was supposed to survive.’ Death raised a bony finger at Mortimer. ‘If you ever trick me again, it will mark the end of your life.’
-
[100th episode celebration!] The Wind in Her Hand
Once upon a time, there was a land where the sun never set. Every hour of every day, it shone bright and hot. The people of this land lived in huge cities, where everyone who walked down the street held a parasol. All the parasols pressed together and formed a wall that blocked out the sun, and yet, the people still felt its heat. At night, they covered their windows with thick curtains, and yet,…
-
The Land of Youth
—
Genre: Myths & LegendsSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Cast a spell, Disguise, Druid, Forever, Hunt, Land, Marry, Monster, Son-in-law, Ugly, YouthWord Count: 1563Original Author: Irish MythsNiamh’s father was afraid of many things. He thought that someone might try to kill him so that they could be king. He thought that someone would run faster than him in the next game. But he had a druid who could see the future, so he asked him to see the future. ‘Nobody will kill you, my king. And only one person would run faster than you: your son-in-law. So if your daughter never…
-
Stalking is For Girls, Too
—
Genre: ComedySetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Fate, Get down on one knee, Hold your breath, Impatient, Lean, Make something up, Might as well, Sneak, Stalk, Trapped, Twist, Vent (complain)Word Count: 730Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyCLANG! The gate to the car park closed behind Bella. She was trapped. Uh-oh. She had gone past the apartment building on her day off work. She had had one date with the man, but she was impatient. She just wanted to look at him through the window, because she couldn’t stop thinking about him. But his curtains had been closed, so she decided to sneak into the car park so she could do… something?…
-
You Can’t Please Everyone
‘Why do you have a donkey, but you don’t ride it? Donkeys should be ridden.’ So the man said to his son, ‘Get on the donkey and ride it.’ They kept on going. A few hours later, a group of old women walked past. ‘Look at that lazy young boy,’ said one of the women. ‘Shame on him! He makes his father walk while he rides. His father should ride on the horse.’
-
Why the Sea is Salty
Once there were two brothers. One brother was a poor farmer. He worked in the fields, and when the weather was bad, he had no food. But he was kind and worked a lot. The other brother was a rich man who worked on a ship. He was not kind, and he often cheated people. In this time, there was no salt in the sea, so he travelled to other countries to get salt. He…