Author: Ariel Goodbody
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House of Secrets Chapter 3
Steve hadn’t been joking. There was a circle of thick candles on the floor, and a table had been placed in the middle, with expensive cloth on top. Elisabeth was impressed. She’d been in professional productions with far worse sets than this.
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House of Secrets Chapter 2
Xu hated lots of things. She hated burnt toast, ugly sweaters, and tiny loud dogs. But more than anything, she hated spiders. And the attic was full of them.
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House of Secrets Chapter 1
Rosa stared at her renters, and her renters stared back at her. They were all gathered in the living room of her house, sitting on the ancient sofa, looking very annoyed at being there. Xu probably wanted to be outside taking pictures of traffic lights and dogs, and Elisabeth had been loudly rehearsing Macbeth in her bedroom when Rosa called them all down. She didn’t want to know what Steve had been doing, but he…
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The Little Mermaid
A long time ago, merpeople existed. They lived in the sea, and they were half-fish, half-human. They were human down to their middle, and then they were fish. They had long, beautiful tails, and they swam through the water using their tails.
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The Last Question
The last question was asked many times. The first time was on the twenty-first of May, 2061. It was asked as a joke. This is how it happened.
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The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd
In Heaven there were seven goddesses. They were sisters. Each sister had her job. One goddess mixed things in a pot to make fire for volcanoes. She was called Fire Maker. One goddess pushed together cotton to make snow for the mountains. She was called Snow Maker. One goddess cried tears that became dew in the morning. She was called Dew Maker. One goddess painted the stars so that they shone in the night sky.…
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The Teacher and the Student
Eklavya stayed low in the grass. Before him, his father, the hunter, moved quietly. He held a bow and arrow. Then, he saw it. A few metres in front there was a rabbit. It was drinking water. Eklavya’s father put an arrow in the bow. Eklavya took a deep breath. He tried not to move, but it was hard. He moved, and the grass made a sound. The rabbit turned and saw the hunter. It…
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The Pit and the Pendulum
I was sick, sick with the feeling of death. I heard the mutter of those who had questioned me, the Inquisitors. I saw the lips of the black-robed judges, and they were whiter than the paper that I am writing this on. They were thin, and tight, and they whispered things I could not hear. I saw seven candles on a table beside me, and they shone like angels, but I knew there was nobody…
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Love is Worth a Bit of Pain
She knew what she was doing was wrong. She had known the moment she saw him. But love didn’t care about what side of a wall you were on, even if she was on the side of the palace gardens and he was stood in the ruined fields. The war had gone on for years, but it only took a moment for her to lose to his eyes. They stared at her through a hole…
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The Woman of the Mountain
Once upon a time there was an old man called Cılbak Baba. Cılbak lived in the village of Güre, in Turkey, next to Mount Ida. He looked after cows, pigs, and geese, and he was well-known and well-liked throughout the village. But Cılbak was foolish.