SAMPLE STORIES

LEFT OUT

Trish was playing basketball with her brother outside when she saw a car pull
up in Josie’s driveway. Josie jumped out of the car, and Trish could hear a lot of
voices laughing and saying goodbye to Josie. Trish stopped dribbling the basketball
and watched as the car drove away and Josie skipped to her front door. Trish could
feel her body start to get uncomfortably warm, and her eyes started to water.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Daniel asked.

“Nothing. I don’t want to play anymore.” Trish stormed inside and slammed
the door.

She heard the door open again behind her, but she didn’t turn around and
went straight to her room. Trish could hear Daniel talking to her mom downstairs,
but she didn’t want to talk to anyone.

“How could Josie do that do me?” Trish thought. “I thought we were friends.”

She heard a knock on the door, but ignored it. Her mom called though the
door,

“Trish, are you OK?” Trish ignored it and put her pillow over her head like
earmuffs.

“I’ll be downstairs if you want to talk later. It’s a good choice to calm yourself
down first.”

Eventually Trish calmed down and went to talk with her mom. Her mom
always had some good ideas to help her.

“What’s going on, Trish?” Mom asked when Trish appeared in the living
room.

Trish took a seat. “Josie went somewhere with our friends and she didn’t
invite me,”

Trish said. “Why wouldn’t she invite me? That’s not very nice. I thought we
were friends.”

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I’d be pretty upset too if I felt left out. Maybe Josie
knew that you wouldn’t like what they were going to do,” Mom suggested.

“Maybe…” Trish didn’t sound convinced.

“Why don’t you talk with Josie about it at school on Monday?” Mom said.

“I don’t want to talk to her, I’m mad! I’m just going to ignore her.”
 “Well… sometimes ignoring another person is a good choice, but I don’t think
this is the right time for that solution. If you ignore her, how are you ever going to
solve the problem? Not talking about it is just going to make it worse, and might
mean you could lose Josie as a friend,” replied Mom.

“I still want Josie to be my friend, but talking about it is uncomfortable. I just

“That might happen, but it might not. Josie might not realize that she did
something wrong, so then she’ll just get mad at you for ignoring her. I really think
talking to her about how you feel is the best way to solve the problem.” Mom said.

“OK, Mom, I’ll talk to her at school. Thanks,” Trish said.

And guess what? Trish’s mom was right! Josie knew Trish didn’t like snakes,
and she and the other girls had gone to the zoo to see the new snake exhibit. Trish
was glad she’d talked to Josie to solve the problem.
 AN HONESTLY FUN CAMP
Ken couldn’t wait for September when school would start. It was early August, and
he was at the same summer camp he had been going to for the last five years. His father
went to the camp when he was a boy and loved it, so Ken didn’t want to disappoint his
father by telling him that he didn’t even like it. By the middle of August, Ken had had more
than enough. He had had enough of the horses, enough of the baseball games, enough of
the canoeing and enough of the lousy camp food. He wrote to his mother and asked her if
she would pick him up early, but he didn’t want his mother to tell his father.

She responded in a letter which said, “I can’t do that. I am always honest with your
father. If you really want to leave, I will talk to him about it.”

Ken was still too worried about disappointing his father, so he wrote back to his
mother that he would stay for the last two weeks and try to make the best of it. He asked his
mother if she would make his favorite meal when he got home. During that last week, Ken
was looking so forward to the meal his mother would be making that every time he ate a
camp meal, he imagined he was eating his mother’s cooking. All of a sudden, the food didn’t
taste as bad. Ken decided to be honest with his camp counselors. He told the head
horseback counselor that he wasn’t comfortable with the horse he had been assigned. The
counselor asked Ken which horse he might feel better riding. Ken was then assigned to Misty
for the last week, and he started to like horseback riding. He never like playing baseball
because he didn’t like playing 1st base. He told the baseball counselor, and the counselor
switched him to play catcher. Will started to actually like baseball. As for canoeing, he
always ended up sitting in the bow of the canoe. He told his counselor that he would like to
try sitting in the stern. Once he was able to take on the role of the stern paddler, he started
to enjoy canoeing because he liked steering the canoe. When his parents came to pick him
up from camp, he said to them in all honesty.

“This was the best summer at camp ever.” He then added that he couldn’t wait for
next year’s camp, and he might even want to stay for an extra week or two.
THE MILKMAID AND HER PAIL

THE WOODEN SLIPPER

MAYEN’S BIRTHDAY WISH

By: Genelyn J. Regio

Grandmother takes care of Mayen for a month. Her father is a doctor. Her mother is
a nurse. Her parents work in the hospital.

"Grandmother, when will Father and

Mother come home? I have not seen them for a month. I wish they would come
home soon," says Mayen."Your father and mother will come home

soon. Let us pray that they are safe. COVID-19 patients need them most,"
Grandmother says.

Mayen does what her grandmother says. She prays that her parents come home on
her birthday.

"Grandma, next week is my birthday. We have not heard from Father and Mother
yet," says Mayen.

"Don't worry, God is so good. He will answer your prayers," says her grandmother.

The day before her birthday, Mayen heard a voice,

"Mayen, Mayen, we're home". Mayen looked out of the window. "Father, Mother!"
she shouted. "God answered my prayers. You are my birthday gift from God. I'm glad
you are safe.

ROSA TAKES A STAND

Rosa Parks was tired. She had worked long hours that day as a seamstress at a local clothing
store in Makati City. However, it was not because she was physically tired that she refused
to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. It was because she was worn-out from being
pushed around. She was tired of the discrimination in the world around her.

Discrimination is when a person is treated differently or judged unfairly by others. Rosa

RAY AND HIS KITE

Ray liked to play with the boys at school well enough; but he liked to be alone under the
shade of some tree reading a fairy tale or dreaming daydreams better . There was one
activity that he liked as well as his companions; that was flying a kite.

One day when he was flying his kite, he said to himself, “I wonder if anybody ever tried to fly
a kite at night. It seems to me i t would be nice. But then, if it is dark, the kite cannot be
seen. What if I should fasten a light to it, though? That would make it show. I'll try it
tonight.”

While Ray was enjoying his kite, some people who were out on the street in the village saw a
strange light in the sky. They gathered in groups to watch it. Now it was still for a few
seconds; then it seemed to be jumping up and down; then it made long sweeps back and
forth through the air. At last some of the men decided to f ind out what this strange light
was —whether it was a hobgoblin dancing in the air , or something dropping from the sky.
So off they started to get as close to it as they could.

While this was taking place, Ray, who had gotten ti red of standing and was sitting on a fence
behind a tree. He could see the men as they approached, but they did not see him. When
they were directly under the light, and saw what i t was, they looked at each other and said
while laughing , “ Th is is some boy's trick, and i t has fooled us nicely. Let us keep the secret
and have our share of the joke . ” Then they laughed again and went back to the village.
Some of the people there had not yet found out what that strange light was.

When the men had gone, Ray thought i t was time for him to go, so he wound up his string,
picked up his kite and lantern, and went home. His mother had been wondering where he
was. When she heard what he had been doing, she hardly knew whether to laugh or scold,
but I think she laughed and told him that i t was time for him to go to bed.

VARUN’S BUSY LIFE

Varun is a 12-year-old boy. Varun lived with his parents in a city. As in city life, his life was
too busy with strict school schedules and after-school tuition. On weekends he has to attend
swimming and badminton classes. So, for all the classes, he has to be on time. Discipline was
a must to keep up with his tight schedule. Varun is forced to keep up with the time so that
he doesn’t miss any class or be punished for not being disciplined.

Varun's parents supported him and helped him achieve all his targets. However, Varun
didn’t like his busy life. He liked to do things at his own pace. He eagerly waited for his
holidays to relax as much as he could and sleep as much as he could. During holidays he
visited his grandparent's house in the countryside.

His long-awaited holidays arrived. Varun packed his bag and started for his grandparent's
house. His grandparents were very kind and loved him very much. His grandfather was a
farmer. In the morning after breakfast, he went to his grandfather's farm. His grandfather
has a big cornfield.

Varun sees his grandfather and his men working in the fields all day. The fields were watered
at the proper time, weeds removed, organic manure sprinkled and corn was harvested on
time. Varun was surprised to see how men were happily working. They never seemed to be
stressed or burdened.

Varun on some days doesn’t go to the fields, but instead spends time with his grandmother.
He helps her with cooking. Varun spoke about his busy schedule and how much he liked
being here away from all the hassle. Grandmother understood how stressful Varun is feeling
about his day-to-day life. she told this to grandfather. Grandfather wanted to make Varun to
understand the importance of discipline.

That night when grandfather didn’t narrate a fictional story, but a real incident which
happened to one of his friends, who was a framer like him. Varun was very much interested
to learn about a real incident. Grandfather told the story of farmer Hari. Farmer Hari was a
very lazy man. He never took proper care of his fields. He watered his fields any time he
wished. Never removed the weeds and never did any pest control. As a result, he didn’t have
any good yields.

Grandfather explained the importance of discipline in the field of farming. He also added
that discipline is required in all aspects of life. Varun understood the importance of discipline
in life. He never thought his life to be burdened anymore as he was sure that he was going in
the right way.

THE MAN, THE SON, AND THE DONKEY (Melissa Chu)

A man and his son were once going with their donkey to market. As they were talking along
by his side, a countryman passed them and said, “You fools, what is a donkey for but to ride
upon?” So the man put the boy on the donkey, and they went on their way.
But soon, they passed a group of men, one of whom said, “See that lazy youngster, he lets
his father walk while he rides.”

So the man ordered his boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when
they passed two women, one of whom said to the other, “Shame on that lazy lout to let his
poor son trudge along.”

Well, the man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his boy up before him on the
donkey. By this time, they had come to the town, and the passersby began to jeer and point
at them. The man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at.

The men said, “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours--
you and your hulking son?”

The man and boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and thought, until at
last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to
their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them until they came to a
bridge, when the donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the boy to
drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the donkey fell over the bridge, and his forefeet
being tied together, he was drowned.

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came
upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion’s nose.
Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

“Spare me!” begged the poor Mouse. “Please let me go and some day I will surely repay
you.”

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous
and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a
hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse
knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great
ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.
“You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the Mouse. “Now you see that even a
Mouse can help a Lion.”

A kindness is never wasted.