Family

One day, after the mother breastfed her little daughter Marjorie and she slept, she placed her in her crib. She said to herself, “I will go to my neighbor to give her these things and return in one minute before the girl wakes up and feels my absence.” The mother hadn’t seen her neighbor for a while, so when she went to her, the neighbor stood to talk with her about some matters. While the mother was talking with her neighbor, they heard a fire alarm and the smell of smoke throughout the area. ...

Richard looked at his face in the mirror with some disgust. There was something obvious in his face that made him never smile again. He would keep his lips pressed together all the time. Richard was an eleven-year-old child who was very happy and smiled a lot until that day when he was playing with his siblings and smiling while they were getting ready to go to school. When their mother told them that the school bus had arrived, his brother Dick snatched his backpack and his clarinet, and they all ran toward the stairs. ...

Ricky loved to make funny expressions on his face, hoping his friends would be happy. However, Ricky had another face that could make his friends scared and run away from him. This face appeared when he felt angry. One summer day, Reggie went to look for his friends to tell them he wanted to play with them, and he would be able to keep his face smiling and never show them the angry face no matter what happened. He wanted his friends to love him and never be angry with him. ...

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Rebecca. She loved her grandfather very much. Usually, children had to travel long distances to reach their grandparents’ homes, but Rebecca was very lucky because her grandfather and grandmother’s house was in the same village where she lived. The school bus even dropped her off at her grandfather’s house every day, and she would stay there until her mother returned from work. ...

There was a cottage in the village with a thatched roof and all kinds of plants, and in it lived a very poor elderly couple whose horse was their only source of livelihood. They would lend it to merchants in exchange for some grain or clothing and asked for nothing more. They were happy with what they had. One day, the wife said to her husband, “There is an opening in the roof, and something has fallen into the house.” He said to her, “That is good because the house windows are rusted and closed. Through the opening in the roof we will get light and air without having to repair it.” She said to him, “You are right, but what about winter and rain?” He said to her, “We will need a way to collect money.” She said to him, “There is a market fair, why don’t we sell the horse? We will get a good amount.” He said, “Perhaps. I hope I succeed.” She said, “You will succeed because my old man is always right.” ...

Samir was a poor person living in a small village, and he owned a small piece of land. When his father died when he was small, therefore the plot remained fallow. Samir and his mother lived poorly. He worked hard and fed his mother from all kinds of food until he grew, and after that, his mother expelled him from the house, and Samir traveled to a different place to search for work, but he didn’t find anything. He was forced to steal without desire, and he felt regret in his heart. ...

A man lived with his wife in a house in a distant village. Each had a daughter from a previous marriage. The wife loved her daughter and would bring her new clothes and never ask her to do anything. So she became very lazy, spending her day just admiring herself. As for the wife’s husband’s daughter, the wife treated her with great harshness. The daughter would do everything in the house and never complain. She would do the same work many times without anyone watching her, and she felt compassion for her, but he was powerless to do anything. He became weak and sick, and said to his beloved daughter: My dear, I am sorry. I don’t have anything. The daughter said: No, father. Don’t be sorry. You loved me and raised me. Come now so I can raise you. I will work and earn money. It is a difficult time truly, but I will do it. ...

The father was working in the garden, and the cat Maw was playing with his mother with a ball. His mother said to him: Hurry up, my beloved Maw. I threw the ball for you. Maw threw the ball far away, so his mother applauded him and said to him: Good, Maw. Now you have done it and scored. Now I will go in to prepare the lunch meal, and I will call your friend Arnub to play with you. Maw said to her: No, mother. I will go to help my father. ...

The cat Maw took his son Samm and Bousi to the island, and they joined their mother and father on the shore, playing and tossing the ball to each other. Bousi said: This is your turn, Samm. He said: Hold the ball, Maw. Then he tossed it to Bousi and said to her: Hold the ball, Bousi. Bousi and the bird Coco: Bousi said: I’m bored of playing with the ball. I want to ride that boat. The cat Maw said: Which boat? She said: The yellow boat over there. Have you seen it? The bird Coco, the seagulls’ friend, came to them and said: I don’t advise you to ride the yellow boat, for whoever rides on it falls into the water. Samm answered him: What’s the problem? We don’t fear the water. Bousi also said: Yes, I don’t fear the water. Isn’t that right, Maw? Maw said: Yes, it is so. ...

It is autumn, and tree leaves are falling. Qatqat the cat said to his mother: I will go out to the garden. His mother said to him: Good, my beloved Qatqat, but beware of the cold. Qatqat the cat answered: I will keep walking warm. The change of nature due to the autumn season: Qatqat the cat went out, and on the way, he said to himself: Oh, how cold it is! Then he continued walking in the garden. Qatqat noticed that everything looked different. The tree leaves were no longer green; there were brown, yellow, and red colors, as if a new color had come to them. ...