Inspiration

Kirsty and her sister take a spontaneous holiday, face setbacks, but enjoy themselves before learning Kirsty's job is ending anyway.

Chloe quits her job, finds a new one she enjoys, but discovers her old boss is the new shop owner's husband, leading to an awkward encounter.

Maria, a poor village girl, falls in love with a stranger, finding hope and solace despite their different worlds.

A cheerful miller on the banks of the River Dee teaches the king about true happiness.

Bipin Kisore, a delicate young man with musical talent, joins Raja Chittaranjan's Amateur Theatre Party but faces neglect and mistreatment from the Rani and servants. Eventually, the Raja dismisses...

A man meets a mysterious stranger on a train who tells him a story about a haunted palace. The man becomes obsessed with the palace and experiences strange visions and dreams. The story ends...

There was once a child who wondered if all the children on earth would die, would the flowers, the water, and the sky be sorry? The sister drooped and became so weak that she could no longer stand...

John Mortonson was dead, and his body rested in a fine mahogany coffin fitted with a plate of glass. His face was not disagreeable to look upon, and his death had been painless. At two o'clock in...

Four little chests all in a row, dim with dust and worn by time, all fashioned and filled long ago By children now in their prime, with faded ribbons and names carved out by a boyish hand. Four...

We were out on a bear-hunting expedition, and the bear had shot at one of us. The bear had gone towards the village, but we had to leave the trail and go along the road for nearly a mile before we...

Mr. Halloran Beresford, tired after a good day in the office, waved at a taxi and was almost run down by a delivery truck. Mr. Beresford was walking downtown, his candy box under his arm, when a...

Emily Johnson came home one evening to find three of her best handkerchiefs missing from the dresser drawer. She decided to complain to the landlady after her dinner and tapped softly on the door...

In the fall in Milan, it was cold and the dark came very early. The electric lights came on, and we were all at the hospital every afternoon, and we met every day and were all very polite and...

At sunrise, we looked out the picture window and saw our sister Janey scribbling on a scrap of cardboard. Lara said she was going around barefoot, and I asked if we should call someone. Janey's...

Wasn’t overcoming this feeling of fear what truly distinguished the brave?

Obinze met the Angolans at a tube station and handed over two hundred pounds. A few days later he met the girl, Cleotilde, at a shopping center. Obinze met Brown at the train station in Barking,...

Cara kisses the baby on the ear and hands it to me. The baby curls her head against my breasts, but doesn't cry. A woman in a cummerbund swept by me and we went to the Brooklyn Museum where I...

"That tree," he says. "It's looking at me."

Suzanne stays at the bedside of her dying sister, who she has lived with her whole life.

It is not Pneumonia alone that is killing Johnsy - for some reason, she has resigned herself to death.