Thousands of miles from Earth is the planet of Fliptune. Fliptune gets no sun, and is therefore always cold and dark. It is inhabited by creatures who resemble dinosaurs. These creatures use torches to see. One day, a young Fliptunese called Neila put the wrong batteries in his torch. Suddenly the torch lit up and [...]
One night, a foolish man was crossing the forest. He had been walking for some time and felt tired and thirsty. When he came upon a well he thought he would quench his thirst. He bent down to pull the water out. He saw the reflection of the moon in the well and sighed, “The [...]
Nick the deer lost his way in the woods. He had been wandering with the rest of the deer but had managed to stray away from them. He was lonely and miserable. One day, while looking for his family he found himself in a farmer’s field. He made his way to the people standing in [...]
Mitty the kitten lived in a big house. She had many friends—Bob the bumblebee, Betty the butterfly and Bitsy, the little sparrow. Mitty loved her friends. She played with them, shared her food and on cold nights let them stay in her house. One day, while Mitty was lolling in her garden she heard a [...]
There once lived a donkey, which was very faithful to its master. Although it was under-fed and weak it still carried the entire load its master put on him each day. The donkey was moving about one day, when it fell into a big ditch where people threw garbage. The donkey couldn’t come out. The [...]
Once, a farmer and his wife had their first child after many years of marriage. The boy was as small as his father’s thumb. The queen of fairies came dancing and named him Tom Thumb. One day, while Tom’s mother was making pudding, Tom, who was playing nearby, slipped inside the bowl and was drowned [...]
Once upon a time, there lived a dog. One day, he was very hungry and went in search of food. To his delight, the dog found a juicy bone. The dog happily carried the bone back home. He held the bone tightly in his mouth and scowled at anyone who tried to take it away. [...]
[audio:http://shortstoriesshort.com/story/audio/Queen of Riddles.mp3] A clever queen who lived in Petersburg was very vain. “I am good at everything. Isn’t there anyone who can beat me?” she thought to herself. One day she announced, “I, the queen, will marry the man who asks me three riddles which I cannot answer.” Many people came from far and [...]
A little mouse was passing through a lion’s den. The lion caught him and was about to smash him when the little mouse spoke, “Sir, please let me go, and I will do you a good turn one day, for sparing my life.” The lion was rather amused to hear this, thinking, “What good can [...]
There was a certain cat that was troubling the mice and had killed many of them. All the mice met to talk about this big problem. The mice wanted to get rid of the cat and decided to make a plan. The mice sat and talked for a very long time but could not come [...]