Short Stories - A Glass of Milk, paid in Full

A Glass of Milk, Paid in Full

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”

He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit. Year’s later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.

Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day, he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.

She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She began to read the following words:

“Paid in full with one glass of milk.

Signed, Dr. Howard Kelly.”

1. Who is Dr. Howard Kelly?

2. What do you understand about the writing on the side of the bill “Paid in full with one glass of milk."?

3. If someone in your life does something nice/helped you once, will you do the same for him/her?

4. What is the moral value of the story?

Short Stories - Forrest Gump (Summary)

Summary of Forrest Gump

Born in Greenbow, Alabama in the early 50ies, Forrest Gump has a difficult childhood. His low intelligence, IQ and disabled feet give people the reason for teasing the boy. Only his mother, a proud single woman, believes in Forrest and wants her son to live a normal life. 

Since his first day at school Forrest has been knowing Jenny Curan, a cute little girl, but she also suffers from terrible childhood experiences that mark her for life.   In his teens Forrest Gump successfully plays for a football team after surmounting his physical handicap.

In the army he meets his best friend Bubba, a young black soldier, who inspirates Forrest and his future life. After being sent to Vietnam, Forrest starts a shrimp business at the Golf Coast in order to keep Bubba’s spirit alive who did not survive the Vietnam War. Helped by his former Vietnam superior Lt. Dan, Forrest Gump accidentally earns a lot of money from his shrimp business.  But nevertheless, Forrest tries to live a simple life and all he wants is to meet Jenny again. He met her several times before, but they always separated for some reasons. 

During his chequered life, Forrest is an inspiration for many people although he himself does not realize the impact he leaves. Finally, Forrest meets Jenny again who surprisingly has got a child with Forrest. Only a little time after their marriage Jenny dies and for Forrest a totally new stage of life starts: the role of a single father.

1. What makes Forrest successful despite his disability?
2. The famous quote from the movie. What do you think?
 "Life is like a box of chocolate, you'll never know what you gonna get."

Short Stories - Hades and the King of Corinth

Hades & the King of Corinth

The people of ancient Corinth believed their king, King Sisyphus of Corinth, was the cleverest king who ever lived! They were always bragging about him.

But no one bragged about the cleverest thing their king did. That is because most people knew nothing about it, for a very good reason!

One day, the king of Corinth was busy trying to come up with an idea to solve Corinth's fresh water problem. He saw Zeus fly by, carrying a lovely river spirit in his arms.

"That Zeus," sighed the king. "What a trouble maker!"

Soon after, the river-god Asopus flew by. "Have you seen my daughter?" he bellowed at the king.

"If you will give my city a source of fresh water, I will tell you what I saw," King Sisyphus shouted back. Immediately, a crystal clear stream of fresh water bubbled up.

"Zeus took her that way," the king pointed.

The king knew Zeus would be angry when he heard what the king had done. But Corinth desperately needed a source of fresh water. And now they had one.

Sure enough, Zeus was furious. He told his brother Hades to take King Sisyphus down to the underworld immediately!

"When they tell you I am dead, do not put a gold coin under my tongue," King Sisyphus whispered urgently to his wife. Being a good wife, she did exactly as the king had asked her.

Because the king was a very important person, Hades himself met the king at the River Styx, the entrance to the underworld. Because no gold coin was placed under his tongue, the king arrived at the entrance to the underworld as a poor beggar.

"Where is your gold coin?"  Hades demanded to know. "How can you pay for a trip across the River Styx and arrive in the underworld?"

The king hung his head in shame. "My wife was too cheap to pay for the passage."

Hades mouth fell open. "You go right back there and teach that women some manners."  Hades sent the king back to earth immediately, where he was magically alive and well again.

The king and his beloved wife laughed when he told her about it. But he never told anyone else. You never knew when the gods might be listening.


1.  Why do you think King of Corinth is alive again?

2. Do you believe in myth and why?

Short Stories - They're Made out of Meat

THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT

by Terry Bisson

"They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"Meat. They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"There's no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They're completely meat."

"That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?"

"They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them. The signals come from machines."

"So who made the machines? That's who we want to contact."

"They made the machines. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Meat made the machines."

"That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to believe in sentient meat."

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and they're made out of meat."

"Maybe they're like the orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage."

"Nope. They're born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn't take long. Do you have any idea what's the lifespan of meat?"

"Spare me. Okay, maybe they're only part meat. You know, like the weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside."

"Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads, like the weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They're meat all the way through."

"No brain?"

"Oh, there's a brain all right. It's just that the brain is made out of meat! That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"So ... what does the thinking?"

"You're not understanding, are you? You're refusing to deal with what I'm telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat."

"Thinking meat! You're asking me to believe in thinking meat!"

"Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal!  Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?"

"Omigod. You're serious then. They're made out of meat."

"Thank you. Finally. Yes. They are indeed made out of meat. And they've been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years."

"Omigod. So what does this meat have in mind?"

"First it wants to talk to us. Then I imagine it wants to explore the Universe, contact other sentiences, swap ideas and information. The usual."

"We're supposed to talk to meat."

"That's the idea. That's the message they're sending out by radio. 'Hello. Anyone out there. Anybody home.' That sort of thing."

"They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?"

"Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat."

"I thought you just told me they used radio."

"They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat."   

"Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?"

"Officially or unofficially?"

"Both."

"Officially, we are required to contact, welcome and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the Universe, without prejudice, fear or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing."

"I was hoping you would say that."

"It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?"

"I agree one hundred percent. What's there to say? 'Hello, meat. How's it going?' But will this work? How many planets are we dealing with here?"

"Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can't live on them. And being meat, they can only travel through C space. Which limits them to the speed of light and makes the possibility of their ever making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact."

"So we just pretend there's no one home in the Universe."

"That's it."

"Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you probed? You're sure they won't remember?"

"They'll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we're just a dream to them."

"A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat's dream."

"And we marked the entire sector unoccupied."

"Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?"

"Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotations ago, wants to be friendly again."

"They always come around."

"And why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the Universe would be if one were all alone ..."

Source: http://www.terrybisson.com/page6/page6.html

Short Stories - A Hole in the Fence

A Hole in the Fence

In a small village, a little boy lived with his father and mother. He was the only son for them. The parents of the little boy were very depressed due to his bad temper. The boy used to get angry very soon and taunt others with his words. His bad temper made him fall for angry words. He scolded kids, neighbors and even his friends due to anger. He invited all worries for his parents through the verbal usage. While he forgot what he spoke in anger, his friends and neighbors avoided him. 

His mother and father consoled him in many ways to give up his anger and develop kindness. Unfortunately, all their attempts failed. Finally, the boy’s father came up with an idea. 

One day, his father gave him a huge bag of nails. He asked his son to hammer one nail to the fence every time he became angry and to lose his temper. The little boy found it hilarious and accepted to do what his father said. 

The nails drove him to hammer in the fence for 30 times on the first day! Every time he lost his temper, he ran to the fence and hammered a nail. In the next few days, the number of nails hammered on the fence was reduced to half. The little boy found it very difficult to hammer the nails and decided to control his temper. 

Gradually, the number of nails hammered to the fence was reduced and the day arrived when no nail was hammered! Yet, the boy did not lose his temper. He told his father that it was several days that he did not hammer any nail and he did not lose his temper! 

Now, his father told him to remove the nails every day as he had controlled his anger. Several days passed and the boy was able to pull out most of the nails from the fence. However, there remained a few nails that the boy could not pull out. 

The boy told his father about the same. The father appreciated him and asked him pointing to the hole, ‘What do you see there?’

The boy replied, ‘a hole in the fence!’ 

He told the boy, “The nails were your bad temper and they were hammered on people. You can remove the nails but still see the holes in the fence. Again, you cannot pull out a few nails. The fence never looks the same! It has scars all over! You can stab a man with a knife, but the wound will remain there forever. Your bad temper and anger were like that! Words are more painful than physical abuse! Use words for good. Use them to embrace the relationships. Use them to show your heart!”

1. Why does the boy's father asked him to hammer the nails to the fence?

2. What does the holes in the fence shows?

3. What is the moral value of the story?