A mother duck's eggs hatch, but the biggest egg takes longer than all the others. A nosy neighbor opines that the egg looks like a turkey egg. When the egg finally hatches, Mother Duck is relieved to see that her newest son swims - he must not be a turkey - but as ducklings go, he's not very good looking. The unnamed ugly duckling lives an unpleasant life in the "duckyard" of the farm on which his family lives. With the notable exception of his mother, he is not only disparaged for his looks, he is often bullied and brutalized.

Article purportedly by Jules Verne, but probably by his son. According to the editor's note at the beginning: "In the Year 2889_ was first published in the _Forum_, February, 1889; p. 262. It was published in France the next year. Although published under the name of Jules Verne, it is now believed to be chiefly if not entirely the work of Jules' son, Michel Verne. In any event, many of the topics in the article echo Verne's ideas."

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". The poem makes use of a number of folk, mythological, religious, and classical references. "The Raven" was first attributed to Poe in print in the New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845. Its publication made Poe widely popular in his lifetime, although it did not bring him much financial success. The poem was soon reprinted, parodied, and illustrated. Critical opinion is divided as to the poem's literary status, but it nevertheless remains one of the most famous poems ever written.

Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by Charles Dickens, and was first published as a serial 1837–39. The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who starts his life in a workhouse and is then sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London, where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. Oliver Twist is notable for its unromantic portrayal by Dickens of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as for exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century. The alternate title, The Parish Boy's Progress, alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as the 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress and A Harlot's Progress. In this early example of the social novel, Dickens satirizes the hypocrisies of his time, including child labour, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s.

"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also, to a certain degree, a hoax, as it was published without claiming to be fictional, and many at the time of publication (1845) took it to be a factual account. Poe toyed with this for a while before admitting it was a work of pure fiction in his marginalia.

A woman wants a little child, and when she goes to a witch that's exactly what she gets. Thumbelina is borne of a kernel of barley-corn. Thumbelina lives with the woman who wished for her, with tiny possessions befitting her size. She is pretty and sings beautifully. But one night an ugly old toad steals into the home and sees in Thumbelina a bride for her even uglier son. (Who can only croak, though the mom can speak.) She snatches Thumbelina away from the only home she's known. Thumbelina is held captive on a lily pad in a marsh until some fish - who understand her plight - sever the lily pad, allowing it to float away. Thumbelina's praises are sung by the birds she passes, and she's befriended by a butterfly as she sails downriver on her lily pad boat.

Aenar MacVenner was a veteran scout of the Stormwind's Lions detachment, until he woke up grumpy and annoyed as an undead. Now, forced to serve under the banner of the forsaken Queen, Aenar realises the world of the (un)dead is not much of his taste. This is a World of Warcraft related story from a first person perspective. It can be read from those who have not played the game and do not know the lore as there is not a connection of Aenar's story with the basic plot of the game.

A Love Story! They met by chance in a café out of Antirio. What were the possibilities to meet her again, in a wedding out of Preveza? Infinitesimal, but it happened! Unexpected encounters that led to a great love!! They met by chance in a café out of Antirio. What were the possibilities to meet her again, in a wedding out of Preveza? Infinitesimal, but it happened! Unexpected encounters that led to a great love!! https://homoastralis.org/eleni-menelaos-en.htm

The adventures of five Americans on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. During the American Civil War, five northern prisoners of war decide to escape, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia, by hijacking a balloon. The escapees are Cyrus Smith, a railroad engineer in the Union army (named Cyrus Harding in Kingston's version) his ex-slave and loyal follower Neb (short for Nebuchadnezzar) Bonadventure Pencroff, a sailor (who is addressed only by his surname. In Kingston's translation, he is named Pencroft) his protégé and adopted son Harbert Brown (called Herbert in some translations) and the journalist Gedéon Spilett (Gideon Spilett in English versions). The company is completed by Cyrus' dog "Top".