The novel opens with the Pontellier family vacationing on Grand Isle at a resort on the Gulf of Mexico managed by Madame Lebrun and her two sons, Robert and Victor. The Pontellier family is composed of Léonce Pontellier, a businessman of Louisiana Creole heritage; his wife Edna, and their two sons, Etienne and Raoul. Edna spends most of her time with her close friend Adèle Ratignolle. In a boisterious and cheery manner, Adèle reminds Edna of her duties as a wife and mother. At Grand Isle, Edna eventually forms a connection with Robert Lebrun, a charming and earnest young man who actively seeks Edna''s attention and affections. When they fall deeply in love, Robert senses the doomed nature of such a relationship, flees to Mexico under the guise of pursuing a nameless business venture. At this point in the novel, the narrative focus shifts to Edna''s complex, shifting emotions as she reconciles her maternal duties with her desire to be with Robert and her desire for social freedom. With the summer vacation over, the Pontelliers return to New Orleans. Edna gradually reassesses her priorities and takes a more active role in her own happiness. She starts to isolate herself from New Orleans society and withdraw from some of the duties traditionally associated with motherhood. Léonce eventually calls in a doctor to diagnose her, fearing she is losing her mental faculties. The doctor advises Léonce to let her be. When Léonce prepares to travel to New York City on business, he sends the boys to his mother and leaves Edna alone at home for an extended period. This gives Edna physical and emotional room to breathe and think over various aspects of her life. While her husband is still away, she moves out of her house and into a small bungalow nearby, spicing up this transitional period by dallying with Alcée Arobin, a persistent suitor with a reputation for being free with his affections. For the first time in the novel, Edna is shown as a sexual being, but the affair proves awkward and emotionally fraught. The other person to whom Edna reaches out during this time is Mademoiselle Reisz, a gifted recitalist whose playing is renowned throughout New Orleans but who maintains a generally hermetic existence. At a party earlier in the novel, Edna is profoundly moved by Mademoiselle Reisz''s playing. Mademoiselle Reisz is in contact with Robert while he is in Mexico, receiving letters from him regularly. Edna begs her to reveal their contents, which she does, proving to Edna that Robert is thinking about her. Eventually Robert returns to New Orleans. At first aloof (and finding excuses not to be near Edna), he eventually confesses his passionate love for her. He admits that the business trip to Mexico was an excuse to get away from a relationship that would never work. Edna is called away to help Adèle with a difficult childbirth. Adèle pleads with Edna to think of what she would be turning her back on if she did not behave appropriately. When Edna returns home, she finds a note from Robert stating that he has left forever. Devastated, Edna rushes back to Grand Isle, where she had first met Robert Lebrun. The novel ends with Edna allowing herself to be overtaken by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Awakening

Time is set on Earth, the inner part of the Solar System and various other universes onwards from the 21st century. The novel covers a wide range of topics, including the Doomsday argument, Fermi paradox, genetic engineering, and humanity''s extinction. The book begins at the end of space and time, when the last descendants of humanity face an infinite but pointless existence. Due to proton decay the physical universe has collapsed, but some form of intelligence has survived by embedding itself into a lossless computing substrate where it can theoretically survive indefinitely. However, since there will never be new input, eventually all possible thoughts will be exhausted. Some portion of this intelligence decides that this should not have been the ultimate fate of the universe, and takes action to change the past, centering around the early 21st century. The changes come in several forms, including a message to Reid Malenfant, the appearance of super-intelligent children around the world, and the discovery of a mysterious gateway on asteroid 3753 Cruithne.

Manifold: Time

Scientist Gilgram Zinder has finally decoded the ancient Markovian physics that controls our universe. Corrupt politician and drug dealer Antor Trelig is aware of Zinder''s work through the efforts of Zinder''s assistant, Ben Yulin. Trelig takes Zinder''s daughter hostage and forces Zinder and Yulin to build a computer that can control the Markovian forces, like the dead Markovian computers that have been found on some planets. Zinder and Yulin construct "Obie", a sentient supercomputer, building it in Markovian fashion directly into Trelig''s resort planetoid, New Pompeii. Mavra Chang, freighter pilot and agent, is hired to rescue Zinder and halt Trelig''s plans of universal conquest. In the process Obie is activated and accidentally makes contact with the Well World. The Well World automatically transports everyone in contact with Obie down to the planet''s surface. Mavra and Zinder are aboard a spacecraft when this occurs, and find themselves above the Well World. Flying over a "non-tech" hex, the Well World disables all of the technology on the ship and it crashes in the Southern Hemisphere. A war erupts on the Well World as the races of the nearby hexes race to collect all of the scattered pieces of the ship in order to escape the planet.

Exiles at the Well of Souls

Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the northern Puget Sound region of the state of Washington coast in 1954, the plot revolves around a murder case in which Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American, is accused of killing Carl Heine, a respected fisherman in the close-knit community. Carl''s body had been pulled from the sea, trapped in his own net, on September 16, 1954. His water-damaged watch had stopped at 1:47. The trial, held in December 1954 during a snowstorm that grips the entire island, occurs in the midst of deep anti-Japanese sentiments following World War II. Covering the case is the editor of the town''s one-man newspaper, the San Piedro Review, Ishmael Chambers, a World War II US Marine Corps veteran who lost an arm fighting the Japanese at the Battle of Tarawa. Torn by a sense of hatred for the Japanese, Chambers struggles with his love for Kabuo''s wife, Hatsue, and his conscience, wondering if Kabuo is truly innocent. Spearheading the prosecution are the town''s sheriff, Art Moran, and prosecutor, Alvin Hooks. Leading the defense is the old, experienced Nels Gudmondsson. Several witnesses, including Etta Heine, Carl''s mother, accuse Kabuo of murdering Carl for racial and personal reasons. Kabuo Miyamoto (a decorated war veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team), experienced prejudice because of his ancestry, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Also involved in the trial are Horace Whaley, the town coroner, and Ole Jurgensen, an elderly man who sells his strawberry field to Carl. The strawberry field is contested in the trial. The land was originally owned by Carl Heine Sr. The Miyamotos lived in a house on the Heines'' land and picked strawberries for Mr. Heine. Kabuo and Carl Heine Jr. were close friends as children. Kabuo''s father eventually approached Heine Sr. about purchasing of the farm. Though Etta opposed the sale, Carl Sr. agreed. The payments were to be made over a ten-year period. However, before the last payment was made, war erupted between the US and Japan following Pearl Harbor, and all islanders of Japanese ancestry were forced to relocate to internment camps. Hatsue and her family, the Imadas, are interned in Manzanar camp in California. In 1944, Carl Sr. died due to a heart attack and Etta Heine sold the land to Jurgensen. When Kabuo returned after the war, he was extremely bitter towards Etta for reneging on the land sale. When Jurgensen suffered a stroke and decided to sell the farm, he was approached by Carl Heine Jr., hours before Kabuo arrived to try to buy the land back. During the trial, the disputed land is presented as a family feud and the motivation behind Carl''s murder. Ishmael''s search of the maritime records at Point White lighthouse station reveals that on the night that Carl Heine died, a freighter, the SS "West Corona" had passed through the channel where Carl had been fishing at 1:42am, just five minutes before his watch had stopped. Ishmael realizes that Carl was likely to have been thrown overboard by the force of the freighter''s wake. Despite the bitterness he feels as Hatsue''s rejected lover, Ishmael comes forward with the new information. Further evidence is collected in support of the conclusion that Carl had climbed the boat''s mast to cut down a lantern, been knocked from the mast by the freighter''s wake, hit his head, then fallen into the sea. The charges against Kabuo Miyamoto are dismissed.

Snow Falling on Cedars

* Chapter One: Close Reading Prose discusses the question of whether writing can be taught. She answers the question by suggesting that although writing workshops can be helpful, the best way to learn to write is to read. Closely reading books, Prose studied word choice and sentence construction. Close reading helped her solve difficult obstacles in her own writing. * Chapter Two: Words Prose encourages the reader to slow down and read every word. She reminds the reader that words are the "raw material out of which literature is crafted." Challenging the reader to stop at every word, she suggest the following question be asked: "What is the writer trying to convey with this word?" * Chapter Three: Sentences Prose discusses how "the well made sentence transcends time and genre." She believes the writer who is concerned about what constitutes a well-constructed sentence is on the right path. Prose mentions the importance of mastering grammar and how it can improve the quality of a writer''s sentence. In this chapter, she also discusses the use of long sentences, short sentences, and rhythm in prose. * Chapter Four: Paragraphs Prose discusses that, just as with sentence construction, the writer who is concerned about paragraph construction is stepping in the right direction. She states that the writer who reads widely will discover there are no general rules for building a well-constructed paragraph, but "only individual examples to help point [the writer] in a direction in which [the writer] might want to go." * Chapter Five: Narration When determining point-of-view, Prose says audience is an important factor. She gives examples from literature of point-of-view variations. First-person and third person are discussed, and even an example of writing fiction in second person is given. * Chapter Six: Character Using examples from the works of Heinrich von Kleist and Jane Austen, Prose discusses how writers can develop characterization. She mentions that Kleist, in his "The Marquise of O—" ignores physical description of the characters, but instead "tells us just as much as we need to know about his characters, then releases them into the narrative that doesn''t stop spinning until the last sentence . . ." Excerpts from other pieces of literature are used to show how action, dialogue and even physical description can help develop characterization. * Chapter Seven: Dialogue Prose begins this chapter by dispelling the advice that writers should improve and clean up dialogue so it sounds less caustic than actual speech. She believes this idea on dialogue can be taken too far and that dialogue can be used to reveal not only the words on the surface, but the many motivations and emotions of the characters underneath the words. * Chapter Eight: Details Using examples from literature, Prose explains how one or two important details can leave a more memorable impression on the reader than a barrage of description. * Chapter Nine: Gestures Prose argues that gestures performed by fictional characters should not be "physical clichés" but illuminations that move the narrative. * Chapter Ten: Learning from Chekhov Prose gives examples of what she has learned from reading Anton Chekhov. As a creative writing teacher, she would disseminate advice to her students after reading their stories. As a fan of Chekhov, she would read his short stories and find examples of how he would successfully break the "rules" of fiction writing, contradicting something she recently told her students to do in their writing projects. Prose also discusses how Chekhov teaches the writer to write without judgement; she tells how Chekhov practiced not being the "judge of one''s characters and their conversations but rather the unbiased observer." * Chapter Eleven: Reading for Courage Prose discusses the fears writers may have: revealing too much of themselves in their writing; resisting the pressures that writers must write a certain way; determining whether or not the act of writing is worth it when one considers the state of the world. She concludes her book by stating that the writer may fear creating "weeds" instead of "roses." Continuing the metaphor, she says reading is a way for the writer to see how other gardeners grow their roses. * Books to Be Read Immediately Prose includes a list of book recommendations, many of which have selections from those that are used as examples for the concepts she discusses.

Reading Like a Writer

Senior government official, Mr Mistry, requests Ghote''s assistance on a "private matter". Mr Mistry''s neighbour, Miss Daruwala, is blackmailing a Mr Pipewalla. Ghote is told to break into Daruwala''s flat, spy on her then use what he sees to force her to leave India. Ghote considers this housebreaking and blackmail but cannot refuse. At home Ghote''s son, Ved, attempts to blackmail Ghote into buying a computer by threatening to tell Protima, Ghote''s wife, their television was bought on the black market. The next day Ghote blackmails a locksmith to get keys to Miss Daruwala''s apartment, which Ghote''s searches until she returns with Dr Edul Commissariat, a famous scientist. Ghote hides overhears that Commissariat submitted someone else''s thesis as own work. Miss Daruwala demands "one lakh in cash" (100,000 rupees). Commissariat murders Miss Daruwala with a swordstick and burns the documents that incriminate her victims. Afterwards, Ghote leaves his hiding place. He did not arrest Commissariat because the Doctor is a humanitarian and Miss Daruwala''s was a blackmailer. Feeling responsible Dr Commissariat''s fate, Ghote tells Mr Mistry that Daruwala is dead but not who murdered her. Inspector Arjun Singh of Crime Branch investigates the murder, reported by Ghote''s anonymous phone call. Ghote''s is assigned to a blackmail case. Tabloid newspaper, Gup Shup, has blackmailed people into paying for an entry in Indians of Merit and Distinction. Freddy Kersasp is the ringleader but the evidence points to his office manager, Shiv Chand. Ghote arranges a sting operation, in which two people witness the payment. Ghote returns home and finds Mr Ranchod, Mr Mistry''s servant, waiting. Ranchod believes Ghote is blackmailing the murderer. Unwilling to tell Ranchod the truth, Ghote pays him one hundred rupees. Ghote''s sting operation goes well and Shiv Chand is arrested. Chand refuses to testify against Freddy Kersasp who is in the USA. Days pass. Inspector Singh''s investigation makes no progress. Ranchod demands more money. Kersasp returns and fires Chand. Chand tells Ghote everything, but Kersasp''s blackmail victims refuse to testify. Ghote learns that Kersasp was the prime suspect in a robbery and murder thirty-seven years ago. Enquiries in England reveal that Kersasp did not raise the funds to start his newspaper by running a magazine there, as he claimed. There is insufficient evidence to convict Kersasp, but Ghote is ordered to blackmail him into leaving the country. Ghote does so. Ghote refuses to pay Ranchod when they next meet and several weeks go by. Then Inspector Singh is transferred to the Vigilance Branch of Bombay Police (Internal Affairs) and the Daruwala murder case abandoned. The next morning a notorious gangster, Mama Chiplunkar, approaches Ghtoe. Ranchod has spoken to Chiplunkar who intends to blackmail Ghote for confidential information. The following day Chiplunkar repeats his demand and Ghote gives in. In court Shiv Chand is found guilty. Ghote plans to push Chiplunkar under a train and arranges a meeting with Chiplunkar at Grant Road Station, using information about a raid as bait. A perfect opportunity to kill Chiplunkar arises but Ghote cannot bring himself to do it. Ghote rejects Chiplunkar''s blackmail attempt and escapes on a train. Ghote considers suicide, as he believes Chiplunkar will soon expose and disgrace him. He waits two days then learns Chiplunkar has fled to Ahmedabad. Ghote is called to the assistant commissioners office where he learns Chiplunkar has purchased Daruwala''s flat as a hideout. Ghote deduces that Ranchod is hidden there, waiting for Chiplunkar''s order to testify against Ghote. In spite of this, Ghote assists the search team in entering the property. Inside they find Ranchod dead from an overdose of narcotics. Chiplunkar returns home and is arrested for drug possession. Anything Chiplunkar says about Ghote will be ignored without Ranchod. Ghote goes home and tells Ved that he can have the computer.

The Iciest Sin

The poem opens with Perceval, whose mother has raised him apart from civilization in the forests of Wales. Since his father''s death, he continually encounters knights and realizes he wants to be one. Despite his mother''s objections, the boy heads to King Arthur''s court, where a young girl predicts greatness for him. He is taunted by Sir Kay, but amazes everyone by killing a knight who had been troubling King Arthur and taking his vermilion armor. He then sets out for adventure. He trains under the experienced Gornemant then falls in love with and rescues Gornemant''s niece Blanchefleur. They agree to marry. Returning home to visit his mother he comes across the Fisher King, who invites him to stay at his castle. While there he witnesses a strange procession in which young men and women carry magnificent objects from one chamber to another. First comes a young man carrying a bleeding lance, then two boys carrying candelabra. Finally, a beautiful young girl emerges bearing an elaborately decorated graal, or "grail", passing before him at each course of the meal. Perceval, who had been warned against talking too much, remains silent through all of this and wakes up the next morning alone. He finds his mother is dead, then Arthur asks him to return to court. But before long, a loathly lady enters the court and admonishes Perceval for failing to ask his host whom the grail served and why the lance bled, as the appropriate question would have healed the wounded king. No more is heard of Perceval except a short later passage in which a hermit explains that the grail contains a single mass-wafer that miraculously sustains the Fisher King’s wounded father. The loathly lady announces other quests that the Knights of the Round Table proceed to take up and the remainder of the poem deals with Arthur''s nephew and best knight Gawain, who has been challenged to a duel by a knight who claims Gawain had slain his lord. Gawain offers a contrast and complement to Perceval''s naiveté as a courtly knight having to function in un-courtly settings. An important episode is Gawain''s liberation of a castle whose inhabitants include his long-lost mother and grandmother as well as his sister Clarissant, whose existence was unknown to him. This tale also breaks off unfinished.

Perceval, the Story of the Grail

Eugene Henderson is a troubled middle-aged man. Despite his riches, high social status, and physical prowess, he feels restless and unfulfilled, and harbors a spiritual void that manifests itself as an inner voice crying out I want, I want, I want. Hoping to discover what the voice wants, Henderson goes to Africa. Upon reaching Africa, Henderson splits with his original group and hires a native guide, Romilayu. Romilayu leads Henderson to the village of the Arnewi, where Henderson befriends the leaders of the village. He learns that the cistern from which the Arnewi get their drinking water is plagued by frogs, thus rendering the water "unclean" according to local taboos. Henderson attempts to save the Arnewi by ridding them of the frogs, but his enthusiastic scheme ends in disaster. Henderson and Romilayu travel on to the village of the Wariri. Here, Henderson impulsively performs a feat of strength by moving the giant wooden statue of the goddess Mummah and unwittingly becomes Wariri Rain King. He quickly develops a friendship with the native-born but western-educated Chief, King Dahfu, with whom he engages in a series of far-reaching philosophical discussions. The elders send Dahfu to find a lion, which is supposedly the reincarnation of the late king, Dahfu''s father. The lion hunt fails and the lion mortally wounds the king. Henderson learns shortly before Dahfu''s death that the Rain King is the next person in the line of succession for the throne. Having no interest in being king and desiring only to return home, Henderson flees the Wariri village. Although it is unclear whether Henderson has truly found spiritual contentment, the novel ends on an optimistic and uplifting note.

Henderson the Rain King

The story starts off in a theatre in a city only known as ''Grand Theater''. Valerian is performing a magic trick using Boy''s talent to fit into small spaces. Boy is Valerian''s slave (Valerian calls him his ''famulus''). He is treated cruelly by Valerian. Boy, after the show, is sent to a pub to collect something from an acquaintance of Valerian''s. This something is a music box, which the increasingly distracted Valerian assures Boy that he needs. The acquaintance, an ugly man named Green, walks to the toilet; Boy follows. The man is killed (although it is not clear what killed him, since the killer was shielded by purple smoke) and Boy takes the music box and leaves the pub, running into Willow. Willow had found out the Theatre Director, Korp, is dead, killed by a mysterious beast named the Phantom. Both of them are coated in blood because of the deaths that night. They are both arrested and accused of the murder of the director. Valerian breaks into their prison and gets them out, taking both Boy and Willow to his home. Boy gives him the music box. Valerian plays it but is unable to discern the meaning. Willow gains his trust by working out the music box spells a name because of Willow''s perfect pitch. She identifies the notes as ''G-A-D-B-E-E-B-E'', the name of a man who had died. They search the largest cemetery in town for his grave; it is not in a single one. Valerian is attacked by people who owed money and buried alive. Boy and Willow manage to dig him out and drag him home, Valerian now increasingly more desperate and with a broken arm. They have to go and see the director of funerals. Valerian Sambourn sends Boy alone while he and Willow visit Kepler, Valerian''s old rival and associate. They believe Kepler has gone mad, as he has made bizarre patterns all over his basement, with one phrase written in Latin by it: "The miller sees not all water that goes by his mill". Boy is unable to get a meeting with the Director, but he sees that he is a madman who tries to put together mutilated pieces of dead animals together and bring them back to life by looking through the dome over his workspace. Valerian, Willow Hickobe and Boy return there and manage to get the information they want, by using Kepler''s electricity to fool the Director, and leave the city to find the grave, buried in a town called Lindon. Buried with Gad Beebe, is the mysterious Book of Dead Days, that apparently holds the answer to everyone''s biggest question. Boy and Willow later find out that Valerian had fallen in love with a woman and he gave up the last 15 years of his life for one night with her, but she rejected him despite the enchantment, the reason Valerian fought with Kepler. The three get arrested (again) for their fruitless efforts digging up Beebe''s grave, and are stowed away in dungeons. They escape through the city''s underground channels, which were the patterns Kepler had traced in his basement. They find out Kepler had the book, and it is a race against time to find it. Boy pushes Kepler overboard into the channel. Valerian finds the book and opens it, Willow reads over his shoulder and screams for Boy to run that Valerian will kill him in place of himself. Valerian knocks out Willow and after chasing Boy through the underground, takes Boy home. In Valerian''s tower a swirling vortex opens up. Valerian is about to sacrifice Boy, when Kepler and Willow arrive. Kepler reveals that Boy is Valerian''s son and that Boy was made that night 15 years ago, when Valerian bet on his life. Valerian, shocked, willingly walks into the vortex, and the demon claims him. Boy questions Kepler about his real father, and Kepler says that Valerian is not really Boy''s father, that he just said that to save Boy. The book ends with Boy and Willow returning to the City with Kepler.

The Book of Dead Days

Nana, an attractive young "non-talker" in her mid-twenties&mdash;"tall, thin, pale, blonde, breasty"&mdash;who is working on her M.A. thesis, lives with her "Papa", the "benevolent angel" of the story, in Edgware, a suburb of London. She gets to know Moshe, a young Jewish actor from Finsbury, and they start a relationship. As time goes by, Anjali, a friend of Moshe''s, joins them more and more in their sparetime activities until Nana, for whom sex is not necessarily a top priority, suggests a "threesome" because she wants Moshe to be happy. Accordingly, due to Nana''s altruism, for some months Nana and Moshe are joined in their lovemaking by Anjali, who is bisexual. The narrator, who defines a threesome as "the socialist utopia of sex", describes not only the sociology, psychology and ethics of their ménage à trois (for example by comparing it to the love triangle depicted in the film Cabaret) but also, in some detail, the technicalities and what he calls "sexual etiquette". However, he also frequently ponders philosophical questions and occasionally redefines old concepts such as that of infidelity ("the selfish desire to be helpful to more than one person"). In the summer Nana goes on holiday with her Papa, leaving behind two thirds of the ménage à trois. In Venice, Italy, Papa complains of a splitting headache, and shortly after their return to England he suffers a stroke&mdash;a good excuse for Nana to break up with both Moshe and Anjali, although her father is saddened by the thought of his daughter giving up her boyfriend on his account.

Politics

The Awakening takes place directly after the events in The Summoning. Chloe has been recaptured by The Edison Group, a team of supernatural scientists responsible for manipulating her DNA, therefore enhancing her necromantic abilities. While there, she discovers that she, and other supernaturals are experimental subjects who were genetically modified at birth. Chloe and Tori (a witch) lead the Edison Group to a factory where they were supposed to meet Derek and Simon. Chloe and Tori escape with help from liz after struggling with Tori''s mother, Diane (also a witch), but not before Diane hits Chloe''s aunt Lauren with a seemingly fatal spell. The two girls run and hide. Chloe reads a letter her Aunt Lauren gave her which explains that she only ever wanted to help young supernaturals but it wasn''t until her own niece was in danger that she realized how dangerous the Edison Group was. The next day, they meet up with Derek and Simon at the factory. The five of them decide to find Kit Bae, Simon and Derek''s father, who will be able to help them all. On the bus to New York City, Chloe is woken by Derek who tells her that he feels another change coming on. She offers to go with him and asks Tori to tell Simon that if they don''t make it back to the bus, they will meet up in New York City. They catch a bus heading to New York City where they find Tori and Simon, but their father''s friend Andrew is missing. Suspecting that Andrew has been captured, they decide to leave in the morning. Before dawn, the Edison Group attacks them. While hiding, Chloe hears a voice that sounds like her Aunt Lauren''s, guiding her to safety. She realizes with some panic that she wouldn''t hear Lauren unless she was dead and wonders if The Edison Group has killed her Aunt. Chloe and Simon are approached by a man that Simon recognizes as Andrew Carson, the man they''ve been looking for. Andrew helps them to safety and Derek arrives with Tori. They all escape in a van and Andrew tells them that he''s taking them to a safe house for supernaturals where they can rest up and eventually help take down The Edison Group.

One fall day, while Farmer Bailey is riding down the road in his truck, he runs over something or someone. At first, he thinks he has hit a deer, but when he gets out to see what he hit, he finds that he has accidentally run over a man. The man tries to flee but loses his balance and falls down. Farmer Bailey takes him to his house, where he and his wife, Mrs. Bailey, discover that the stranger cannot talk. The Baileys call a doctor to examine him. The doctor arrives and takes the stranger''s temperature with his mercury thermometer. As the doctor holds it up to his mouth, the stranger blows on it and the mercury freezes. The doctor thinks that his thermometer is broken. Although the stranger isn''t seriously hurt, he can''t remember who he is or where he''s from. The doctor advises the Baileys to give the stranger shelter until he''s fully recuperated. They do, and he fits in well with the family and even helps about the farm. One night the stranger comes out to have dinner with the Baileys. They are having soup, and the stranger notices steam rising from his plate. He lightly blows on the bowl, and the steam drifts away. When he blows, Mrs. Bailey feels a draft. Mr. Bailey enjoys having the stranger as his guest, but he also notices how peculiar the weather has been. The stranger goes for a walk in the forest and notices some rabbits and hares. They would usually flee from humans, but they walk toward the stranger. It still feels like summer on Mr. Bailey''s farm, and the summer warmth makes his pumpkins grow bigger than normal. The stranger too notices this. He wonders why the trees on the Bailey farm are still green while all the other trees on the other farms are red and orange. One day, however, the stranger blows on a green leaf. When it turns orange, he realizes it''s time for him to leave the Baileys. On his last evening at the house, the stranger gets hugs from all the Baileys before he leaves. They come outside to wave goodbye to their friend, but he''s disappeared. With the stranger''s departure, fall has come to the Bailey''s farm, and the trees are now all red and orange. Etched in frost of the farmhouse windows is the old phrase, "See you next fall."

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Awakening

By Kate Chopin

Manifold: Time

By Stephen Baxter

Exiles at the Well of Souls

By Jack L. Chalker

Snow Falling on Cedars

By David Guterson

Reading Like a Writer

By Francine Prose

The Iciest Sin

By H. R. F. Keating

Perceval, the Story of the Grail

No Author Listed

Henderson the Rain King

By Saul Bellow

The Book of Dead Days

By Marcus Sedgwick

Politics

By Adam Thirlwell

The Awakening

By Kelley Armstrong

The Stranger

By Chris Van Allsburg