Short Fairy Tales For Adults

Verona is a bottom feeder. She is the one mer in her clan who is considered the ugliest and least intelligent. Growing up with constant bullying and abuse wasn't the worst of what her kind had in store for her. At 17 years old, she must now endure The Reckoning. The scales will measure her worth to her clan. Will she endure 30 days as a land-walker to gather information and knowledge to appease her clan and return a valued member?

In a kingdom long ago, a young handsome prince travels the countryside incognito taking the census. His travels are filled with adventure, colorful characters and mystery as he falls into a deceitful plot by a neighboring Lord. Deep within the dark woods he stumbles upon a country girl with deep secrets to hide. A beautiful lady trying to win his heart. A noble knight in search of dragons to slay and a Chinese tailor with a special talent that could change a kingdom and the prince's heart.

Meet Syrenka, a little mermaid who must convince her father the Sea King, not to start a war against the humans. Except she had become the very thing he despised...she is secretly living on land as a human. A fairy tale fantasy adventure prequel! This short story takes place after the events in Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid and before Roy Mauritsen’s epic Shards of the Glass Slipper series.

A ship burns, sinking into the dark sea. There is only one survivor - a child hunted for the magic of her song. Hidden away on an isolated island, Lilette buries her magic deep, convinced it caused the deaths of those she loves. But she can’t run from who she is. And when her secret is revealed, the only thing that can save her is her song. It’s time to rise up and become what she was always meant to be. The most powerful witch ever born.

Eco-Fables is a collection of eco-friendly "green" tales, which center around a magical forest full of wonderful things. The often ironic, satirical short stories offer up lessons for living and pack big ideas into small doses suitable for children and adults. Volume One (the first of the three volume set) offers 11 "green fables", including "The Man Who Went to Town", "The Caterpillars", and "The Monkeys and the Mushrooms".

Ku-aya led a joyful life with her parents and her three younger brothers. Her days were spent tending to the fields of wheat, watching over the herd of sheep, and dancing along the banks of the salt river that ran through the center of her beautiful, sprawling village. Every dawn brought new blessings from the Sky Father above.

A toy giant and a clockwork unicorn star in this retelling of Aesop's fable "The Lion and the Mouse" in a steampunk fantasy setting.

This is a selection from The Jungle Book, in which a mongoose saves the day.

This is a selection from Kipling's The Second Jungle Book.

When a young John Lambton skips church to go fishing, he catches something unnatural. Fearful of his father's reaction to both skipping church and bringing such a foul creature to the house - he it throws in the well. Years later, after fighting in the Crusades, John returns home to an unpleasant surprise.

This is the first story of The Jungle Book, in which the reader is introduced to Mowgli, the jungle boy, and his animal friends.

Jonathan ist 10 und ein Junge, der nicht weiter auffällt. Dennoch ist er voller Wissensdurst, da er glaubt, dass es da noch eine andere Wahrheit gibt, als die, die ihm seine Eltern nicht müde werden, aufs Brot zu schmieren. Und so macht sich Jordan auf die Suche nach Antworten... bis er eines Tages den Mut aufbringt, den Mann zu besuchen, der am Ende ihrer Straße wohnt; von dem aber so gut wie niemand etwas weiß. Und diese Begegnung ist es, die Jonathans Leben nachhaltig verändert.

This story, one of Harte's most anthologized, first appeared in The Luck of Roading Camp and Other Stories.

Storyteller Cindy Killavey has entertained audiences from Hawaii to New England to Ireland with both traditional and modern stories. In this traditional tale, Jack may be lazy but he has some amazing adventures on his way to fame and fortune.

Frank Stockton was an American writer and humorist, best known for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular. His most famous fable is "The Lady or the Tiger?" (1882), about a man sentenced to an unusual punishment for having a romance with a king's beloved daughter. Other memorable tales are "The Griffin and the Minor Canon", "Old Pypes and the Dryad", and "Mr. Tolman".

What if you could get high on someone else's emotions? When Alice joins her boyfriend's university experiment in shared consciousness she discovers a world where thoughts are reality and concepts are smells. Her scientific brain, still trying to prove whether or not two people can exist in the same headspace, is soon overwhelmed by the presence of other people, some dreaming, others hunting.

Eleven-year-old Lady Wynn Hoppringle longs to be free from rules and duty of her family home at Smailholm Tower. Whilst out exploring on the wild moors, she comes across a big secret of the smallest kind, hidden beneath the prickly brambles. What will she find? And will she keep it a secret?

Jenny is the smallest of all the small girls in the world. She is afraid of foxes, the rabbits, the birds, and even the mice that roam the forbidden moor where she lives. When one day she falls down a mouse hole, she must find a way to be brave. Will she escape? Or remain the most afraid miniature girl there ever was?