Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best money could buy.

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely.

Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food and vacation abroad.

However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. In fact, to make himself a worthily candidate for the promotion, he enrolled for another course in the open university.

Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Jubilantly, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough, it would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium. Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining clients. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

As expected, Father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take anymore courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to devote more time to his family.

Father did not wake up the next day.

Once upon a time there lived a boy named Bill, who always dreamed of flying to the moon.

One summer evening when Bill was trying to go to sleep, he was bothered by his big  brother Ron. Ron was playing his new boom box too loud. The only way Bill could go to sleep was to put on some headphones and play a tape. His favorite tape had the sound of the ocean waves splashing up on shore.

As he lay there in bed with his eyes closed pretending he was lying on the beach under a  full moon, he began to daydream about flying to the moon in a rocket ship.

The rocket ship was not very big--just big enough for two astronauts.  He and his  brother Ron were co-astronauts.

Bill called out to Ron, "Navigator ready?" Ron called back in the headset,  "Yes, navigator ready."

"Mission control ready?" Bill asked into the headset.  "Mission  control ready. We will begin countdown in T minus ten seconds, nine seconds, eight seconds" . .  . Bill's heart began to race .  . .  "two seconds, one . .  . BLASTOFF!"

Bill and Ron were thrown back into their seats.  They could feel the skin on their  faces being stretched back towards their ears.  Then they felt like they weighed 100 pounds apiece.  Their rocket ship zoomed up into the sky so fast everything out the window was just a blur. It seemed like just a couple of minutes had gone by when everything got really smooth and quiet.  They were now in outer space!

Bill was sitting in the front seat and Ron was in the back.  Bill asked Ron,  "What does it look like out the back?" "It looks like earth is just a blue and white ball. You can see the clouds and oceans, but you cannot see any cities or trees."

Ron asked Bill, "Can you see the moon coming up?" "Yes, I see it,"  Bill said.  "I think we will be there in about 30 minutes if my calculations are correct.  We're going 25,000 miles per hour and it is about 50,000 miles to the moon." "Cool," said Ron.   "I think I will play my GameBoy and listen to some music on my boom box." "You brought your boom box?" Bill was obviously annoyed.  "You know I don't go anywhere without my boom box," said  Ron.  He turned on the music and the boys listened. The time quickly passed.

"Mission control to Bill," came over the headsets.  "Bill here." "You will need to prepare for landing in two minutes," said the voice. "Roger, we'll be ready," said Bill.  "Here we go.  Hold on, it looks like it might be a rough landing." The rocket ship came in very rough. So rough that both Bill and Ron's airbags deployed.  Finally, they came to rest. "Bill, are you O.K.?" asked Ron. "Yes, I'm O.K., but that airbag hit me in the face like a rock-hard pillow.  I think my nose would be bleeding if I didn't have on this helmet.  Let's take a look around and see if the rocket ship is O.K." "Good idea," said Ron.

They put on their moon walk suits.  The moon walk suits were big and heavy.  They had built in air conditioners to cool them when the sun was on them and a heater to warm them up when they were in the shade. Since they were in outer space, it would go way below freezing in the shade and get so hot you could get burned in the sun.  When they stepped outside, they felt like they were floating on air. They only weighed about six pounds each. So when they walked, it was as if they bounced.  They bounced up about ten feet with each step. They quickly gathered up some moon rocks as souvenirs. Then they began to inspect the rocket to make sure it was flyable for the return trip.  Things did not look good. The portion of the ship that housed the rocket starter was heavily damaged. The batteries that turned the starter were completely destroyed. They began to fear that they might be trapped on the moon.  "What are we going to do?" asked Ron. He looked scared.  "I don't know," Bill answered.  "Let's call Mission Control and see if they have any suggestions."

They went back inside and tossed the moon rocks aside.  They called Mission Control. "We will get back to you" was the answer.  They needed time to think.  "We only have enough food and water for one more day," Ron reminded Bill.  "Yeah, we will really need to conserve it." They nervously sat in their seats and waited for Mission Control. No reply. After awhile, Bill jumped up and said, "I've got it! Give me your boom box." Ron said, "What? Are you crazy?" "No just give it to me," said Bill. Ron surrendered his boom box.  Bill took it and turned it on real loud and smiled. Ron looked sad.  He just knew that Bill was losing his mind.

Then Bill turned off the music and flipped the boom box upside down.  He opened the battery compartment and took out the eight large batteries.  "I think we can tape these together and make one big battery that will start the rocket," said Bill.  "Hand me that duct take from the tool kit." "Sounds like a good idea to me," said Ron. Bill lined up the batteries in two rows of four and taped them together in a bundle. He took a piece of tape and connected a wire to the batteries on each end.  He hooked one up to the starter. He took the other wire and ran it back up to his seat in the front.  Bill told Ron to get in his seat. "If I touch the wire to the metal on the dashboard, the starter should work and we can blast-off." Ron hoped that he was right.  "Are you ready?" Bill asked Ron without waiting for an answer. "Here goes!" As he touched the wire to the dashboard, they could hear the roar of the rocket.  Before they knew it, they were zooming back through space towards earth. "Yippee!" how they both yelled.

Just then, Bill's mom pulled the headphones off of his head and told him to go on to  sleep. It was easy for Bill to get back to sleep, because he hoped he could pick up his rocket ship dream right where he left off.

Once upon a time there was a funny guy named Lenny.  Lenny was  an inventor.  He invented all kinds of contraptions.  His house looked like a mess, but he had some really cool things.

One day Lenny decided he wanted to fly.

 "I am going to invent some wings and fly," Lenny told his friend Rudy.

"Now I really know you're crazy.  You won't even get off the ground," said Rudy.

"You'll see," said Lenny.

So he went down to his workshop and began working.  Day and night, he worked.  No one saw Lenny for weeks. Then one day he came out of his workshop with a great big grin on his face.

He called Rudy on the phone.  "Rudy, tomorrow I will fly, but I need your help," said Lenny.

"Did you really build some wings?" asked Rudy.

"Yeah and they are really beautiful," said Lenny.   "They're a little heavy though. I need you to help me drag them up to the top of Kill Devil Hill."

"What did you make them out of?" asked Rudy.

"I made them out of some scrap metal I had laying around from  when I built my helicopter last year," said Lenny.

"Metal! Don't you think that will be too heavy to use for  wings?" asked Rudy.

"No, I calculated all of the angles.  I will be like a human airplane," said Lenny.

Rudy just rolled his eyes.  "Ok, I will be over first thing in the morning and we'll try them out," said Rudy.

"See you then," said Lenny.

The next morning they dragged the wings up to the top of Kill Devil  Hill and Lenny strapped them on.

"Are you sure those are not too heavy? asked Rudy again.

"No, the faster I run, the lighter they will get.  The  wind will lift me up and I will be flying," said Lenny, quite confidently.

"All right, I am going to get a running start and take  off," said Lenny.  So, Lenny backed up about fifty feet and started running.  As he ran, the weight of the wings started to wear out his legs and he got lower and lower to the ground. Just as he got to the crest of the hill, his legs gave out and he skidded across the ground on his face.

After Rudy rolled around on the ground laughing for about a minute,  he got up and asked Lenny if he was Ok.

 "Yeah, Yeah, real funny," said Lenny.  "I guess you may be right they are a little heavy, but I know the shape is just right.  I will just go back to the workshop and make them out of another material. Something lighter"

A couple of weeks later Lenny called up Rudy.

"I've done it," said Lenny.

"You've done what?" asked Rudy.

"I reworked the wings.  I made them out of wood and tissue paper.  These things are so light I may get going by simply jumping off the roof.  Come on over, I need a witness," said Lenny.

"I'm on the way," said Rudy.

When Rudy arrived, Lenny was already up on the roof with these  hilarious looking pink wings.

"Pink wings!" laughed Rudy.

"Yeah, this is the stuff I had left over from when I invented  that giant Pig robot we used on Halloween last year," said Lenny.

 "So you think you're just going to jump off and fly?" asked Rudy.

"Yeah. Here goes," said Lenny.

He backed up a little and took a quick dash and a jump.

Aaaaaaaaaaagh, SMACK!  The wings broke right off and Lenny  landed on his head in the middle of some bushes next to the house.

After Rudy rolled around on the ground laughing for about a minute,  he got up and asked Lenny if he was Ok.

"Yeah, Yeah, real funny," said Lenny.  "I guess  they may have been a little weak, but I know the shape is just right.  I will just go back to the workshop and make them out of another material.  Something not as heavy as the scrap metal and not as light as the tissue paper."

 "Sounds like a good idea to me," said Rudy as he rolled his eyes.

A couple of weeks later Lenny called up Rudy.

"I've really done it this time," said Lenny.

"You've done what?" asked Rudy.

"I reworked the wings.  I made them out of wax and balsa wood. These things look just like bird's wings.  Meet me at Kill Devil Hill, I need a witness," said Lenny.

"I'm on the way," said Rudy.

When Rudy arrived, he saw the wings. They did look good!

"I need you to help me strap them on," said Lenny.

Rudy helped him strap on the wings.  They fit real snug.  There was a handle under each wing out near the tip for Lenny to use to move the wings up and down and a belt that went around his waste so that they would not fall off.

"Here we go," yelled Lenny as he backed up and began  running towards the crest of the hill.

He didn't slow down and just as he got to the edge of the hill, he  started to lift up into the air. He was flying!

YAHOOO! Yelled Lenny.

He flew and flew just laughing and hooting.  He flew higher  and higher.  He was really getting high now, and he started to worry. "How do I land these things?" he asked himself.

That question was about to be answered.  All of a sudden, he  noticed that his wings were starting to melt.  He had risen so high, that the sun was starting to melt the wax he used to make the wings.  Pretty soon he had little tiny wings and he was flying about a hundred miles  an hour down towards the woods.

"Boy this is going hurt again," said Lenny to himself.

He crashed into the trees.

Rudy ran up, "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so, but I am definitely going to quit trying to  fly. This is too rough on the body," said Lenny.

To this day, no one believes Rudy when he tells the story of how  Lenny flew like a bird.  It may be good that they do not believe him, because others would probably get hurt, as did Lenny.

Lenny also made a commitment not to invent anything that cannot be  used while standing firmly on the ground.

He often tells people,  "If people were meant to fly, they would have wings!"

One day a Little Frog happens to see a buffalo on its way to the pond and is stopped by it.  The little frog got surprised.

What are you doing by jumping like this? Yelled the big buffalo at the little frog

This is how I walk responded the frog with a surprise

You have got four legs like any other animal and why can’t you just walk? Buffalo again yelled with the same anger.

Now the little frog understood the confusion the big buffalo had and it turned upside down and asked:

Look my dear big buffalo how my legs are made. I do have four legs but the hind ones are differently made hence I can’t walk and I can only jump to cover distances.

Oh I am sorry – pleaded the big buffalo

I am really sorry for showing my anger at you without knowing the reason.  I shall be your friend from now on wards and I shall carry you now to wherever you want to go.  Please let me know where do you want to go – requested the buffalo

The little frog felt very happy with the sudden change in the behavior of the big buffalo.

I need to got to the pond near that banyan tree but I do not know how to climb on to your back – said the little frog

Do not worry I shall sit down so that with one leap you can jump on to my back – suggested the big buffalo

The frog did as suggested but the smooth skin of the buffalo made its efforts futile.  Both the big buffalo and the little frog were disappointed but continued their efforts.  At one point the frog could jump on to the back of the buffalo but as the big buffalo started standing up it had slipped down.  As their struggle continued they saw Dr.Dove coming towards them.

What’s the matter why are you here asked Dr.Dove by alighting on the branch of a neem tree near them.

I made a promise to carry this small frog on my back to the pond near that banyan tree but it has become difficult for this small frog to reach my back. 

You want to carry the frog on your back. Isn’t it? Asked Dr.Dove.

Yes told the buffalo

Then I have suggestion to you.  You both come along with me lead Dr.Dove towards the pond.  All three reached the pond.

Dear small frog you first jump into the water – said Dr.Dove

The small frog jumped into the water and looked up by turning back towards the buffalo and Dr.Dove.

Now dear Buffalo you walk into the water and sit down in such a way that your back is just touching the surface of the water level in the pond – said Dr.Dove.

The big buffalo did as suggested.

The little frog understood what is to be done. Immediately it jumped onto the back of the buffalo with ease and settled down there.

Soon the buffalo too understood and came slowly out of the water with the little frog on its back.  The little frog and the big buffalo were happy and thanked Dr.Dove.

Now tell me where shall I take you - asked the big buffalo

Not to the pond again but back to my home in the woods in the north pointed the little frog. 

Seeing their happiness Dr.Dove flew away.

In the town of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu there was a fisherman named Kittu. He was a very nice man who was satisfied with whatever he had. His wife Muniamma was not like that. Kittu daily used to go to the sea to catch fish. One day, when the sky was clear and the wind was gentle, he went for putting his net in the water and he did not get any fish. At last he got a big turtle. He was terribly disappointed and was about to throw it on the beach. Then the turtle spoke to him, “I am actually a Deva but I have been cursed by a sage to become a turtle. Please put me back in the sea.” Kittu immediately released the turtle in the water. Then the turtle told him, “ You know I am a deva, can I give you something.” Kittu replied, “Poor deva, already you are in trouble, I do not want anything.”

When he went home without any fish, his wife Muniamma shouted at him. Then Kittu told her the story of the turtle deva. Muniamma became very angry and told him, “ Go back to the sea and call the turtle. Ask from him a good house for us. Because we are living in a hut.” Kittu went back to the sea and sang, “Oh deva, who is a turtle, Please do come to the shore, For I want to ask you something.” As soon as he sang, the turtle came. IT asked him, “Kittu, what do you want?” Then Kittu told the turtle, “I really do not want anything but my wife Muniamma wants to live in a good house. We are now living in a hut.” The turtle replied, “Go back to your wife. She is already in a good house.” Kittu went back and was surprised to see that their house was now very good.

Next day morning, even before the Sun rose, Muniamma woke up Kittu and told him,” This house is OK but I feel I should live in a Bungalow and I should become the mayor of this town. Go and ask your turtle. Kittu did not like it at all. His wife started crying and howling. So he went to the sea. This time the sky was black and wind was howling. Kittu sang, “Oh deva, who is a turtle, Please do come to the shore, For I want to ask you something.” The turtle deva came and asked Kittu, “Why have you come. Don’t you like your new house?” Kittu replied, “I am extremely happy but my wife is not. She wants to live in a Bungalow and she wants to be the mayor of this town.” Then the turtle replied, “Go back home. She is all ready the mayor of the town.” Kittu went back. His house was now very big. There were lots of servants in his house. His wife had also a car. He was extremely happy.

A week passed this way. One day when poor Kittu was singing happily, his wife sent for him, “ I am getting bored of becoming a mayor. I have now only one car. I want to become the governor of this state. Go and ask your turtle for this. Kittu was sad while going to the sea. The sky was jet black. There was storm outside. He went near the sea and again sang, “Oh deva, who is a turtle, Please do come to the shore, For I want to ask you something.” The turtle deva gain came and asked Kittu, “Is your wife not happy being a mayor?” Kittu with lot of sorrow told him, “unfortunately, no. She wants to become governor of this state.” Then the turtle replied, “Go back home. Now it is Rajbhavan. Do not forget.” Kittu went back. Now his wife was governor, Their house was surrounded by a very big garden. They had a swimming pool. They were having ten cars. Kittu did not bother about all this and went to a small room and slept there. Another one month passed like this.

One day while Kittu was sleeping soundly, his wife woke him up. And told, “I now want to become president of this country. I want hundred cars and want to have my own plane. Go and ask your turtle deva,” Kittu was very sad. Tears were flowing from his eyes. The sky outside was pitch dark. There was a cyclone blowing outside. But he manage to go near the sea and sang, “Oh deva, who is a turtle, Please do come to the shore, For I want to ask you something.” The turtle came and asked, “Its not your wife happy being governor? What does she want now? Then Kittu replied, “ I am really very, very happy. I do not want all these things. But she is not. She wants to be the president of this country.” The turtle deva laughed loud and told, “ Ok, your wife is already the president .Go back to your house. You now should go back to Rashtrapathi Bhavan.” Poor Kittu went back. His home now was Rashtrapathi Bhavan. There were very large numbers of servants. They had a plane to wherever they wanted. But Kittu found out the smallest room and slept there on the floor. Things passed on like this for one month. After dinner Kittu was about to sleep. Muniamma sent a servant to call him and told, “ I am bored of being the president. I now want to become a god. Go and ask your turtle deva.” Kittu was very, very sad and went all the way to the sea weeping. It was pitch dark outside. There was a big storm. In the beach there was Tsu Nami. In spite of all this Kittu went to the beach and sang, “Oh deva, who is a turtle, Please do come to the shore, For I want to ask you something.” The turtle deva came and asked Kittu, “Is there anything big than being a president? What does your wife want now?” Kittu replied, “ I am afraid that she wants to become God.” The turtle laughed loudly and told, “God lives also in a hut. Go back now to your old hut.” Kittu went back and they were very poor and started living in a hut.