Dreamscape Media: 178 books

In "Beyond the Bayou", La Folle, an ex-slave, lives on an island cut off from the her old home and is afraid to venture back onto the bayou. When a small drought dries up the shallow waters between her home and the bayou, she spends some time with the son of her former master. When the son,...

Kate Chopin’s “A Reflection” is a reflection on the fortunes of life. It is a meditation on how some people succeed by harnessing their energy effectively while others get left behind.

In “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist”, a young woman explains to Holmes that an unknown man has been following her by bicycle on her weekly trips from the house where she works to the railroad station. Having met two friends of her recently-deceased uncle, one of the men, Carruthers, hires...

A global plague has decimated England's male population and the once-predictable Gosling family is now free to fulfill its long-frustrated desires. When Mr. Gosling leaves his family to peruse his sexual vices, the Gosling daughters, who lack experience and self-independence, find shelter in a matriarchal...

In “The Kiss”, a beautiful young woman, Nathalie, has decided to marry the unattractive and uninteresting but very wealthy Mr. Brantain. When an old friend kisses her passionately in front of Mr. Brantain, Nathalie must control the damage done by this kiss in order to reassure Mr. Brantain. This...

It's Christmas Eve, and everyone in the family is asleep in bed, dreaming of sugarplums. But what’s that? Do I hear a clatter out on the lawn? Could that be Santa Claus? Children and parents alike will thrill to this classic read-aloud Christmas eve poem about a visit from Santa Claus written...

In The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a little girl named Lucie has lost three pocket handkerchiefs and a pinafore. Setting out to find them, she spots some fresh clean white cloth on the hillside. As she approaches the clean linens on the hill Lucie spies a door built into the side of the hill and hears...

This near-future political satire about the election of a new president argues that socialism and populism will eventually give rise to chaos and disaster. Authored by Ingersoll Lockwood-around whom conspiracy theories concerning the sci-fi/fantasy character Baron Trump now abound-1900; or, The Last...

In Ambrose Bierce’s short story One of the Missing, an orderly for the Union Army undertakes a scouting mission. Preparing to fire on a retreating army, the structure in which he is hiding is suddenly destroyed by cannon fire. When he comes to, he realizes he is completely pinned under the rubble....

Now married, Jo Bhaer (nee March) couldn't be happier. Jo, along with her husband Professor Friedrich Bhaer, operates the Plumfield Estate School. Plumfield is a haven for poor orphans which is attended by 12 adopted boy as well as Jo's own two sons. Although Plumfield is a place of trust and warmth, the boys occasionally struggle to maintain good manners.

In "Gwen's Adventure in the Snow", Gwen and her siblings set out on a winter evening's sleigh ride only to encounter bad weather. Taking shelter in their country house to wait out the snowstorm, the group builds a fire, makes a picnic from the house's reserves and shares stories to allay each other's fears.

In "What Love Can Do", two poor sisters share their modest Christmas wishes with each other, namely: a little money with which to buy gifts for their family members. Overhearing this, the kindly residents of a boarding house come together to make a lovely Christmas surprise for the two girls.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Lost Mine,” Poirot investigates the suspicious disappearance of a Chinese businessman in London. Suspicion is focused on two Englishman, one of whom has an alibi and another who was in an opium den the night of the disappearance. A clear-cut case for Poirot...

In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “How We Kept Thanksgiving at Old Town”, the author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” recalls the Thanksgiving celebrations of her youth in New England. The description of gathering at her grandmother’s house for “the king and high priest...