Life LessonsClassic retold
After Twenty Years
Two young friends in New York promise to meet in the same doorway exactly twenty years later. One of them keeps the appointment. O. Henry's story of loyalty and duty.
Real-Life Experiences & Life Lessons
First-person accounts and carefully told stories about friendship, family, work, regret, kindness and second chances.
For adults and older teenagers · 11 stories
Life LessonsClassic retold
The Last Leaf
A young painter lies ill in a New York studio, counting the leaves on an ivy vine outside her window. When the last one falls, she says, she will go too.
Life LessonsClassic retold
The Lottery Ticket
After supper one evening, a comfortable husband and wife discover that their lottery ticket might have won a fortune. Before they even check the number, things begin to change. Chekhov's sharp, funny story.
Life LessonsClassic retold
The Postmaster
A young man from Calcutta is posted to a lonely village post office, where an orphan girl keeps house for him. Tagore's tender story of a bond that means far more to one than to the other.
Life LessonsClassic retold
Where Love Is, God Is
A lonely old cobbler hears a voice in the night promising a visitor tomorrow. All day he watches the street from his basement window, waiting. Tolstoy's gentle story.
Life LessonsClassic retold
The Gift of the Magi
A young couple with almost no money each secretly give up their greatest treasure to buy the other a Christmas present. O. Henry's most loved story.
Life LessonsClassic retold
How Much Land Does a Man Need?
A peasant is offered all the land he can walk around in a single day, for one small price. Tolstoy's famous parable about wanting more.
Life LessonsClassic retold
The Bet
At a party, a rich banker bets a young lawyer two million roubles that he cannot survive fifteen years alone in a room. Chekhov's story of what the lawyer learns.
Life LessonsClassic retold
The Necklace
Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace for one glittering night at a ball. When it disappears, she and her husband pay for it with ten years of their lives.
Life LessonsClassic retold
Kabuliwala
A five-year-old girl in Calcutta becomes best friends with a tall Afghan fruit-seller. Years later he returns, and her father understands what they shared. Tagore's beloved story.
Life LessonsOriginal story
What I Learned From My First Job
A summer washing dishes in a busy restaurant kitchen taught more about work, respect and pride than any classroom did.