1.
Now I will tell you a story about a young woman who was sealed in a small room. In the room was a furnace, and five keys. She was told that each of the five keys would unlock one of five doors outside her room. Inside each room was a child that she could take with her as she fled the building. But she was only allowed to leave her own room with one key, not all five. Desperate to find a way to save all five children, the woman melted the five keys together in the furnace to create a single key, hoping it would unlock all five doors. Of course, it did not work that way. Now her key opened none of the doors. Rather than leaving there with the key to one life, she had taken with her the key to five deaths.
2.
Now I will tell you a story about a little boy. He had a red snake that he kept in a metal cage, whose hunger could not be satisfied. One day the boy found five baby kittens outside his house. He brought them inside and kept them in a shoebox. He knew that the snake might kill them, but could not bring himself to get rid of the snake. He knew that if he chose one kitten to feed to the snake, it might be satisfied, but he could not choose. So, he went to bed, leaving the cage open. The snake went to the shoebox, chose a kitten at random, and ate it. After five nights had gone by, the boy was full of regret, and cut the snake open. He pieced the remains together and put the kitten back into the shoebox.
3.
Now I will tell you a story. A story about a kind man who would visit five orphans and bring them toys and gladness. The man lived alone, and lived in fear that someone might break into the house of one of the five children. So he adopted all five, and brought them together in one place in his own home. He promised them to never leave them, and they promised to always come home and never stay out too late. He left one day to buy food, his heart being filled with gladness, but returned to find that the burglar had chosen his home, and killed all five of the children. The man could only afford one coffin, so he stitched the five bodies together to make one, and buried the child. That night, there was a knock at the door.
4.
Now I will tell you a story about a mother and a little boy who lived alone in a cabin in the dark woods. There was a monster in the woods, but the mother caught it and kept it locked in the basement. The monster always made scary noises at night, but the mother would tell the boy not to worry because it could never get out. Then she would sing the boy a lullaby to sleep. One day, the monster stopped growling and instead, listened and learned the lullaby. The next day when the mother went out to find food, the monster sang the lullaby from the basement. The little boy heard the lullaby and opened the door.
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