atmospheric setting
— In 1960 China during the Great Leap Forward famine, a hungry boy eats his entire lunch bread on the way to school, remembering his family's lost wealth.
— During a fierce Irish storm, Emma ventures into the woods to find her lost sheep and encounters a fairy ring of dancing leprechauns who help her home in exchange for...
— A boy contrasts the metaphorical fog of human deceit with the real fog of his countryside home, finding paradise in nature's simple peace.
— In a drought-stricken African village where everything is brown, a girl searching for mythical blue wishing stones accidentally throws one into the muddy river, transforming it to crystal clear water.
— Two cousins at a beach house share the same drowning nightmare, then follow a mysterious voice to rescue a seal trapped in a fishing net.
— A canoe journey down a river becomes a catalog of sensory impressions — from burbling water to wild mint to watchful eagles — preserved as memory.
— During a violent storm in France, an older brother frightens his adopted younger sibling with tornado tales, then realizes his cruelty and transforms the storm into an adventure game.
— A girl sneaks out for a midnight swim in the pool the night before moving away, finding solace in the underwater light and the stars above.
— A daughter breaks her mother's precious clay pot while fetching water, lies about it, then confesses. Together they remake the pot from its broken pieces.
— A Navajo boarding school student is haunted by visions of an angry gorilla until a traditional medicine man reveals the source and performs a healing ceremony.