curiosity
— A child's meditation on the beauty of the name Paulina spirals into wonder about meaning, naming, and the limits of knowledge.
— A young poet contemplates the Continental Divide, finding excitement in the engineering feat and the symbolic boundary between watersheds and oceans.
— A Spanish nobleman's son discovers a fossil in the mansion's garden creek that turns out to be an ancient baby dragon's tooth, bringing him lasting fame.
— A young philosopher questions why things are named what they are, why humans dominate, and ultimately decides to accept the world's strange design.
— A seven-year-old searching for snakes in his backyard encounters a timber rattlesnake that bites him when he moves too suddenly, leading to hospitalization.
— A chicken investigates a strange furry creature through the coop wire, stretching its neck cautiously before pecking the cat's ear.