loss and grief
— An Egyptian servant girl who is secretly the goddess Isis helps a hippo mother killed by hunters become the goddess Tawret, reuniting her with her family in the afterlife.
— A twelve-year-old girl resents her parents' decision to adopt a Romanian orphan until the younger girl offers her dead sister's ring, asking if Kate can take her place.
— A dragon awaits knights coming to slay her, remembering her murdered family. When she recognizes her brother's killer, she chooses mercy over revenge before dying.
— A peasant girl follows a mysterious blue dragon into its burrow and discovers it's actually an evil magician who killed her family and seeks to end her bloodline.
— After a tsunami kills his family, an eleven-year-old Muslim boy survives with a Hindu man who teaches him that faith transcends religious boundaries before dying in his arms.
— A girl shares her late grandfather's memory box with her younger sister to comfort her after classmates call her stupid, discovering that giving memories away multiplies their power.
— A grieving girl meets a blind pianist after saving her from a bicycle collision, discovering friendship and music can pierce through darkness.
— A girl meets a stranger in a McDonald's parking lot who shows her a photo of his deceased dog that looks exactly like hers, creating an unexpected moment of connection.
— A Native American boy witnesses his father's murder by settlers and is captured, then helped to escape by the warden's son who recognizes the injustice.
— A boy meets a strange girl on the beach who believes her mother is a mermaid and nearly leads him to his death trying to join her, but saves him...