Stories in 100 Words

All of these stories are real by people who submitted it to Reader's Digest

Click here to read more articles at Reader's Digest

A SOLDIER’S SUPRISE

by Gail Litrenti-Benedetto, Park Ridge, Illinois

It is spring of 1943 during World War II. Standing among hundreds of new soldiers at Camp Grant, in Illinois, my father, Sam, just 18 years old, waits as a truck slowly drives by. A full field pack is randomly tossed to each soldier. “How strange,” my father thinks, as he sees his last name, Litrenti, marked on each item in his pack. “How did they know it was me when they tossed the pack?” He was impressed! Beating all odds, my father was tossed a field pack from World War I—his own father’s.

 A MOTHER’S WISDOM

by Lori Armstrong, Kelseyville, California

I have always worn my children’s birthstones around my neck. One morning, when I was late for work, my infant son Larry’s topaz birthstone fell from my gold chain. I frantically searched for it, whispering to myself, “I lost my Larry, but I will get him back.”

That day, Larry’s cardiologist called with test results from one of his first checkups. He would need emergency heart surgery. Happily, the operation was a success, and I whispered in Larry’s ear, “I thought I lost you, but I knew I’d get you back.”

THE GOOD DOCTOR 

by Danica Helfin, Tifton, Georgia

Toto was a white dog with a small red tongue, and his stuffing was red as well. When his seams began to come apart beneath his knitted collar, it looked to my six-year-old eyes as though he were bleeding. That night, my father left for his shift in the emergency room with Toto wrapped in a blanket. The next day, Dad showed me the X-rays and Polaroid photographs of the
surgery. Beneath the bandage on Toto’s neck was a clean row of stitches. I still have the injury report! I love you, Dad.

A SMALL FORTUNE
by Ron Fleming, Fort Drum, New York

While walking across an open, grassy field, I became excited as my hand swooped toward the ground like an eagle attacking its prey. I picked up half of a $5 bill. I continued to walk around looking for the other half but thought to myself it would be impossible to find it on such a windy day. As I lifted my head, I spotted the other half of the bill tangled in crabgrass. Somehow, finding two halves of a ripped $5 bill felt better than working for a twenty.

BACKUP BAND-AID
Babette Lazarus, New York, New York

I was riding the subway and happened to be seated between two young guys. The one on the right eyed the slightly grungy Band‑Aid on my thumb and said, “You should really change that, you know. You have to keep it clean.” Then the one on my left said, “Here, I have one,” and pulled a fresh Band‑Aid out of his knapsack. “I keep them on me because I’m always hurting myself.” Incredulous, I thanked him, changed my bandage, and got off at my stop feeling pretty good about people, life, and New York City.

Just Keep Folding

            Having explored the myths from ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, my curiosity was piqued in eighth grade by a simple legend from Japanese lore. If you fold one thousand paper cranes, the gods will grant you one wish. I took it as a challenge. My previous forays into origami had ended poorly, but I was so excited to begin my quest that this detail seemed inconsequential. My art teacher loaned me a piece of origami paper and, armed with an online tutorial, my quest began. Like an early prototype of the airplane, I ascended towards my dreams for a glorious moment before nose-diving into the ground. The first crane was a disastrous failure of wrinkly lines and torn paper. Too embarrassed to ask for another, I turned to my stack of Post-it notes. By the third attempt, I ended up with a sticky pink paper crane. Holding that delicate bird, I was flooded with triumph and elation.

             The first two hundred cranes were all crafted from Post-it notes. Armed with a pack of highlighters, I decorated each piece of paper individually. I folded cranes at home, between classes, and in the car. My fingers were permanently sticky from the glue I scraped off every square. Slowly, my collection grew: first ten, then fifty, then one hundred. Before the task could become monotonous, I started experimenting. How small was it possible for a crane to be? Smaller than a golf ball? Smaller than a dime? Small enough to sit on the end of a pencil? Any size was attainable. I could make a crane smaller than almost any arbitrary form of measurement. Soon I could finish a crane in fifty seconds or with my eyes closed. Anything square and foldable became my medium. Paper towels, candy wrappers, and aluminum foil joined my vibrant menagerie of carefully folded paper. I was unstoppable; that wish was as good as mine.

              By six hundred cranes, the increasing demands of high school academics caused my pace to slow. I despaired. I wouldn’t let this be another ambitious project that I couldn’t finish. My cranes mattered to me. As an outlet for expression, they served as a way to defuse frustration and sadness, and a source of pride and joy. Their creation allows me to bring beauty to the world and to find a sense of order in the bustle and chaos of life. There is a lot of beauty to be found in tiny things. I’m reminded that little gestures have a lot of meaning. I have given away cranes to my friends as a pick-me-up on bad days, and I have made cranes to commemorate people, such as the dark green crane I made the day my grandmother died. They are a symbol of hope to remind me what I have accomplished.

               So, I pushed myself to keep working and to keep folding one crane at a time. My determination paid off, and in the summer after sophomore year, my passion was reinvigorated. One month before the end of junior year, I folded my thousandth paper crane. As I leaned over the open drawer brimming with origami pieces in a multitude of sizes and colors, I felt a rush of satisfaction and triumph. Not only was 1,000 cranes an achievement in its own right, but I proved to myself that I can finish what I start.

               The world is filled with big numbers. College tuition, monthly rent, and car prices deal in the many thousands. Those figures are incomprehensible to someone who has never interacted with anything so large, and I wanted to understand them. A thousand will never simply be a number to me: it is hundreds upon hundreds of hand-folded cranes combined with years of effort.

            So what did I wish for? It turns out, I didn’t need the wish. I learned I have the power to make things happen for myself.

Written by Jodie

Oreo Nutella Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups oreo cookie crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups cream
1 tbsp dissolved gelatine
1 cup nutella
250g cream cheese


Click here to watch the tutorial

A Sample College Essay

Last week, high school senior Kwasi Enin found out he had been accepted to every college he applied to — including all eight Ivy League schools.

How did Enin pull of this impressive feat? The Long Island student scored a 2250 on his SAT, had taken 11 AP courses, and was in the top 2% of his graduating class, but that doesn’t necessarily show him fully as an applicant. The answer could be in his college entrance essay.

Click here to read his essay

A Blessing in Disguise

             "What! They do not have any seats left on that plane either?" I think to myself furiously. I couldn't believe it. Every other budget plane was packed. My normally calm and pleasant countenance slowly changed and my face contorted in an all-consuming anger. Nostrils flaring, my mouth quivers, slurring words that spew out of my mouth like a volcano releasing its pent up lava. All my sister could say was sorry. In the series of even of this month, she has forgotten to relay one important message from Dan.

                The 2014 World Championship Cycling Competition will be held in China. All year round, I had been training and working hard just so I could compete in this annual competition. Come rain or shine, I would finish my daily 20 km round the town and complete my training plan that has been carefully drafted by my personal trainer. At that moment, I felt that all my hard work was for nothing. All the time and effort. Wasted. All that toiling and I have come up empty-handed. Everything happened because she forgot to inform me the date of the competition. All the seats were booked as it was the holiday season. it was awful but nothing can be done. I have to wait for the next competition.

                 We are sitting in front of the television watching the 8 o'clock news. Two years have passed since that day. All eyes and ears are on the television. As the reporter began speaking about a Malaysian Airline plane, each one of us sat up straight, hoping and praying that she will bring us good news after what had happened two years ago. The reporter informed us that the search for the plane was still in vain. Nothing could explain what had happened. Any theory and speculation were possible. All we had were broken hearted family members and loved ones. The whole nation are still grieving for the death of more than 200 passengers and crew. Two years back, on the plane I was going to book to China went missing somewhere around the Indian Ocean and till this day, no one could explain why.

                 Every single time I read news about the disappearance of the plane, my heart saddened and goes out to all who lost someone. Despite that, I always heaved a sigh of relieve and was grateful that my sister forgot to inform me the date of the competition. It was indeed a blessing in disguise.

                If I had board that plane on that day at that momebnt, my family members would have received a text message just minutes before the prime minister informed the world about the tragic incident. It said, " Malaysian Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond doubt that the MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived." 

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Ingredients

For dough 

- 1 cup (236ml) warm milk

- 2 1/2 teaspoons (7g) dry yeast

- 2 eggs, at room temperature

- 1/3 cup (75g) butter, melted

- 1/2 cup (100g) white sugar

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 4 cups (408g) bread flour OR 3 1/2 cups (437g) all-purpose

- 3/4 cup (177ml) heavy cream

For filling

- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar

- 2 1/2 tablespoons (19g) ground cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon (1.3g) ground nutmeg

- 1/3 cup (75g) butter, softened

For icing 

- 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese, softened

- 1/4 cup (56g) butter, softened

- 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- 1 1/2 cups (187g) confectioner's sugar

- 2-4 tablespoons (59ml) half-and-half or milk

Instructions

1. Place warm milk into large bowl and whisk in sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle yeast over warm milk and let dissolve and proof for 5 minutes. Whisk in eggs, butter and salt. Gradually begin adding bread flour. When dough forms, turn out onto work surface and knead gently to make soft dough. Adjust flour as needed, add all 4 cups if dough is still sticky. Place dough into greased bowl, covered with kitchen towel and let proof for 45 to 60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
2. Preheat oven to 350F (180 degree Celcius). Line large, rectangle baking dish (I used a 13x9-inch pan) with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray. If you would like to add nuts to the cinnamon rolls, sprinkle them on the bottom of the pan.
3. Roll dough on lightly floured surface into large rectangle. Spread with melted 1/3 cup butter. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over butter and work in with hands (can add chopped nuts at this stage, if desired). Gently roll dough to form a log. Using un-flavored dental floss, section dough into 1 1/2-inch thick pieces.
4. Place cut rolls into prepared pan. Cover pan with clean kitchen towel and let dough proof until doubled in size. I placed mine next to my preheated oven to speed up the process.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 7-10 minutes. Take out rolls and pour several tablespoons of heavy cream over each roll. Return to oven and bake until golden brown on top.
6. Meanwhile, prepare frosting. Whisk together cream cheese, butter, vanilla. 2 tablespoons half-and-half and salt in small bowl. Add confectioner’s sugar. Adjust frosting consistency by adding milk; add several more tablespoons for a thinner icing.
7. Spread frosting over warm rolls and let the rolls cool slightly before serving. Alternatively, place frosting into disposable pastry bag/ziplock bag, and pipe individually onto each roll.
8. Keep rolls covered and refrigerated when not serving. Best when reheated in oven.

I find it very helpful to watch this tutorial before doing it.

Click here

A Short Essay using Phrasal Verbs

                The plane touched down at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. I could see my sister walking out with only a single baggage and a weak smile plastered on her face. Many people said I took after her in appearance. We both have brown coloured round eyes, jet black straight hair and a prominent jawline. I was elated and grateful to see that she is in one piece after what had happened in London. The catastrophic accident was broadcasted worldwide. Nobody knows how the accident came about. The city of London has been blown up in a blink of an eye. My sister has been studying there for nearly two years to be a doctor. I thanked God for keeping her safe and well.