The garden was nothing like the others in the neighborhood. Even to the mansion, its air of austere simplicity seemed alien. What does austere mean?

Pepe curled up, shivering, on the mat and closed his eyes. A hush had fallen in the cellar; only the distant rumble of vehicles could be heard. What is a cellar?

He prayed for many years until the great mountain took pity on him and commanded the loveliest sprite in the kingdom to make his wish come true. The sprite was to stay with the mortals until the boy became a man. What is a sprite?

“We lived in the cellar for three years,” he continued. “Most days he was at the camp near the hospital and not too far from the church. He forbade me to go anywhere close to that camp. What does forbade mean?

The air was somber and the road stark under a red sky. It was an unusual day. What does somber mean?

At night the sea glittered with diamonds from the sky, luring mermaids and fishermen.

The people thrived on this harmony. They were blessed with rain from the sky and fish from the sea. What does thrived mean?

In return they worshipped the sea and the sky, offering them their ingenuity, exquisite works of art woven by their hands. What does exquisite mean?

One fateful day, the sky erupted in a fit of rage. Rain flooded the sea until the water surged to unthinkable heights, gigantic waves wiping out the clouds. Still the raging sky was unabated.

What does unabated mean?

The sea and the sky made amends. People went back to their normal lives. What does amends mean?

“Sometimes, he’d play a record, the only one we had, on the phonograph. I remember the tune but not the words. It was soft and flowing, like a feather wafting in the air. What does wafting mean?

As he drew close to the gate of the cemetery, he smelled a foul stench and saw a big circle of fire in a tree up ahead. What does stench mean?

The creature, malevolent but not so smart, took him for a corpse left unburied. What does malevolent mean?

He was petrified with fear and indecision. What does petrified mean?

Emboldened by its credulity, the boy said that for the demon to become human, he had to drink all the water in the river, the source of human life. What does credulity mean?

His eyes surveyed the area. “There,” he pointed at a corner of the house that had just burned down next door, the lot completely covered by debris. What does debris mean?