This is the story that was read to the students in the control group. It

corresponds closely to the story line built into the five-scene "Egg Quest"

Explorenet world, and was used as the basic script for the cast members

in that world.

One bright Saturday morning, Zora and Zeke walked through the meadow behind Zora's house. They noticed a big iron kettle and some firewood. The kettle made Zora think of food.

Zora said "I'm hungry. Zeke, do you possess anything to eat?"

Zeke laughed. "Zora, why do you use such big words?" She did not answer. Zora liked words, big ones and small ones. She liked the way they sounded.

Then Zora remembered her mother's chickens and their delicious eggs. She started running. "Let's go get some eggs and cook them!" she shouted to Zeke as she ran to the barn.

In those days, families did not have refrigerators or TV or electric lights. To cook eggs, you made a fire. But first, you had to have eggs. Zora ran up to the chickens in their nest boxes. She tried to grab the eggs concealed under the first chicken.

But the chicken's maternal feelings made her fearless. "I'm the mother of these eggs!" she thought, so she clucked and squawked and pecked at Zora.

Zeke came running up, carrying the firewood. He said "Zora, if you are hungry, maybe the chickens are hungry too." He went in the barn and came back with some corn. He said "Get ready to grab the eggs.!" Then he put the corn on the ground.

The chickens jumped off the nests and jumped on the corn. Quickly Zora grabbed the eggs. "Let's cook them!" she shouted. But Zeke said "We don't have any matches." Zora spotted a lantern in the barn. It was burning from the night before. "Let's use the lantern!" she said.

Zora put the eggs in the kettle and helped Zeke start a fire. She did not see a cunning cat, hiding in the grass. The cat's fur looked just like grass, and so the cat was camouflaged.>grabbed the eggs.

When he saw this, Zeke shouted "Who is the owner of that cat?
I want to file a complaint!" He chased the cat and made it drop the eggs. Then he picked up the eggs and put them in the kettle. They bubbled and boiled. And they were DELICIOUS!