Imagine a faraway land, a long time ago, in which dreams must die before they are spoken, imagination is forbidden and stories are banished. This is the island of Ariban, held prisoner by the vastness of the sea and its people's credo that the only world is the here and now, a small and protected universe of spinning and weaving, fishing and shepherding. Nothing more and nothing less.This is the newest and most richly imagined world of Monica Hughes, an author known internationally for her fantastical adventures and realistic characters. It is the world of Colin, a 15year-old Ariban boy, who fears for his younger sister, Etta. Etta has dreams that wake her in the night, frightening dreams of beasts with scales and long teeth. And she has been known to have forbidden flights of imagination. Will their father send Etta to the elders, to be banished ... or worse? But Colin's fear grows pale when, in an early morning walk along the storm-wracked beach, he comes upon a beautiful, barely alive young woman from a strange land. In her tiny hands she clutches a small chest, exquisitely carved, bound with bands of pure brass. Its contents are more precious than silver or gold, for this, she tells the horrified Colin, is The Story Box ...