In this story by Henry Lawson, a woman remembers the many hardships and few good times in her life as she sits up all night with only a dog to help protect her and her children from a deadly snake. The snake has crawled under their house. They can’t sleep inside, as the wooden floor has gaps in it. They cower in the kitchen, which is attached to the side of the house and has an earthen floor. The children sleep on the table. She sits on a chair with a stick on her lap, waiting for the snake. More…
The Witch
Although very short (just over 1,400 words), there are enough dark elements in this Shirley Jackson story to unsettle most readers. An imaginative four-year-old travelling on a train with his mother and infant sister attracts the attention of a man who recounts how much he loved his own sister. The man then relates how, after killing and dismembering his sister, he fed her head to a bear. The story turns on who or what the man is, and what effect his story may have on the boy. Themes include parental inattention, boredom, imagination, witchcraft, innocence and its possible manipulation, violence. More…
The Erlking
This “fairy-tale” by Angela Carter is derived from a European myth. A magical being living in harmony with nature seduces young women traveling through his forest domain. The women are powerless to resist. When he tires of one, he transforms her into a bird, cages her, and adds the cage to a collection of similar cages adorning the walls of his house. The protagonist, sensing her fate, decides that the only way to free herself and his “bird” collection is to do away with him. Themes include connectedness to nature, the supernatural, power and objectification, sexuality, entrapment, liberation. More…
Jacklighting
In this story by Ann Beattie, a troubled couple who have travelled from New York to Virginia each year to visit a free-spirited friend and his brother on his birthday, make the trip once more on the birthday following his death. The trip is ostensibly to comfort the friend’s brother. Ironically, although each of them clearly loved the dead man and is in need of closure, they suppress their feelings and do not even talk about him. Themes include friendship, the burdens and unpredictability of life and death, death as relief from suffering, grief and mourning. More…
The Quilt / Lihaaf
In this story by Ismat Chughtai, a mother leaves her young daughter in the care of her adopted sister. The sister’s husband spends his time entertaining young, fair and slim-waisted boys, while she spends her day being “attended to” by a personal servant/masseuse who also shares her bed. The girl, who sleeps in the same room, is frightened by what seemingly goes on under her aunt’s quilt. Disturbingly, when her aunt’s servant is away for a few days, she tries to groom the girl for the role. Themes include patriarchy, sexuality, female desire and fulfilment, child grooming and sexual abuse. More…