The Extravagant Behavior of the Naked Woman
This very short story from Josefina Estrada appears in several international flash fiction anthologies. Its shock value helps to get across a number of important themes. Some are stated or can readily be implied: the woman is clearly suffering some sort of mental condition, but the community and police do not have access to services or facilities to help her. Other than a few lustful men, it is easier to turn away and pretend she does not exist. A less obvious theme lies in the question: What would happen if it were a wild-looking man walking naked through the streets?
The major themes of this story from 
There are two Zitas in this romantic coming of age story by 
In 
This story by 
Contrary to the title, this story by 
The Latin phrase used as the title of this story by Frederic Max gives away a little about the plot. Rex Ex Machina translates as King from Machine. The story comprises a letter from a dying man to his only son. There is nothing at all sentimental about the letter… the word “love” isn’t even mentioned! Rather, it explains something that the man has been hiding from his son for almost forty years. It tells how he had once trained as a spy and been sent on a top-secret mission to destroy a machine that threatened the free world.
The Golden Goose is about a kind but not very clever young man who one day shares his food with a hungry old man. The old man tells him where to find a goose that has feathers of gold. The goose has a strange power. Those who touch it, and any who touch them, cannot remove their hands. A king, who has a daughter that has never laughed, has promised that she will marry the first man to make do so. The man and goose, with seven people running behind stuck fast to them, look silly enough to do this.