Featured Stories

The Toll-House

The Toll-House: Short story by W. W. JacobsToday we have another classic horror story from W. W. Jacobs. Four young travelers are drinking (tea of all things!) at an Inn. They are discussing the supernatural, and it soon becomes clear that three are believers to varying degrees and one is a total skeptic. One of them tells a story about a nearby haunted house that takes a “toll” of at least one life from every family or group that lives there—however short the time. Foolishly, they decide to put the story to the test. Themes: bravado, fear, the supernatural.

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The Mill

The Mill: Novelette by H. E. BatesThe major theme of his story by H. E. Bates is exploitation: economic exploitation by parents who place their daughter in servitude, and sexual exploitation by her employer who rapes her on an almost daily basis. The most puzzling aspect of the story is the girl’s compliant, almost robot-like, demeanor, perhaps brought about by her father’s dictatorial bullying. It only when the girl arrives home after her employer’s son, the only man who has shown her any kindness, realises and tells her she is pregnant, that her eyes come to life with tears. Other themes include isolation, naivety, jealousy, fear.

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Life in the Iron-Mills

Life in the Iron-Mills: Short story by Rebecca Harding DavisSet in the 1830s, this story by Rebecca Harding Davis highlights the desperate plight of mill and factory workers during the early stages of the industrial revolution. A young furnace attendant, ostracised by other iron-mill workers because of his mild manner and artistic leaning, lives in squalid conditions with his father and a mildly disfigured female cousin. The cousin, whose love for the man is not reciprocated, destroys both of their lives by stealing money to try to help him. Themes include social inequality, exploitation, poverty, artistry, lack of opportunity, unrequited love, crime and punishment, despair, redemption.

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The Gentleman from San Francisco

The Gentleman from San Francisco: Short story by Ivan BuninIn this story by Ivan Bunin an overweight, fifty-eight-year-old industrialist who had grown rich off the sweat of Chinese immigrants treats himself and his family to a two-year trip around the world. He only makes it as far as Capri, where he dies of a heart attack. The story is a biting satire of the opulent lifestyles and arrogance of the mega-rich, living in their ivory towers indifferent to the “lesser” people who toil to make their lifestyles possible. Themes include greed, social class, vanity, superficiality, moral decay, self-aggrandizement vs. spiritual enlightenment, death as a leveler.

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The Visitor

The Visitor: Flash story by Lydia DavisThis flash story by Lydia Davis starts with the narrator foreshadowing a visitor to his/her home who will require around the clock care and attention. The visit reminds the narrator of two similar experiences, one by a family member and the other by a friend. In both cases, healthy old men with whom they were living deteriorated physically to the point that their bodily functions collapsed and they became dependent on others for their day-to-day care and well-being. The story takes an unexpected twist in the heart-warming final paragraph, where the narrator reminds us of the circle of life.

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Key Item

Key Item: Short story by Isaac AsimovIn this story, Isaac Asimov’s favorite supercomputer Multivac has a big problem. It doesn’t respond to commands, and isn’t following its built-in program to self-diagnose the cause. As the global economy depends on Mulitvac, this could result in panic across the world. Teams of technicians have been trying to identify what is wrong for three days. Finally, a scientist discovers the “key item” needed to fix the problem. It is a simple thing that we are all taught to use as children. Themes include the dangers of Artificial Intelligence and/or relying solely on technology, scientific hubris, good manners.

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Cleansing Monday

Cleansing Monday: Short story by Ivan BuninIn this story by Ivan Bunin, a young Russian man suffers through a long, frustrating relationship with an enigmatic woman he is deeply in love with. She claims to have no interest in marrying and rejects all attempts at sexual contact. He endures, hoping she will change her mind. Although she is very religious, they smoke, drink and go to seedy taverns together. To his surprise, one Clean Monday (or rather the morning after) she gives herself to him. That evening, she leaves his life forever. Themes include love, frustration, loss, religious devotion, nostalgia (life in pre-revolutionary Moscow).

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In the Garden

In the Garden: Short story by Jose Dalisay, Jr.Set during the Philippine’s Marcos dictatorship, this story by Jose Dalisay Jr. takes place in the garden of an isolated one-room school. As the children tend their vegetables, a group of soldiers appears and begins to pull them out. Their orders are to take or destroy all local food sources in retaliation for the killing of one of their number. The younger children are sent home, but the oldest (a fourteen-year-old girl) is ordered to stay to “cook and do the soldier’s washing”. Bravely, the teacher insists on staying with her. Themes include innocence, oppression, intimidation, helplessness, fear, responsibility, courage.

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