Featured Stories

One Thousand Dollars

One Thousand Dollars: Short story by O. HenryThe twist ending in this O. Henry story has most readers believing that, after receiving an inheritance of $1,000 from an uncle and canvassing various options, the protagonist sees the error of his spendthrift ways. He then tells his uncle’s ward, who he loves and was left very little, that the money was left to her. And later, despite his profession of love being rejected, he contrives for her to receive an additional $50,000 to which he becomes entitled. Is this a story of selfless sacrifice, or could there be a further twist? Themes include change, deception, selflessness, generosity, love.

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Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?

Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?: Short story by Tim O'BrienPrivate First Class Paul Berlin faces three antagonists in this story by Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien: the enemy (it is after all a war story!), his fellow soldiers (he will be punished and/or branded as a coward if he fails in his duty), and himself (the ability to control his fear). Although the major theme is clearly fear, the story also highlights the naivety and youthful innocence of many of those sent to fight in the war. Fear is presented as two-dimensional. While giving in to it can have grave consequences, facing and harnessing it can save a soldier’s life.

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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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Mechanopolis

Mechanopolis: Short story by Miguel de UnamunoIn this story by Miguel De Unamuno, a man dying of thirst in a desert is saved when he stumbles upon an oasis in which there is a mysterious train station. He boards a seemingly empty waiting train and is whisked off to a magnificent, deserted, fully functioning city of the future. The city’s machines and infrastructure continue to operate with no apparent human involvement. His curiosity turns to horror when he realizes the machines are sentient and concerned about his psychological and emotional state. Themes include human extinction, the ascendency of sentient machines, loneliness, paranoia, mental instability.

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Ckeckouts

Checkouts: Short story by Cynthia RylantThis story by Cynthia Rylant deals with the themes of loneliness, puppy love and lost opportunity. A teenage girl is lonely after her parents move to a new city. Her only joy is shopping for the family groceries. This helps the girl take her mind off problems and think more clearly. At the supermarket the girl finds herself strongly attracted to a bag boy operating one of the checkouts. The boy is also strongly attracted to her. Fast forward to the end of the story, and both are with another partner.

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Squeaker’s Mate

Squeaker's Mate: Short story by Barbara BayntonBarbara Baynton’s Squeaker’s Mate is an Australian bush story in which gender stereotypes are reversed and the man is found wanting when disaster strikes. The story raises some interesting issues. Why would a strong, capable woman like Mary choose and put up with a lazy, simple-minded weakling like Squeaker for a “mate”. Could it be that he was her only option? Is Baynton suggesting that other men were intimidated by Mary’s independence and masculinity, or possibly even hinting at sexuality issues that were taboo at the time? Squeaker may not be solely to blame for the outcome.

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The Boarded Window

The Boarded Window: Short story by Ambrose BierceIn this short gothic horror story from Ambrose Bierce, a boarded window symbolizes a grieving and possibly PTSD affected man’s desire to shut himself off from the outside world. Murlock shows no signs of traditional mourning over his wife’s passing, so his decision to live as he does could well result from a sense of shame and/or guilt over his part in her death. As we have only his version of the night’s events, it could even be that (with or without a panther) his wild shot was the reason for her throat wound! Themes: isolation, death, shame/guilt, loneliness.

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The Legend of the Christmas Rose

The Legend of the Christmas Rose: Short story by Selma LagerlöfThe major themes of this Christmas story from Selma Lagerlöf are faith, forgiveness, redemption and, of course, the supernatural (the miracle of the Christmas garden). When the wife of an infamous outlaw is discovered admiring a monastery’s herb garden, she tells its Abbot that his prized garden is nothing compared to the one that emerges from the snow outside their forest hideout each Christmas Eve. In the hope of getting her husband pardoned, she agrees to lead the Abbot to see the miracle. Other themes: judging by appearances, mistrust, and materialism (the idea that the poor are closer to God).

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