Featured Stories

An Upheaval

An Upheaval: Short story by Anton ChekhovMajor themes of his story by Anton Chekhov include social class, pride, respect, dignity and courage. A young woman in her first job as a governess returns from a walk to find the woman of the house searching her room for a missing brooch. She is so offended and incensed that, despite entreaties by the woman’s husband, she decides to leave. An unusual (for Chekhov) aspect of the story is that here we have a relatively powerless woman stand up to the humiliating treatment of her aristocratic employer, even though it may cost her and her parents dearly.

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Drifting House

Drifting House: Short story by Krys LeeThis confronting story by Krys Lee opens in a remote North Korean village created for those the government called the “wavering or hostile class”. Government food rations have been cut off and two starving, malnourished boys abandoned by their mother struggle across a snow-covered mountain to try to join her in China. The older boy carries their dying infant sister. Unable to carry her any further, he humanely ends her suffering. Despite their dire circumstances, he reveres his country’s “Dear Leader”, and expresses hatred for the American imperialists said to be responsible. Themes include family, abandonment, hunger, despair, guilt, indoctrination.

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What I Saw from Where I Stood

What I Saw from Where I Stood: Short story by Marisa SilverThis story by Marisa Silver is about a couple’s struggle to keep their marriage together after the miscarriage of their first child. Told from the husband’s point of view, it describes his wife’s trauma and slow recovery, which is set back by a carjacking in which they are held at gunpoint. This results in paranoia over security (so much so that she locks herself away over Halloween) and a rat in their bedroom wall. In a desperate attempt to save the marriage, he decides to take charge. Themes include loss, trauma and heartache, compassion and support, “flukishness”, disillusionment, paranoia.

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What Men Live By

What Men Live By: Short story by Leo TolstoyIn this story by Leo Tolstoy, God punishes a disobedient angel by casting him out of Heaven to live as a man. The only way he can get his job back is to learn the answers these questions: What dwells in man? What is not given to man? and What (do) men live by? He learns the answers from the family of a poor but compassionate shoemaker, an imperious rich man, and a kind, charitable woman who has adopted the two orphaned children of a dead neighbor. Themes: humanity, compassion, kindness, arrogance, duty, death.

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An Astrologer’s Day

An Astrologer's Day: Short story by R. K. NarayanThe “astrologer” in this story by R. K. Narayan is a fake, making a living by knowing enough about human nature to trick people into believing he has mystical powers. One day, he bargains with a reluctant passer-by to answer a question for many times his usual fee. He tries to cancel the reading immediately the passer-by sits down, but the man forcibly insists he continues. Although a deliberate lie, his answer not only eases the tormented man’s mind, but also brings in peace and redemption to himself. Themes include deception, fate, crime and punishment, revenge, redemption, spirituality, greed.

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The Bog Man

The Bog Man: Short story by Margaret AtwoodAs in an earlier Margaret Atwood story, The Age of Lead, The Bog Man revolves around a long-dead body. A university student’s hero worship of her archaeology professor leads to a torrid affair during which she accompanies him as his ‘assistant’ to inspect a 2,000-year-old body preserved in a Scottish peat bog. As his invisible wife comes between them, she feels “cheap and furtive”. Recognizing his shallowness, she ends the relationship. Like the bog man, over the years he becomes flatter and more leathery, as life goes out of him in her mind. Themes include infatuation, sexual exploitation, desire, guilt, empowerment.

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Three Elephant Power

Three Elephant Power: Short story by A. B. PatersonDespite the title, this story by A. B. Paterson has very little to do with elephants. It is about boys and their toys (men and their cars) as they speed through the Australian countryside in the early 1900s. Part of the story is a tall tale about the exploits of a speed-loving chauffeur named Henery, who tries to catch a car that has left the biggest set of tyre/tire tracks he has ever seen. Themes include progress (introduction of the motor vehicle to rural Australia) and irreverence (disregard for authority and road safety).

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Ashes for the Wind

Ashes for the Wind: Short story by Hernando TéllezIn this story by Hernando Téllez, a corrupt mayor and police in an unnamed town, aided by a local informer, are systematically expelling (and presumably taking over the land of) residents who voted against the incumbent government in recent elections. A man and his wife courageously, or foolishly depending on how you look at it, resist. When the authorities come to evict them, they lock their doors and windows… only to be burnt alive after the police torch their house. Themes include power and control, corruption, betrayal, brutality, courage and sacrifice, choices and consequences.

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