Featured Stories

The Great Rat Hunt

The Great Rat Hunt: Short story by Laurence YepThis memoir from Laurence Yep includes themes of father-son relationships, accepting differences, and facing fear. A young boy with severe asthma feels left out when he can’t join his father and brother in practicing ball games. Everything changes after they notice signs of a rat in their apartment. When poison and an exterminator don’t work, the father borrows a gun and invites the boys to join him in a hunt. Although no shots are fired, the father claims success. The narrator shares a “trophy” and learns some important lessons about fatherly love and focusing on one’s strengths rather than weaknesses.

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The Disappearance

The Disappearance: Short story by Chitra DivakaruniChitra Divakaruni’s hard-hitting story of a woman’s “disappearance” is told from her Indian-American husband’s point of view. After a year of denial, he accepts that she has left him. Their arranged marriage, although blessed with a son, had become intolerable for her. Years later, living in a nursing home and estranged from their son, he reflects on how much his wife must have hated him to leave the boy. The old man still fails to appreciate the effect his repression and sexual abuse would have had upon the poor woman! Themes include insensitivity, authoritarianism, marital rape.

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The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: Short story by Gabriel Garcia MarquezThis story from Gabriel Marquez describes how the body of a huge man washed in from the sea transforms a drab, sleepy fishing village. The body goes through stages of being admired for its power and good looks, pitied for the inconvenience being so large must have caused, given a name, claimed by the village as one of its own, and re-buried at sea with great dignity. The people feel such pride in being associated with the unknown man that their celebrations of his life turn the village into a famous landmark. Themes: myth creation, perceptions and influence of beauty.

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Haircut

Haircut: Short story by Ring LardnerThis story by Ring Lardner shows how satire can be used to raise awareness of problems in society. A small-town barber talks to a visitor about local life. The barber seems to think the town is a good place to live. However, the stories he tells suggest otherwise… especially if you are a woman or impaired in some way. Most of the barber’s stories are about a dead customer who he says had a kind heart but just liked to have fun with people. We hope you can see that the customer was not kind at all!

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The Quilt / Lihaaf

The Quilt / Lihaaf: Short story by Ismat ChughtaiIn 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.

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New York Day Woman

New York Day Woman: Short story by Edwidge DanticatMajor themes of this Edwidge Danticat story are mother-daughter relationships and cultural identity. Out of curiosity, an Americanised Haitian woman secretly follows her mother through the streets of central Manhattan after coming across her window shopping in expensive stores. The mother’s presence in Manhattan and confidence in navigating the crowded streets is a surprise, as is her destination. Over the course of the afternoon the girl begins to see her mother in a different light, with annoyance over her retaining many Haitian ways of life giving way to respect and admiration. Other themes include love, sacrifice, tradition, assimilation, understanding.

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Click-Clack the Rattlebag

Click-Clack the Rattlebag: Short story by Neil GaimanThis short campfire-style horror story by Neil Gaiman sucks you in (no disrespect to Click-Clacks intended) and then at the very end surprises. A young man is spending time with his girlfriend’s much younger brother. The boy asks for a bed-time story that is “a little bit” scary. In describing what he means by this the boy tells the man about Click-Clacks, “the best monsters ever”, that come from the dark when you don’t pay attention. We are left wondering how the narrator is still around to tell the tale. Themes include fear, awareness, manipulation, the power of storytelling.

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Safety of Numbers

Safety of Numbers: Short story by Lucy TanOne of the appeals of this story by Lucy Tan is that versions occur in immigrant families all over the world. Parents, who have known hardship and in some cases suffered under corrupt or authoritarian regimes, find a home in a new country. There, they drive their children hard to get the best possible start in life. The children, like the protagonist in this story, don’t fully understand their parents’ experiences and rebel against the added pressure. Mutual understanding often doesn’t come until the children experience and overcome their own challenges in life… which may be too late.

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