Featured Stories

There Will Come Soft Rains

There Will Come Soft Rains: Short story by Ray BradburyThis science-fiction story from Ray Bradbury chronicles the last day in the ‘life’ of an automated house that has survived nuclear war. Although the house’s inhabitants are dead, represented by shadows on the outside walls, it has continued its daily cycle of programmed activity. Major themes are the danger of nuclear war, and the consequences of taking technology too far. In replacing almost all human tasks in their daily life, the householders were dependent on technology. Ironically, that same technology built the bombs that destroyed them. Other themes include death (the dog, house and humankind), nature (the only survivor), dystopia.

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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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Testimonial

Testimonial: Short story by Edwidge DanticatThe major theme of this Edwidge Danticat story is cultism. A woman dies after 25 years in prison for murdering her baby son. Her daughter has had to keep a terrible secret. Her mother was a member of a bizarre sisterhood made up of descendants of former Haitian slaves. The killing of her brother was a sacrifice to restore the daughter’s failing health. For years, she has been trained in the ways of the cult. She must now unwillingly take her mother’s place among its membership. There appears no way out. Other themes: motherhood, fear, superstition, destiny.

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The Hitchhiking Game

The Hitchhiking Game: Short story by Milan KundaraIn this story by Milan Kundera, a young couple on a road trip play what they think is a harmless game. The woman, normally shy and sexually inhibited, plays the role of a seductive hitchhiker. She finds the experience liberating, but carries the game too far. The man, who liked the woman for her purity, now sees her as no different to all other girls he has known. He begins to hate her, and humiliates the poor woman in a hotel room. Themes include identity, fantasy vs. reality, purity vs. promiscuity, jealousy, misogyny and cruelty.

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Signs and Symbols

Signs and Symbols: Short story by Vladimir NabokovVladimir Nabokov once indicated that Signs and Symbols contains a second story hidden behind various textual clues. The frame story, which involves an elderly couple’s dilemma about how to deal with their institutionalized mentally ill son, is a moving piece of dramatic prose in its own right. The supposed inner story has been the subject of much speculation. So far, nobody has convincingly decoded it. Perhaps there is none, Nabokov’s intention being to encourage readers to pay more attention to the signs and symbols in their own lives. Themes include mental illness, alienation, misfortune, suffering, poverty, death, parental love, hope.

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Cat in the Rain

Cat in the Rain: Short story by Ernest HemingwayOn the surface, this story by Ernest Hemingway is a simple tale about a couple spending a rainy afternoon in a hotel room during an Italian holiday. The woman feels pity for a cat trying to stay dry under an outside table. Readers often interpret this as a symbol of the woman feeling trapped in an empty relationship. Possible causes include a lack of mutual love and respect, incompatibility, and the woman’s childishness and greed. Themes include the aftermath of war, kindness, communication breakdown, isolation and loneliness, boredom and disappointment, gender roles and femininity, dissatisfaction and unfulfilled desires.

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