Featured Stories

Girls at Play

Girls at Play: Short story by Celeste NgIn this confronting coming of age story by Celeste Ng three rebellious junior high school girls, ostracized by their peers because they come from the poor part of town, respond by playing a sex game with boys every recess. The girls are outsiders, and one day pause the game to befriend another outsider, a sweet, naïve new girl in town, and teach her teenage ways. To their horror, when other students tell the girl about their sex game, she insists on joining in. Themes include friendship, sexuality, social class, innocence, fitting in.

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Such Interesting Neighbors

Such Interesting Neighbors: Short story by Jack FinneyIn this story by Jack Finney, a man notices some unusual things about his new neighbors. Individually these mean little until the husband relates a science-fiction story he claims to have written. The story envisages a dystopian future where most people struggle to make a living and face the virtual certainty of death and destruction through war. The result is mass emigration to the past thanks to television’s modern replacement… personal time machines. Could the story be true, and the young couple two of these time-traveling refugees? Themes include societal collapse, nostalgia, escapism, integration, time-travel.

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Unto Dust

Unto Dust: Short story by Herman BosmanThe major themes of this story by Herman Bosman are attitudes towards the dead, and equality in death. A Boer farmer and native enemy die side by side while fighting in a ‘Transvaal Kafir War’. When the farmer’s friends return to take his body home for a proper burial, they find that wild animals have mixed up the bones. The friends spend a lot of time trying to sort out which is which so that the dead farmer does not have to lie forever among the warrior’s bones. A yellow ‘kafir’ dog judges the result. Other themes: war, mateship, racism.

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Ahoy, Sailor Boy!

Ahoy, Sailor Boy!: Short story by A. E. CoppardThis story by A. E. Coppard takes a light-hearted look at death and what comes after. Following a discussion in an English pub about death and divine retribution, an off-duty sailor unsuccessfully tries to solicit an attractive ghost in a park. The woman’s sin was vanity, as represented by a huge collection of expensive clothing. In order to obtain redemption, she must re-wear and discard every item in the collection. She is wearing the last outfit, and the sailor eagerly watches as she undresses for the last time. Themes include death and the afterlife, vanity, sexuality, kindness, redemption, the supernatural.

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Lather and Nothing Else

Lather and Nothing Else: Short story by Hernando TéllezIn this story by Hernando Téllez, a barber who secretly supports a revolutionary cause has a dilemma when an army captain who is particularly brutal in putting down the revolt asks for a shave. As the officer sits in the chair, the barber is torn between his professional duty (to give his customer the best possible shave), his revolutionary duty (to kill the captain, which will make him a hero but potentially force him to hide for the rest of his life), and moral qualms about murder. Themes include power and control, choices and consequences, violence, professionalism, duty, morality, trust.

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The Cow of the Barricades

The Cow of the Barricades: Short story by Raja RaoThis story from Raja Rao takes place during India’s struggle for independence from British rule. It highlights two major aspects of the conflict: the people’s desire for self-government, and the division within the people between those who supported Gandhi’s directive of passive resistance and those who advocated violent confrontation. The symbol of Gandhian resolution is a revered cow (a holy animal in Hindu culture) which, like many such advocates over the years, is martyred for the cause after leading a crowd of peaceful protesters to barricades as fighting is about to begin. Themes: independence, faith, nonviolent resolution of conflict.

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The Lifted Veil

The Lifted Veil: Short story by Mary Ann Evans (aka George Eliot)The titular veil in this story by Mary Ann Evans (aka George Eliot) could refer to several things: 1) the veils of time and private thought, lifted by the protagonist’s psychic powers; 2) the veil of innocence, lifted when his future wife’s narcissistic, manipulative nature is revealed; and 3) the veil of death, lifted when a dead woman is brought back to life and reveals that his wife is planning to murder him. Themes include alienation and isolation, the supernatural (clairvoyance), betrayal, despair, free-will vs. fate, scientific morality (playing God), death.

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When Anklets Tinkle

When Anklets Tinkle: Novelette by Anjana AppachanaIn this story by Anjana Appachana, life changes for a retired, middle-class Indian couple after renting the barsati [rooftop rooms] of their Delhi home to a likeable “Madrasi man” who plays a cruel trick on them. The detached, opinionated husband and his hard-working, under-appreciated wife struggle to deal with a noisy ghost, their visiting, unmarried daughter who defies tradition and asserts her independence and sexuality, and the idiosyncrasies of their long-time servant and his astute, seemingly ever-pregnant wife. Themes include family, ethnic identity, racism, social class, gender roles, tradition, double standards, sexuality, and superstition.

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