The Fly

Post category:Short Stories

The Fly: Short story by Katherine Mansfield Katherine Mansfield‘s The Fly is about death, grief and aging. Two old men handle their sons’ wartime deaths differently. Six years have passed. Mr Woodifield, in poor health physically and mentally, has come to terms with the loss of his son. “The boss”, healthy and successful, still grieves… but not for his son. He laments the sacrifices he made in preparing the boy to take over his business, and shows his true character by torturing a fly. This leaves him feeling wretched and frightened. Could the fly’s struggles have reminded him that even the strongest (himself included) eventually die?

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Approximate Reading Times

Quick Read: under 5 minutes
Short Story: 5 to 30 minutes
Novelette: 30 to 90 minutes
Novella: 1.5 to 2.5 hours

The Pose
Quick Read by Anwar Khan. An attractive Indian college student makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to exchange places with a mannequin in a shop window. Men and boys openly lust after her and women stop and admire her beauty. She leaves the shop empowered by the experience.
Heat
Short Story by Joyce Carol Oates. Mischievous eleven-year-old twin girls are brutally murdered by a supposedly harmless, mentally challenged man. The twins are on a power trip, demanding compliance with their wishes from school friends and cruelly harassing the man. In the end revenge, and his physical power, prevails.
Dusk
Short Story by James Salter. A woman faces a lonely future. Her only son is dead, her other children have moved on, her husband has left her, and her lover is reuniting with his wife. It is hunting season, and she identifies with the wild geese being shot for sport.
Once Upon a Time
Short Story by Nadine Gordimer. Set in South Africa during the apartheid era, a once safe neighborhood suffers increasing levels of burglary and street crime. As the break-ins become more frequent, a family’s attempt to make their house almost impregnable from the outside ends in tragedy.

The Great Rat Hunt
Grade 7-8 Story by Laurence Yep. A young boy with severe asthma feels left out when he can’t join in family ball games. Everything changes after they notice signs of a rat in their apartment. The father borrows a gun and invites his sons to join him in a hunt.
The Wedding Reception
Short Story by Nyi Pu Lay. On the day of a Mandalay wedding the groom, his new wife, and others in the community (including the grumpy owner of the only TV in the neighborhood) go the great lengths to ensure that his seriously ill father has an enjoyable day.
The Mispaired Anklet
Tamil Legend. A devoted wife stands by her husband despite his infidelity. He repents, and they move to another city. When he is framed for theft and summarily executed, she calls on the gods and has the city destroyed. Later, she learns that her fate was the result of karma.
The Street-sweeping Show
Short Story by Feng Jicai. A Chinese Mayor, surrounded by groveling officials, puts on an artificial media show to be seen supporting National Cleanup Week. The carefully choreographed newspaper and T.V. shoot is held in the Central Square, which has already been swept clean by the town population.

My Sweet Sixteenth
Young Adult Story by Brenda Wilkinson. A school friend helps a young girl deliver her unwanted baby in her upstairs bedroom while a house-full of guests celebrate her “Sweet Sixteenth” birthday downstairs. She had planned to have the child adopted, but her family encourages her to keep it.
Ringing the Changes
Novelette by Robert Aickman. A couple on honeymoon arrive in a small English village. A church bell is ringing continuously, the streets are empty, the hotel staff act strangely, and there is a sickening, rotten smell in the air. Later, additional church bells begin ringing, heralding a macabre annual festival.
The Return
Short Story by Fernando Sorrentino. A man witnesses a neighbour accidentally cause the death of a beggar. Later, he thinks he sees the dead beggar “return” in the form of a baby boy. When the boy is older, he accidentally causes the death of the man who killed the beggar.
At the Pitt-Rivers
Short story by Penelope Lively. A sixteen-year-old boy who regularly visits a museum to “mooch around and be on his own” notices a woman of about thirty waiting for someone. His views on “correctness” in relationships are challenged when she greets a man in his fifties she obviously loves.

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