In this story by R. K. Narayan, a widowed Indian snake charmer trains a monkey for his young son so the two can work together entertaining people in the streets. All goes well until the father runs away with a strumpet in a blue sari, taking the monkey with him. Left alone with the snake, which has grown too old to perform, the boy misses the monkey more than his father. He reluctantly keeps the snake after realizing it can’t survive in the wild, and looks for another kind of work. Themes include poverty, selfishness, abandonment, independence, loyalty, compassion. More…
The Californian’s Tale
The major themes of this story from Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) are loneliness, love, loss, madness and friendship. A prospector wandering the desolate Californian goldfields after the mines had all closed is surprised to come across a beautifully maintained cabin. When asked inside by the owner, he marvels at the comfort and quality of its furnishings and obvious signs of a woman’s touch. The man tells him that his wife is away visiting family but will return in three days. The prospector accepts the man’s invitation to stay and meet her, but later wishes he hadn’t. More…
Jeffty is Five
This story by Harlan Ellison is said to be an allegory of the power of childlike fantasy. The protagonist’s childhood friend remains “frozen in time”. As those around him age, the boy retains the body and mind of a five-year-old. Things get stranger when the protagonist discovers the boy is also living in the past. He tunes into new episodes of long discontinued radio shows, “sees” old movies when watching modern ones, and receives products from mail-order companies that no longer exist. Themes include childhood, friendship, nostalgia, past vs. present, desperation, the supernatural. More…
Mr Miacca
Mr. Miacca is an English folktale of the ‘bogeyman’ type, where adults tell stories of imaginary beings to frighten young children into being good. In the story, a boy does something wrong and finds himself about to be cooked for Mr. Miacca’s dinner. He gets away by tricking Mrs. Miacca. The forgetful boy makes the same mistake, and again finds himself on Mr. Miacca’s dinner menu. This time Mr. Miacca watches over the boy himself, and decides to cut off the lad’s leg (which he throws in the cooking pot) to make sure he doesn’t run away. More…
The Catbird Seat
Set in 1940s New York, this story by James Thurber is a not-so-gentle satire of the lengths to which desperate people will go to resist change. A meek, solitary man believes the brash efficiency expert brought in to streamline his employer’s workflows threatens his job and must be “rubbed out”. He plans what he considers an almost perfect murder, only to be thwarted at the last moment by lack of a weapon. Fortunately, in a moment of inspiration, he turns the tables and puts himself in the “Catbird Seat”. Themes: workplace gender stereotypes, alienation, change, insecurity, desperation, revenge. More…