This flash story by Lydia Davis starts with the narrator foreshadowing a visitor to his/her home who will require around the clock care and attention. The visit reminds the narrator of two similar experiences, one by a family member and the other by a friend. In both cases, healthy old men with whom they were living deteriorated physically to the point that their bodily functions collapsed and they became dependent on others for their day-to-day care and well-being. The story takes an unexpected twist in the heart-warming final paragraph, where the narrator reminds us of the circle of life. More…
Waters of Gold
This Chinese folktale retold by Laurence Yep is in two parts. First, readers encounter the kind-hearted Auntie Lily who has spent so much of her money helping others that she now lives in poverty. Her fortunes change for the better when she helps a filthy, foul-smelling beggar who everyone else ignores. Later, her greedy neighbour experiences a different result when, hoping for a similar reward, she helps the same man. The two parts show different sides of the “be kind to others” moral: kindness for kindness’s sake brings its own rewards; kindness in expectation of reward usually leads to disappointment. More…
A Defenseless Creature
In addition to his tales highlighting serious issues such as poverty, class, death and unfulfilled expectations, Anton Chekhov wrote dozens of comic short stories to support himself through medical school. In this story, a persistent, shrew-like woman wears down a sickly banker. The exasperated man finally pays money the woman claims is owing to her husband out of his own pocket, even though the alleged debt has nothing to do with his bank. Despite the woman repeatedly describing herself as such, readers are left wondering if the harried banker is the titular “defenseless creature”. Themes: bureaucracy, communication, desperation, persistence. More…
Fountains in the Rain
In this quirky story by Yukio Mishima, an arrogant young man courts, seduces and sleeps with a woman. He has no feelings for her, and does so purely for the “pleasure” of seeing the reaction when he says to a woman for the first time, It’s time to break it off!. Her immediate reaction is a river of tears. When he gets up to leave, she follows, still crying uncontrollably. To dump the tearbag, he decides to humiliate her in front of the royal fountains. The result is not what he expected. Themes include “manliness”, manipulation and deception, cruelty, love. More…
Nightfall
As once described by Isaac Asimov himself, Nightfall (is) the tale of a world with eternal sun that is suddenly plunged into total darkness and utter madness. Hailed as one of the greatest Science Fiction stories ever written it tells how, in preparation for the potential end of their civilization, a group of forward-thinking scientists have created a safe place to store their world’s accumulated knowledge and hide a select group of “survivors”. Themes: science vs superstition (cultism), having the courage of one’s convictions, sensory deprivation, insanity, mob hysteria, scientific hubris. More…