Novelette by Patrick White. A woman with very low self-esteem spends her life at the beck and call of a rancorous, dominating husband. As they age and he gradually wastes away, she becomes obsessed with a strange-looking man who drives by their house at five-twenty every day.
Short Story by Roberto Bolaño. A man’s ghost seems happy to spend its time on earth with a famous French fashion designer. The two hadn’t known each other in real life, and only met because the fashion designer (a male) had paid to have sex with the man’s corpse!
Short Story by Alice Munro. A young tomboy on a fox farm prefers to spend her time outdoors with her father rather than indoors helping her mother. Her outlook changes as she gets older, culminating in a rebellious act that her father dismisses with the words "She’s only a girl."
Short Story by Carolyn Ferrell. A gay, academically challenged African-American boy faces a conflict between doing well at school and his feelings for a former lover. The highlights of his day include learning words with his mother and acting as surrogate “big sister” to the younger children in his house.
Short story by Christa Wolf. A middle-aged German woman recalls her time as a displaced teenager fleeing the Russians with her family in the final days of World War II. She recounts the horror of the refugee caravan, and some confronting experiences on reaching the “safety” of American lines.