Featured Stories

Faith, Love, Time and Dr. Lazaro

Faith, Love, Time and Dr. Lazaro: Short story by Gregorio C. BrillantesThe major themes of this story by Gregorio C. Brillantes are expressed in the title. A country doctor, disillusioned by the suffering of patients and his oldest son’s suicide, has lost faith in religion and become detached from his deeply religious wife and younger son. As the son accompanies him on a late night house call to attend a dying baby, he realizes how out of touch the two have become. Upon their return, he has a momentary epiphany: for things like love, there was only so much time. Other themes include indifference, isolation, duty, father-son relationships, poverty.

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Old Man at the Bridge

Old Man at the Bridge: Short story by Ernest HemingwayAlthough a war story, the major theme of this vignette by Ernest Hemingway is not the physical horrors of armed conflict, but rather the psychological impact on the lives of those caught up in its wake. An old man has dedicated his life to caring for several pets. Forced to set them free and flee, he now fears for their safety and sits alone on a bridge, having lost the drive to go on. The narrator, a soldier focused on his duty, reluctantly leaves him to his fate. Other themes include alienation, anxiety, guilt and despair, resignation, duty vs. compassion.

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Redemption

Redemption: Short story by John GardnerThe fact that this story mirrors a similar event in author John Gardner’s childhood lends credibility to the feelings and emotions portrayed. When a twelve-year-old boy kills his seven-year-old brother in a horrific farm accident, he and his family are devastated. His father falls apart, womanizing and disappearing for days at a time, while his mother and five-year-old sister grieve privately, putting their faith in God. The boy, knowing the accident was preventable, relives it every day and even gets to the point of considering suicide. Themes: grief, religion, community, guilt, art (in this case music) as a redemptive force.

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The Catbird Seat

The Catbird Seat: Short story by ThurberSet 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.

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Barney

Barney: Short story by Will StantonIt is hard to write an introduction to this Will Stanton story without giving the ending away. Like another of our featured stories, Flowers for Algernon, the plot involves a scientist conducting a bizarre experiment to increase the intelligence of a very special rat (in this case Barney). The major theme is the potential catastrophic effect of poorly controlled scientific experiments. Because Barney is humanized a little more than Algernon (he enjoys flipping through books in the library as opposed to simply running through mazes), a secondary theme is the ethics of animal testing. Other themes: deception, narrow-mindedness, revenge.

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The Big True

The Big True: Short story by Dina NayeriThis story by Dina Nayeri explores the circumstances of a once famous Iranian sitar player who, following his wife’s death and his daughter’s graduation from Harvard, chooses the simple life of a drifter. This and his clumsiness with technology causes a rift with his condescending daughter, who can’t even make time to share a coffee when he visits New York. Fortunately, he finds solace with a like-minded Indian immigrant and other residents sharing a YMCA hostel. Themes include the immigrant experience, cultural differences, generational conflict, friendship, father-daughter relationships, search for identity, loneliness, nostalgia, the Internet.

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In the Shadow of War

In the Shadow of War: Short story by Ben OkriIn this story by Ben Okri, a boy becomes curious about a mysterious woman who walks through his village every day wearing a black veil. Set during the Nigerian Civil War, other children think she is a witch; three soldiers looking for her think she is a spy. The soldiers follow the woman into a forest, as does the boy. Sufficient ambiguity exists for readers to question whether the horrific events described in the forest really take place, or if the woman is indeed a spy or simply a kindly benefactor. Themes include loyalty and morality in war, brutality, humanity.

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The Other Wife / Woman

The Other Wife / Woman: Short story by ColetteIn this vignette by French author Colette, a recently married couple visiting a restaurant chance upon the husband’s ex-wife. She is attractive, sophisticated and self-assured. Alice, the new wife, is younger, naïve, submissive and insecure. The self-centered, controlling husband cannot understand why his first wife had “difficulty” with their relationship. The new marriage, in which Alice flirtatiously plays the part of a trophy wife, appears more to his liking. Unfortunately for him, the encounter raises doubts and a question in Alice’s mind: What more did she (the ex-wife) want from him? She finds herself envying and respecting the stronger woman.

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