Featured Stories

The Khaki Coat

The Khaki Coat: Short story by Nhat TienThis story by Nhat Tien is a satirical criticism of the heavily regulated early days of the Vietnamese socialist government. The lack of social equality and opportunity is reflected in the life of a girl who supports her younger siblings by hawking items she digs up in graveyards. She is arrested when a widow recognizes the fashionable khaki coat her husband was buried in. However, she is soon free again after arguing in court that her actions were consistent with Communist ideology. Themes include social equality and opportunity, family, poverty, survival, superstition.

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As If It Had Never Happened

As If It Had Never Happened: Short story by Witthayakon ChiangkunIn this story by Witthayakon Chiangkun, a busload of enthusiastic Bangkok college students descend upon an isolated, poverty-stricken rice farming village as part of a 1960s national community development program. Despite their best efforts, differences in speech, dress and perceived social class make integration difficult. They have been sent during their school vacation to build a Community Hall, something the contented villagers neither asked for or need. Apart from the narrator, a young teen, the Hall’s only users are water-buffaloes seeking shelter from the sun. Themes include identity, innocence, city vs. country cultural divide, politicization, benevolence, bureaucratic disconnection.

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Night

Night: Short story by Tatyana TolstayaIn this heart-wrenching story by Tatyana Tolstaya, an impoverished eighty-year-old woman struggles to cope with task of looking after her middle-aged, severely retarded son. The man is dependent on his mother’s directions to get him through the day. He has virtually no social skills, is confused about women, and is prone to violent outbursts and extreme behaviour when things don’t go his way. The story begs but does not answer the question: What will happen when his mother is no longer around to take care of him? Themes: love and devotion, mental health, alienation, poverty, fear, dreams and fantasy.

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First Confession

First Confession: Short story by Frank O'ConnorAlthough the plot of this Frank O’Connor story deals with an important milestone in the Catholic faith, the points made are equally relevant to several other religions. The story satirizes the instilling of fear (of punishment/Hell) as the reason for taking the Eucharist as opposed to celebrating God’s love. A young boy’s intolerance over his country grandmother’s unusual habits results in violent fantasies. A priest’s double standards in scolding the boy’s sister for hitting him and “rewarding” the boy for confessing these murderous thoughts sends them both a confusing message. Themes include innocence, morality, guilt, indoctrination, intimidation, fear, hypocrisy.

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The Bridal March

The Bridal March: Short story by Bjørnstjerne BjørnsonThis story by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson spans four generations descended from a Norwegian cottar said to practice the black arts. He composed a bridal march for his daughter, warning that woe would come to any girl it played to church who was not a happy bride. One descendent wasn’t and paid the price. A major theme is forbidden love, with each descendant marrying someone from a different social class. In the final union, the cottar’s great-great granddaughter brings alienated sides of the family together by marrying his grandson. Other themes include social class and conventions, family duty and conflict, the supernatural.

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The Return

The Return: Short story by Fernando SorrentinoOn the surface, this story by Argentinean writer Fernando Sorrentino reads like a typical ‘campfire’ horror story. A man looking out his window witnesses a mean neighbor accidentally causing the death of an old beggar. Later, he sees the dead beggar return in the form of a newborn baby boy. When the boy is older, he “accidentally” causes the death of the man who killed him and then suddenly disappears. The author has cleverly created the character of the narrator so that if readers look a little harder, they might question if this is what really happened.

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The Return

The Return: Short story by Roberto BolanoRoberto Bolaño’s The Return is not your usual Gothic ghost story. The mood (though not the storyline) is more like the Patrick Swayze movie Ghost, which is referred to in the story. When a man’s ghost finds that it can communicate with a famous French fashion designer, it decides to spend its time on earth with him. The two hadn’t known each other in real life, and only met because the fashion designer had paid to have sex with the man’s corpse! Themes: death, the afterlife, necrophilia, disillusionment, insecurity, isolation, empathy.

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Blue

Blue: Short story by Francesca Lia BlockIn this story by Francesca Lia Block, a girl abandoned by her mother finds temporary comfort in stories about how much her mother loved her told by an imaginary creature living in her closet. When she shares this with a school friend, she is ridiculed and ostracized by classmates. A class assignment to “write about someone we love” provides an opportunity for the girl to put her thoughts and feelings about her mother on paper. This helps her face the loss, and gives her the courage to go on alone. Themes include family, loss, isolation and loneliness, healing through writing.

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