The Chrysanthemums
In this seemingly straightforward story by John Steinbeck, chrysanthemum-growing Elisa’s character can be interpreted in several, often contradictory, ways. Is she “strong and happy” as her husband says, or weak and disillusioned with her life? Does she crave companionship, intimacy and perhaps a child, or freedom? Is her fascination with chrysanthemums because of a special connection with nature, or because they represent the only joy in her life? Whatever the answers, after a smooth-talking tinker raises her self-esteem and then shatters it, Elisa’s tears signify her realization that nothing will change. Themes: isolation, loneliness, aesthetics, lack of fulfillment, betrayal.
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This is a short horror story by little known author Julius Long. A doctor tells a man suffering from nerves to have a long holiday somewhere quiet. The man checks into a hotel in a small town. However, the townspeople are unfriendly towards him and he finds it a lonely, dreary place. His only hope for stimulating conversation appears to be a tall, pale man staying in another room of the hotel. The pale man has some very strange ways, so the man asks the hotel room clerk about him. The room clerk tells him there is no such guest. 
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