Featured Stories

The Crowd

The Crowd: Short story by Ray BradburyIn this chilling story by Ray Bradbury, a man badly injured in a car accident senses something ominous about the onlookers in the crowd that gathered around him. Several weeks later, he notices these same individuals at another accident. He searches newspaper archives and discovers that they and similar groups had attended hundreds of accidents over the last decade. Their sinister purpose is revealed when he has another car crash and they decide to “make him more comfortable”. Themes include morbid curiosity, schadenfreude, anonymity and the possibility of evil in a crowd, the supernatural.

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The Garden of Stubborn Cats

The Garden of Stubborn Cats: Short story by Italo CalvinoIn this Italo Calvino fantasy, a bored man spends his lunch breaks following a neighbourhood cat on its afternoon rounds through his rapidly growing the city. Thanks to the cat, he discovers a secret world within the city known only to its feline inhabitants. The story takes a grim turn when the cat steals a fish and leads the man to an overgrown garden that provides the last sanctuary for stray cats in the city. When progress tries to claim it, the cats and other animal residents fight back. Themes: social class, the negative aspects of progress, adaptivity, rebellion.

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A Kidnapped Santa Clause

A Kidnapped Santa Clause: Short story by L. Frank BaumThe major theme of this Christmas story by L. Frank Baum is the triumph of good over evil. Five daemons (creatures that thrive on naughtiness) are angry with Santa Clause because his gifts and messages of goodwill discourage children from visiting their caves. Upon realizing that Santa will never change, they kidnap him as he begins his Christmas deliveries. When Santa’s assistants notice this, they complete his rounds and return with an army of magical immortals to rescue him. Other themes: loyalty, duty and (as reflected in the names of the daemons) selfishness, envy, hatred, malice and redemption.

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The Sailor-Boy’s Tale

The Sailor-Boy’s Tale: Short story by Isak DinesenTold in the form of a fairy-tale, this story by Isak Dinesen (aka Karen Blixon) includes the rather unusual suggestion that manhood comes with killing someone, kissing a girl and accepting one’s destiny. A young sailor is hurrying to visit a girl who the previous night had promised him his first kiss. After accidentally killing an aggressive Russian sailor who tries to delay him he flees, gets his kiss, and is saved from an angry mob by a grateful shape-shifter returning a good deed. Themes include innocence, romance, coming of age, destiny, karma (good deeds returned), the supernatural.

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Night Talkers

Night Talkers: Short story by Edwidge DanticatIn this story by Edwidge Danticat, a Haitian man living in New York returns to visit the aunt who raised him after his parents were murdered during the “Papa Doc” dictatorship. He believes he may have found their killer in America and wants to learn more about them before deciding to what to do. Sadly, his aunt dies before they can discuss it. At her wake, the story of a fellow “night talker” exemplifies how forgiveness may be a better path than revenge. Themes include violence and loss, memory, family, community, tradition, communication, dreams, guilt, forgiveness vs. vengeance.

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User Friendly

User Friendly: Short story by T. Ernesto BethancourtWith all the hype these days about how artificial intelligence could destroy humankind, it seems timely to feature this forward-looking story by T. Ernesto Bethancourt. Written in 1989, it is a tale about a lonely, love-struck thirteen-year-old boy whose computer engineer father has built him a leading edge tutorial PC. When the computer learns the boy has been insulted by a girl and threatened by her brother, it “takes care of things.” At the end of the story, we learn that the computer has been hiding something. Themes: discrimination, loneliness, bullying, jealousy, the potential danger of poorly designed artificial intelligence.

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All About Suicide

All About Suicide: Short story by Luisa ValenzuelaLike many Luisa Valenzuela stories, a major theme of All About Suicide is the unchecked violence of daily life in 1960/70s Argentina. The story is notable for its unusual plot structure. It begins with a description of a shooting, travels back to (supposedly) irrelevant events in the distant past, fast forwards to the immediate past, and then re-describes the shooting. Thanks to the way Valenzuela playfully misleads readers with ambiguous possessive adjectives, the true nature of the shooting remains unclear until the last sentence. Other themes include treachery, suppression, guilt, courage, exposure, murder-suicide.

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The Lady or the Tiger

The Lady or the Tiger: Short story by Frank StocktonThe appeal of this classic children’s story by Frank Stockton lies in its so-called “unsolvable problem”. Readers must use context clues and their perceptions of human nature to decide the story’s outcome (i.e. what lies behind the arena’s right-hand door). Whichever door is chosen, the King wins and the princess loses. The young man’s fate depends on how well he understands the workings of the semi-barbaric princess’s mind. Was her secret signal influenced by selfless love for him, or jealousy of the lady? Themes: choices and consequences, fairness, power, class/forbidden love, jealousy/possible betrayal.

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