Survival | shortsonline

Three Skeleton Key

shortsonline — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 21:00:41 +0000

Short Story by George Toudouze. Three men are trapped inside an isolated lighthouse, surrounded by a horde of starving rats. One of the men panics and loses his mind. The other two remain calm and, although a serious breach of duty, agree on a desperate course of action.

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Leiningen Versus the Ants

shortsonline — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 12:17:51 +0000

Novelette by Carl Stephenson. A Brazilian plantation owner is advised to flee before an army of killer ants overruns his farm. He boasts about his superior intelligence and faultless preparations (which fail), and it is a last-minute idea, which he had previously overlooked, that saves the day.

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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

shortsonline — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 01:25:24 +0000

Novella by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. A fictional account of life in a former Soviet Gulag (forced labor camp). The system is designed to break inmates through a combination of harsh conditions, brutality and absurd rules. Some survive with dignity, others through theft, scavenging, and snitching. Many don’t survive.

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To Build a Fire

shortsonline — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:11:28 +0000

Short Story by Jack London. A poorly prepared prospector decides to return to his camp in the frozen wilds of Alaska, ignoring advice from more experienced men never to travel through the snow alone. A single mistake brings disaster and the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known.

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Youth

shortsonline — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:48:35 +0000

Novelette by Joseph Conrad. A young seaman on his first voyage as second mate demonstrates leadership ability in temporarily taking command of the crew’s evacuation from his sinking ship, followed by recklessness bordering on dereliction of duty when piloting his “first command” (one of its lifeboats) to shore.

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The Old Man and the Sea

shortsonline — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:17:05 +0000

Novella by Ernest Hemingway. A down on his luck, aging fisherman ventures further out to sea than usual and hooks a giant marlin longer than his small boat. He finally reels it in after a three-day struggle, only to see it “stolen” on the way back to shore.

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