Sunset Cruise - Jean Davis

Author: Jean Davis Date: 2018 Setting: present day, somewhere in the topics Availability: Read Sunset Cruise in the anthology Destiny Pills and Space Wizards

Story: A young bride, Jane, and her (literally) knight in shining armor on a magnificent horse head out on a honeymoon cruise. Bill can't bear to be parted from his beloved horse. And so, the horse and the armor accompany them on the ship. Jane is having a hard time competing, but Bill is oh, so handsome! Can she penetrate Bill's defenses? How will this relationship affect her in the future?

Commentary: When beginning to read this story one might think of it as some sort of modern day fairy tale. However the deeper truths quickly become apparent. Lengthy commentary would result in a spoiler.

The short stories by Jean Davis are written primarily for entertainment and to provoke thought. Most of them are not going to yield up tidy lessons or provide deep insight into the meaning of life. But they will make you think. Some will make you chuckle, or nod approvingly as karma comes full circle.

Author info: Jean Davis lives in West Michigan, and writes speculative fiction and science fiction. She is continually fascinated by the question, "What if...?" This story and the 15 others in the anthology Destiny Pills and Space Wizards, will appeal to anyone who has enjoyed Twilight Zone. Connect with Jean through her blog at Discarded Darlings.

Rating:
Language skills 4
Depth of meaning 6

 

Shotgun Wedding - Steven Thor Gunnin

Author: Steven Thor Gunnin Date: any time Setting: a small-town chapel in Hobb's End Availability: in the anthology Consequences

Story: Jake, wielding a shotgun, is determined that the preacher is going to make his wedding to Peggy legal. Not everyone agrees that this is a good idea.

Commentary: "Shotgun Wedding" is a very short story, and yet it manages to get in several good twists and a play on words. If I say much about it at all, I'll be giving too much away. The coarse speech pattern of Jake is totally believable. On the other hand, there are some repetitious or awkward phrases that detract from the readability, and one break in point of view.

On the whole, the story works well, and provides the reader with an interesting take on the title phrase.

Author info: Steven Thor Gunnin is a graphic designer who writes in his spare time, and is a big fan of George Romero (Night of the Living Dead). He has had other stories published in Elements of the Soul Consequences is available as a paperback, or in ebook format.

Rating:
Language skills 5
Depth of meaning 5

Hitch-Hikers - Eudora Welty

Author: Eudora Welty Date: 1941 Setting: Mississippi in the 1930s Availability: in the short story collection A Curtain of Green

Story: Tom Harris, a traveling salesman, picks up two hitch-hikers on a road trip from Victory (Mississippi) to Memphis. One of the men talks a lot and is carrying a yellow guitar. The other man is very silent. Harris talks with the men, and soon realizes that they are hobos who have been traveling together for convenience for a couple of weeks.

He takes some pity on them and buys them dinner, and then asks the proprietor of a hotel where he often stays to let them sleep on his porch. While he is inside arranging this, the men apparently try to steal his car. The quiet man hits the man with the guitar over the head with a bottle, seriously injuring him. He is taken to the hospital and the assailant is locked in a room in the hotel, right across the hall from Harris, because the jail is full.

But this is one of Harris’ regular stops, and people in town know him. He’s popular at parties hosted by Ruth, a lady he knows. She introduces him to a girl named Carol, and they spend the evening together. She insists that she knew him from a long time ago, but he can’t remember her at all. There is much speculation at the party as to whether the guitar player will live or die.

Commentary: The Hitch-Hikers is a story with more questions than answers. On the surface it is a guileless portrayal of the Depression-era American South. Salesmen, hobos, forward girls, street children and “colored” children are presented without commentary, allowed to speak for themselves as to who they are and how they fit into society.

It is also the story of a man who is unable to connect with other human beings. Although Harris does show some hospitality toward the strangers, he never really forms even a simple kind of bond with them, and is oddly unmoved by their thievery, or the assault. He seems modestly curious about the prognosis for the injured man, but detached from the whole outcome, as well. He keeps forgetting what town he is in, even what girl he is with. He has no memory of Carol although she insists that she knows him.

When finally alone in his room he does not want to even take off his clothes, to feel any contact with the bed. The quiet becomes unbearable and he turns on the fan which clicks with every revolution and he welcomes the noise to shut out his thoughts.

In the final poignant scene he leaves town the next day, yet leaving more than the town behind him.

Author info: Eudora Welty 1909- 2001. Welty was born in Mississippi and developed an early love of reading. She earned several college degrees in an era when women seldom had any college education. During the Depression she worked for the WPA interviewing people and collecting photos of life in Mississippi. This experience became part of the basis of many of her short stories, which focused on Southern life. Several books of her short stories were published, and she won many prizes, including the Pulitzer.

Quote:
“He felt a... disturbing possessiveness, which meant nothing... He was free; helpless.”

Rating:
Language skills 9
Depth of meaning 8

 

A Passion in the Desert - Honore De Balzac

Author: Honoré De Balzac Date: 1830 Setting: Egypt, during the Napoleonic campaign of 1798 Availability: Read A Passion in the Desert on line, free

Story: A Passion in the Desert is a story within a story. The narrator is a man who has been to the zoo with his wife (described only as “she”). While they are watching a wild animal tamer she declares that the show is dreadful and she doesn’t believe that anyone can be so certain of the “affection” of a wild beast to trust it for performances.

The man takes issue with her and insists that he knows a story, told to him by an old soldier, which will prove that wild animals and humans can communicate. The next day, he tells her the story of “The Frenchman in Egypt.”

An old soldier, with one leg, had given this first person account of his experience in the desert during Napoleon’s campaign to conquer Egypt in 1798. He had been captured by the Arabs, but managed to escape into the desert where he despaired for his life. But he finds a small oasis, which has a spring, a few palm trees (for dates to eat), and a cave. He curls up to sleep in the cave, and in the morning finds that he is sharing the space with a “panther” (which is described in detail, identifying it to modern readers as a leopard).

The leopard has recently had a meal and she shows no interest in eating the soldier. In fact, the soldier and the cat develop an uneasy relationship, and their bond grows stronger and stronger. Man and beast play together; he caresses her gently, and she purrs ferociously in pleasure. But when an eagle appears overhead the soldier’s attention is drawn to it, and the relationship changes with dire consequences.

Commentary: A Passion in the Desert is clearly symbolic of the dangers, and stages of human love. It will take several readings to uncover all of the meanings. The most obvious layer is that the man is captivated by the beauty and power of the female, but that she is the one who is in control. She enjoys the attentions of the man, but never lets him forget that he is alive because she tolerates him.

The device of having an un-named man tell the story to his un-named wife strengthens the illusion of being able to separate oneself from the raw truths learned in the desert. The final line of the story, a quote from the old soldier, cuts through any self-delusion, leaving only naked truth.

In 1998 a short film of the same name was made, directed by Lavinia Currier. The movie is based on Balzac’s story, but adds a great deal to the plot, and changes the meaning significantly.

Author info: Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was one of the most obsessed writers of all time. His masterpiece, The Human Comedy, was written over the course of 20 years, on which he worked almost 16 hours a day, every day. He died of exhaustion at age fifty. The Human Comedy is a collection of stories covering the scope of the human condition. A Passion in the Desert was one of the first ones written. Balzac is often remembered for his romantic and sensuous novels which sold quickly and were often banned. For example, his name is brought up in “The Music Man” as a scandalous writer, who should be avoided by proper people. He is, however, considered one of the pioneers of realistic fiction, with the creation of multi-faceted characters who are neither wholly good or bad, but inherently human

Unusual Words:
Mangrabins- north-African Arabs, probably derived from Maghreb
ma petite maitresse- my little mistress
Mignonne- darling, etc- a term of endearment
simoom- a strong, hot, sand-laden wind of the Sahara and Arabian deserts

Rating:
Language skills 8
Depth of meaning 10

 

The Roommate - Lucinda Gunnin

Author: Lucinda Gunnin Date: 2010 Setting: Southern Illinois, the city of Carbondale, in the present Availability: in the anthology Consequences

Story: Tina Black has come to hate everything about the man who is staying in her home. Bob was a friend, an Army veteran, who needed a temporary place to stay. Now, more than a year later, he won’t leave. Tina’s husband, Doug, is too polite to ask him to find a place of his own, and she can’t bring herself to do anything about the situation, either. Bob is so selfish and annoying that Tina has begun to contemplate killing Bob.

Their city, Carbondale in southern Illinois, has been fortuitously spared from tornado strikes throughout history. But on this sultry summer day their deaf cat begins to act strangely and seems to be trying to make Tina follow him into the basement. Just in the nick of time, Tina realizes that a funnel cloud is bearing down on the neighborhood. She and the cat huddle under the basement stairs as the house above them is ripped to shreds.

But, Bob was asleep in an upstairs bedroom. What has happened to him?

Commentary: The Roommate takes a look at the literary phenomenon known as a pathetic fallacy, where the weather is a mirror for the mood of the story or protagonist. But, it is more than that, as Tina struggles with the guilt of her many hours spent wishing that Bob were dead. After the storm, although she is injured and in shock, she is constantly plagued by the guilt she feels over not warning Bob to get into the basement. Is his fate somehow her fault?

Author info: Lucinda Gunnin (see lucindagunnin.com) has been published in several magazines under her maiden name of Lucinda Morgan, and writes for the Heartland Women Newspaper. She has had stories published in books from Twin Trinity Media, and won the Fall 2008 Writers Weekly 24-hour short story contest. Consequences is available as a paperback, or in ebook format.

Unusual Words:
misogynistic- the characteristic of hating women

Rating:
Language skills 5
Depth of meaning 6

Troy Spencer - George Kramer

Author: George Kramer Author web: George's Blog and More Date: 2009 Setting: anywhere, in the present day Availability: In the anthology Elements of the Soul

Story: Troy Spencer is awakened by a phone call from his estranged sister, Joan, with the news that their mother has suffered a heart attack and is in the hospital. Outside a storm is raging, with wind tearing small limbs from trees and the rain pelting down. At first it seems as if the sister is the one who is close to their mother, but we learn that Troy is really the one who was most like the older woman.

Their mother dies, and with her last breath makes Troy promise that he will attempt to reconcile with Joan. Skeptical of any positive outcome, but determined to try for his mother’s sake, after the funeral Troy suggests that Joan meet him at their childhood home to sort through their parent’s belongings.

Troy and Joan find some wine and share a bottle. Will the alcohol open up the siblings' emotions so that they can share their thoughts?

Commentary: The story is told from Troy’s point of view, and we don’t get a glimpse of what is happening inside Joan until late in the story. Many people who have trouble getting along with relatives will probably relate to this story– wondering how the other person can act the way they do– and then coming to see things from a different perspective.


Author info: George Kramer has been writing since fifth grade and has over 150 articles published on line, in addition to writing short stories which he is organizing into two collections. He has recently finished a medical thriller, and is working on the sequel.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Kramer was raised on Long Island. He currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife and daughter.

He says, “I want to be recognized for quality work that instills thought.” Learn more about George at George's Blog and More.

 

Rating:
Language skills 5
Depth of meaning 6

 

The Sojourner - Carson McCullers

Author: Carson McCullers Date: 1950 Setting: primarily New York, in the 1940s Availability: Read The Sojourner on line, free

Carson McCullers photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1959 July 31. Collection of Library of Congress

Story: John Ferris, the sojourner, has returned from Paris to the United States for his father’s funeral in Georgia. It is revealed in the first sentences of the story that he has been a world traveler, and his half-awake, half-asleep dreams may symbolize his inability to grasp real life.

While waiting in New York, to catch a plane back to Europe, he happens to see his ex-wife, Elizabeth. He follows her for blocks, but can’t quite convince himself to approach her. He returns to his hotel, and impulsively calls Elizabeth. She invites him to dine that evening with her new husband and family; he accepts.

The evening is pleasant, but with moments of strain, politeness, and always that sense of unreality. Elizabeth plays the piano- reminding John of what he has lost, John speaks cautiously with Bill, her current husband. The most distressing moments come when their young son Billy learns that this stranger and his mother used to be married. He cannot accept this as a possible situation, and after being initially friendly with John, turns hostile when his outbursts result in being told that he can’t stay up to have cake for dessert.

John tries to focus on his current love, Jeannine, and her son. He even portrays the relationship to Elizabeth and Bill as stable and that they are on the brink of marriage. The truth is that Jeannine is just one more woman in a sequence of loves since the divorce, and he doesn’t particularly like her son.

The story closes with a poignant scene, back in Paris, between John and Jeannine’s boy, Valentin. John reaches out in an attempt to create an actual relationship.

Commentary: The Sojourner seems to be descriptive of John Ferris both in a physical sense- he never stays in one place for long, and a psychological sense- he is unable to form lasting relationships.

He was close to his father, but "Papa Ferris" is now dead. He has lost Elizabeth who haunts him; her music keeps coming back to him in inverted, minor motifs, always fragmented. He has lost a father, he has no wife, no son, no one to hold him in one place. There is a sense that John always brings too little to a relationship, and that too late. The final sentence Valentin speaks is the essence of the problem: "Monsieur Jean, the guignol is now closed."

Author info: Carson McCullers was born Lula Carson Smith in the state of Georgia, 1917. She is best known for the novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Her stories were always set in the American South, and always dealt with themes of the difficulties of love and human relationships. Her health was fragile. She suffered several strokes at an early age, and died in 1967.

Unusual Words:
The Tuileries- gardens at the Louvre museum in Paris
guignol- refers to a puppet theatre which is sometimes playing at the Tuileries

Rating:
Language skills 10
Depth of meaning 10