Guy de Maupassant is widely regarded as the father of the modern short story. As his 13 volumes of short stories attest, he was a prolific writer of this form. He had a simple, efficient style of writing and, like Anton Chekhov, found inspiration for his stories in the daily lives of humans, which o...
Sally Carrol Happer is a popular 19-year-old girl living in Tarleton, Georgia. She is bored with her life in Tarleton, and, much to the chagrin of her local friends, she becomes engaged to Harry Bellamy, who is from a northern town. She brushes off the concerns of her friends and describes that she...
Ardita Farnum is a beautiful but spoiled and rebellious young woman on a yachting trip to Florida with her uncle. On the verge of throwing her life away on a disreputable playboy, she is captured by pirates and becomes enamored with their captain. She wonders if she has she met her match. This charm...
Benediction tells the story of 19-year-old Lois, who spends an afternoon getting reacquainted with her 36-year-old brother, Keith, who is training to become a Jesuit priest. It opens with Lois sending a telegram to her love interest, Howard, whom we never meet, but who is anxious whether she will en...
The Cut Glass Bowl is the story of the beautiful but ill-fated Evelyn Piper, who succumbs to the power of a cut glass bowl - a wedding gift from a spurned former beau. It is a unique and powerful portrait depicting how frivolous choices can lead to deterioration and loss of all that one loves. It wa...
Bernice, a wealthy girl from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, visits her cousin Marjorie for the month of August. One night Bernice overhears Marjorie complain to her mother that Bernice is a drag on her social life. Bernice resigns herself to allow Marjorie to coach her on the fine arts of fashion, flirting,...
Not long after the beginning of the 20th century, a woman has a dream about what she imagines the 21st century will bring. This utopian fiction piece was written by Winnifred Harper Cooley in 1902. Cooley is best known for her book The New Womanhood. Cooley's mother, Ida Husted Harper, was an author...
Brian Dalyrimple is a hero of WWI who comes home to realize that it's every man for himself. When he begins to understand the challenges of moving up the business ladder, he takes an unusual turn. Dalyrimple Goes Wrong is one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's most popular short stories and has been translate...
"The Mantle" follows the life of a civil servant, Akaki Akakievitch who just loves his work! Born in St Petersburg, he is a copywriter, meaning he copies text from one place to another. In his spare time and after work hours, he also copies. When given more responsibility, he begs to return to...cop...
Blacky the Crow is a mischief maker. He has very sharp eyes and sees things he shouldn't. They often get him into trouble. Blacky loves eggs. One day he discovers that Hooty the Owl and Mrs. Hooty have laid eggs in a nest when there is still snow on the ground. Blacky devises a plan with his fellow...
Award winning narrator Mike Vendetti narrates H. G. Wells' account of a fictional invasion of England by Martians, vastly superior intellectually and militarily to humans. The War of the Worlds is a science fiction and a horror story. Published in 1898, the story is still frightening. Imagine your g...
Join seven-year-old Alice as she tumbles down the rabbit hole to have an adventure in Wonderland, in Lewis Carroll's classic novel beloved by children and adults alike. Alice encounters many strange and curious creatures in Wonderland, including the anxious White Rabbit, the rather unhelpful Caterpi...
