Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts

Thursday, April 01, 2010

The Door

I recently stumbled across an old short story by E. B. White, entitled "The Door," in an anthology I was reading. I was impressed by the piece for its clever use of language, and the complexity of the ideas addressed in a very short space.

The story is basically a set of musings on a lab rat, entertained by an individual who finds himself frightfully similar to said rat. It is really masterfully handled, and touches on a myriad of interconnected ideas in a very short space. What an amazing piece of writing.

You can read the full text here. It will only take a few minutes, and I think you'll find it very worth your time.


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Friday, May 04, 2007

A short story

It seems my main blog site might be about to give up the ghost, as the site is down more than up these days. I'll be transferring lots of posts over to my other blogs from that one. This is one of those.



Take a look here and here.




I don't know why I ever allowed him to bring her back to my house. She's the cause of it all, really. I've tried not to believe the rumours and old wives' tales, but how not to? They are so clearly living themselves out before my own eyes.

I've done it all right all of my life. I never deviated from what I was supposed to do. I married young, had kids, raised them right. All of it just as expected of me.

I don't understand, then, why they aren't taking care of me like they are supposed to. I mean, that's the whole purpose of having kids, to have someone to take care of you when you are old. Fat lot of good they've done me, my three.

But it would be different if not for her. I should've known from the beginning that his bringing home that foreigner would cause some sort of mess. I just never imagined my open-minded allowance of it would lead to her casting curses on me. When the neighbours said she'd started some black magic voodoo in my own home (his house... but still my home), I was the first to defend her. I knew my baby wouldn't have brought some sorceress back. But maybe she bewitched him.

Something has, anyway. He used to be so obedient, but ever since these curses started, he's been so unreasonable. And now he's turned his brother and sister against me too. When I tried to tell them about the scorpions searing through my bowels, my girl turned away, and her youngest brother actually laughed. If he would've just looked into the toilet bowl when I passed them, like I asked him to, he'd know. But she's blinded them all.

And now the insects have crawled into my skull. They itch and sting at me behind my eyes, but no one listens. The kids have tried to put me in a straight jacket (they think I don't know what kind of doctor they are referring to?). They've even gone so far as to bring That Man back into all, but I never doubted he'd take the side of some witch against me. He's done it for more years than those kids would ever realize anyway. Did they really think He'd add weight to their case?

But no. I'm done with That Man. I'm done with the little witch and her magic tricks too. No more scorpions jiggling in the guts, or insects circulating in the skull. I'm even through with those scheming little wretches I've raised -- let 'em get their grubby hands on the inheritance if they're so eager for it.

This is it. I'm at the top of the world now. Twenty-five floors below, I see two characters shimmering on the concrete, like a target.

自由。 Freedom.

It's one target I won't miss.





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