18 The Man who Shot Snapping Turtles by Edmund Wilson

Narrator has a weird neighbor named Asa M. Stryker. He lived with a cook and a man in Hecate County. He had no visitors and sometimes had short visits to relatives. He had a pond where he kept his "pet ducks" or wild ducks. There were snapping turtles in the pond which ate the ducks, so he began shooting the turtles. Once he tried draining the pond to kill all the turtles, but his neighbor complained and the turtles were still there. He asked why God allows mud-turtle to eat the beautiful ducks? Is it because He is old now? Then he poisoned the pond, but the poison killed everything in the pond including the ducks. A female snapping turtle appear, so he fenced all his estate. He had a New Orleans neighbor called Clarence Latouche who worked in an advertising business. He proposed that Stryker should shoot the ducks instead of the turtles and make turtle soup and sell them. Stryker started eating turtle soup at breakfast. Latouche made advertisement for canned snapper which the women were cured of anemia and tuberculosis by eating these. Soon, Stryker created a small cannery with shallow tanks to farm the turtles. He employed people by paying their housing and feeding them, so they feel in debt to him and never leave. He had his gardener as a foreman and a middle-aged woman as the secretary. He gave 10% profit to Clarence. Clarence had an affair with a married woman, but she thought it was too troublesome to divorce her husband and refused to marry Clarence. Clarence went to Stryker's study one Sunday afternoon and detected that Stryker was going to kill him. Stryker treated him friendly which is odd. Stryker offered Clarence to take a trip to the South. Many of Stryker's wealthy relatives died regularly. Clarence shot Stryker and sold his estate in Hecate County to buy a ticket to Europe, but Hitler's war began, he moved to southern California where he drank to death. He was constantly afraid of the foreman getting caught. The foreman organized strikes against Stryker and disappeared after Stryker was murdered, so he was suspected to be the murderer. Clarence was willing to tell the truth if the foreman was caught, because he has a soul of honor. He will not let innocent man die.

17 The Man of the House by Frank O'Connor

Sullivan, a 10-year-old boy, took up the responsibility to take care of his mother, who was coughing very hard for several days. He decided to stay at home instead of going to school. When she did not get well, they called the doctor and the doctor told him to go to a dispensary to get a coughing syrup for his mother. He went over the hills and got one. On his way, he saw a cathedral and told himself that he will use the only penny he had to buy a candle in the cathedral when he got the syrup and pray for his mother. He met a very smart and talkative girl who was getting a bad tasting medicine for her sister's "consumption," a disease. She convinced him to let them try the syrup and they drank it all. Sullivan cried and went to the church repenting and praying to virgin Mary for a miracle. When he got home, he fell asleep because of intoxication of the syrup. When he woke up, his mother was well. The miracle happened.

16 The Other Two by Edith Wharton

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/OthTwo.shtml

Mr. Waythorn just married Mrs. Waythorn and were coming back from their honeymoon, because Lily Haskett, Mrs. Waythorn's daughter with her first husband, was sick. Mrs. Waythorn was married first to Mr. Haskett, then to Mr. Varick, then to Mr. Waythorn. Mr. Haskett really loved his daughter, so he moved from Utica to New York City to be near Lily. He cared about her education and came to Mr. Waythorn's house frequently to visit Lily. He was a little man. At first Mr. Waythorn thought he was a brute, because Mrs. Waythorn put it that way until Mr. Waythorn met him. Mr. Waythorn found out that Mrs. Waythorn lied when she said that she didn't meet Mr. Haskett when he came the first time after Lily was ill. Mr. Waythorn had a friend in business called Mr. Sellers. Mr. Sellers was ill with gout, so he cannot carried out the business for Mr. Varick and he asked Mr. Waythorn to manage the money and transaction for Mr. Varick in place of him. Therefore, Mr. Waythorn began meeting Mr. Varick regularly. Once, Mr. Waythorn saw Mr. Varick in a restaurant drinking coffee with cognac. When he got home, Mrs. Waythorn did the same with his coffee, but he said that he didn't drink cognac with coffee. In the beginning Mr. Waythorn was really angry about Mrs. Waythorn meeting Haskett and that he met Mr. Varick on the street. After Lily and Sellers's illnesses, he learned to live with them on a regular basis. Mr. Varick was a polite man. Mr. Waythorn finally realized that Mrs. Waythorn learned from her previous marriages to make this third marriage a success. At last, they all met and Mrs. Waythorn offered all 3 tea and they all accepted it.

15 Looking Back by Guy De Maupassant

3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy, went to bed while Abbé Mauduit Curé, an old priest, was talking to Comtesse de Saville, a grandmother. Comtesse asked Curé why he did not live an ordinary life like everybody else did. Curé began telling her his childhood. He was sent to a boarding school when he was still very young. He was very sensitive, and the boarding school experience without love of his parents made him afraid of everything around him. His parents were wholesale haberdashers (male clothes) at Verdiers and were wealthy. He felt that children's nerves are very sensitive and delicate, easily affected. He cried everyday in his bed thinking about the little things he had done in his home. He was tortured by homesick pain and loneliness. He became pessimistic. He believed that he has no hope in the future. He believed that he will be killed by his pain and struggles. After he graduated, he was given 6 months to choose his career. His parents didn't love him with their hearts, but with his head. They welcomed him to take over their business. He was on his home one day, a thin red spaniel dog with long curly ears ran towards him. Then stopped. He patted him gently and the dog followed him home. This is the first time he loved a creature so passionately. He felt that this dog was his brother, because he also loved him back by licking his face, wagging his tail, and following him everywhere he went. Sam, the dog, sit on his knee or beside him when he sat down on the grass. One day at the end of June, when they were walking on the road to Saint-Pierre-de-Chavrol, he saw a bus running like a horse in full speed. Sam wanting to get closer to Curé ran in front of the bus. He saw Sam almost cut in half by the bus and died in a few minutes. He could not leave his room for 1 month because of his death. His father than asked him how he can survive if his future wife and children die if now he could not stand a dog dies. He decided to devote himself to serve others. As long as he is not experiencing the feeling himself, he will be able to survive. Now he only has to feel sympathy for others. He was not made for this world. She said that she would not be able to live without her grandchildren either. Then he left and she kept thinking about what don't happen to young people.

14 The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/
http://librivox.org/short-ghost-and-horror-collection-001/

Prince Prospero confined a group of people in his own castle. Everywhere else people were attacked by the Red Death, only Prince Prospero's seclusion has not been infected. He held a masked ball one day. Everyone was enjoying the ball, but every hour, the giant ebony clock would strike and produce a sound that caused everyone to be silent until it was over. It horrified them, but they continued to enjoy the party. There were 7 rooms, from the east, blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black velvet. The black velvet room had a red bloody window. Every room has no candle light, but a fire on the tripod would light up the rooms. When it was 12 o'clock midnight. Everyone noticed a weird masked guest. He was masked like a corpse and was covered with blood. No one noticed him before. The robust prince was angry and told the people to seize this corpse. Nobody moved, because they were all afraid. This corpse walked closer and closer to the Prince who was in the blue room and into the other rooms until he went to the violet room. The Prince was angry and holding a dagger rushed to the corpse. Suddenly the corpse turned and killed the Prince. The people came to look at the corpse, but there was no one under the mask. They found that the corpse is the Red Death who came in like a thief in the night. He attacked everyone until they were all dead. Even the ebony clock died, and the flame on the tripods died out, and Darkness, Decay, and the Red Death ruled the whole place.

13 The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html
http://www.sffaudio.com/?p=19477

There was a town of about 300 people which has an annual lottery drawn. Mr. Summers directed the whole thing and prepared carefully folded white papers enough for every head of the family with only 1 that has a black mark on it and put them into the ancient black box. On June 27th, everyone gathers and the children picked out a pile of round stones. When everyone was there, Mr. Summers called out the head of each family one by one who would go and pick out a folded paper and hold it in his hand until everyone got one. Mrs. Hutchinson came late and hurried to get beside her husband. Everyone got one and opened the papers. Mr. Bill Hutchinson got the one with the black dot. Mrs. Hutchinson shouted that Bill didn't have enough time to pick one, so this is unfair. They should have a redraw. His whole family, Nancy, their 12-year-old daughter, Bill, Jr., Little Dave, Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson, and Mr. Bill Hutchinson, they each need to draw out a paper again. Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson got the dotted one and everyone began to throw stones at her. Mrs. Hutchinson kept shouting that this was not fair, but was stoned to death. Even her own son Dave and her friends threw stones at her.

I don't quite get why my classmates like this story. I don't like it. It was weird. Why do people stone people to death annually?

12 A. V. Laider by Max Beerbohm

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/761/pg761.html

The narrator and Laider met in a hostel when they were recovering from influenza a year ago. At that time, the narrator and Laider discussed about palmistry. Soon Laider told a story about his mastery of palmistry and found himself going to escape a violent death when he was about 26. Then he met some people in a carriage when he was 27. He looked at their hands and found that 3 of them were supposed to or going to have a violent death. They all have the same sign in their palms. Then he had an accident and he forgot what happened. His uncle came and he remembered what had happened. The narrator wrote Laider a letter, but when he returned to the hostel a year later, again after an influenza, he found that the letter was still there. Then he left and got back to get the letter, the letter was gone. He realized that Laider had come back again as well. He found Laider and Laider told him that it was all a lie. He has such great imagination that he has to tell him a story. He said that he was sorry. The narrator actually sensed something weird in Laider's story, but he learned the truth. Laider lied all along. No one knows if Laider lied that he lied either. Everything is a lie. Then they decided to go back to the time before they talked about the palmistry. They bowed to each other, but they started to talk again. Soon, Laider began another story.

11 Only the Dead Know Brooklyn by Thomas Wolfe

The narrator once met a big guy. The big guy tried to know everything about Brooklyn by traveling with his map. The narrator thought that he was crazy, because no one will ever know Brooklyn even if he lived in Brooklyn all his life. While they were on the train, the big guy asked the narrator whether he knows how to swim or not. The narrator said of course he knows, because his older brother pushed him into the water when he was 8 years old. He had to swim or he would drown. He swam. The big guy asked him what he would do when a man is drowning. The narrator said that he would pull him out of the water. The big guy asked what happened to people after they drowned in Brooklyn. The narrator said that it is impossible to drown here. That big guy was finding "Drowning" in the end, and the narrator got off the train to stay away from him. He remarked that only the dead might know whole Brooklyn, but most likely he will never know it all.

10 Putois by Anatole France

I didn't read this story, but my classmates, Enoch, Sophie, David, and Eric, did a play about the story. Enoch was the boss and the other 3 are the employees. Enoch called each one in and asked them why they didn't finish their work. They all said that a man named Putois did something causing them not to finish their work. The first guy said that Putois is a thief. The second one said that Putois is a lady-killer. The third one said that Putois is his gardener. The boss was confused and called all 3 in. They argued who Putois is, but couldn't reach any agreement. I think they all made up their own story, so they could have an excuse for slacking off. I think Putois doesn't exist.

The Shot Puppet Show

https://docs.google.com/document/d/114Ba4ituozcu25RpJhFZjHeiydmFppCnnicyGYBEq7Q/edit?hl=en_US

9 The Shot by Alexander Poushkin

The narrator was in the army. One day, a man named Silvio joined the army. Silvio was well respected and had good shots. Silvio and narrator were good friends until one day when Silvio refused to kill the man who threw a brass candle-stick at him. Narrator thought Silvio was a coward. One day, Silvio received a letter that his enemy is going to get married. Silvio told the narrator his past and how he got red cap with a hole in it. His rich young enemy stole his respected status and did not treat their duel seriously in the past. He was eating cherries when Silvio aimed at him with a gun. Silvio thought he was not ready to die yet and went away. Now, this enemy is getting married to a beautiful lady, so he must treat his life more seriously now. Silvio went to have a duel with him. Then the narrator never heard of him anymore and retired. One day, a beautiful countess and her husband the count came to live near the narrator. The narrator went to see her, and was welcomed warmly by them. Then he saw 2 holes, one on top of the other, on the wall. The count told him that a man gave him this souvenir. The narrator said that he knew a person who can shoot this well and said that he was Silvio. The count was surprised, because it was Silvio who gave him one of the shot. The count said that Silvio came one day asking for a duel and he was really scared. Silvio told him to shoot first and he did, but missed. Then Silvio aimed at him. Silvio did not shoot, because he was satisfied to see the count got nervous. Before he left, Silvio shoot the other one into the painting. Silvio was never heard of anymore, but probably died in a war.

8 The Courting of Dinah Shadd by Rudyard Kipling

There was an army and a soldier named Mulvaney. He told a story about how he got married to the beautiful Dinah Shadd. He was dating Dinah Shadd, and they were going to get married. Then, he got drunk and went to Judy's house. Judy sit on his lap and he stayed there for a few hours. Judy's mother saw him too and thought he was Judy's man. The next day, Mulvaney went to Dinah Shadd's house, but Judy came and said that Mulvaney was her man. Judy's mother also came. Mulvaney denied and Dinah Shadd said that she will still marry him. Then Judy's mother cursed them and their children. Judy and her mother left, and Mulvaney's child did die.

7 The Jockey by Carson McCullers

There was a jockey called Bitsy Barlow. He went to the dining room of a hotel. He was angry with three men, Sylvester the trainer, Simmons the bookie, and the rich man the owner of Seltzer, the horse. Six months ago Bitsy's good friend, McGuire, and Irish rider, broke his leg and hip on the track. Now Bitsy received a letter that one leg of McGuire is 2 inches shorter than the other. Bitsy hated these three men who still enjoyed their elegant meal. Sylvester kept telling Bitsy to be reasonable. Simmons said that Bitsy was crazy. In the end, Bitsy went to the bar alone drinking. Then he went back, ate some French fries, spat them on the floor and left. Now he weighs 112.5 pound. He was super skinny.

6 Brooksmith by Henry James

Mr. Offord opened up his home for a society that discuss philosophy, poetry, and art. Brooksmith was his butler and became one of the members of the society. The narrator was a member and became very close to Brooksmith. To Brooksmith, Mr. Offord is everything and he craved for communication and society. Mr. Offord eventually died and Brooksmith was sold to become a servant to lower classes. The narrator wanted to help Brooksmith, but he could not. Brooksmith began living with his aunt and his mother when he was ill. The narrator finally met Brooksmith for the first time when Brooksmith's aunt came to tell him Brooksmith wanted to see him. They did not say much to each other, because Brooksmith's aunt and mother kept checking out what they were talking about. The next time the narrator met Brooksmith was when he went to a restaurant. Brooksmith was a waiter, but he never looked at the narrator. Then he disappeared for 3 years. The narrator went to many invitations just to increase his chance of meeting Brooksmith, but he never showed up. The narrator thought that he was avoiding him on purpose. Brooksmith was spoiled and was never happy again. One day, Brooksmith's aunt went to see the narrator and told him that Brooksmith was missing. He supposed to go to a large party as a waiter, but he never showed up and was never seen again. The narrator was always reminded of Brooksmith's ghost and how he had been spoiled.

http://thestorygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/09/short-story-spotlight-brooksmith-by.html

5 The Other Side of the Hedge by E. M. Forster

The narrator was running an unending race. He kept looking at his pedometer to make sure he was making some progress. The road is monotony and he was tired, so he stopped. He began thinking about what's on the side of the road. He decided that he would take a look on the side of the road then quickly come back to the road he was on. He crawled through the thorns and he lost everything he has and was hurt. At last he dropped into a moat. He struggled to get up until an old man pulled him up on the other side of the moat. The old man told him that many had come, but few returned to the other side. He asked the old man where the road they were on leads, but he said that it goes nowhere. The narrator was stumped. He desperately wanted to get back, but the old man would not allow him to. They saw a white gate opens outward that leads to the road, but the gate was shut. The old man told him it was the beginning of the road where all people left, but they will also come back through another door when they were tired and left dead. He was surprised to meet so many people he knew. He felt sympathy for those people who work for nothing in this world. The narrator was hungry and tired, but he knew he couldn't sleep or else he will never get back. Then he saw another gate opening inward that is half transparent. A man with beer running past the narrator. The hungry and thirsty narrator ran towards him and snatched the drink out of his hand and began drinking. Then he saw the old man shuts the gate saying all humanity will come through this gate. The man whose drink the narrator stole was his brother.

4 The Saint by V. S. Pritchett (finished 9/2/2011)

A boy and his uncle believed that nothing in the world is evil, because God created man, how can He create anything that harms man. They belonged to the Church of the Last Purification of Toronto, Canada. They lived in an English market town. The boy always went to boat, or punt, on the river. One day, when he was seventeen, Mr. Timberlake came to talk to him about his problem of thinking about origin of Evil. They always use Error to represent Evil. When they were on the boat in the river, Mr. Timberlake wanted to take charge of the boat, but he was not as good as the boy. He caused them to row into a bunch of tree branches, but he did not duck them. He got caught in one branch and he hold on it and fell into the water. The boy went to pick up the soaked Mr. Timberlake and wanted to take him back. Mr. Timberlake refused and did not take his soaking wet clothes off. Then they continued paddling until they reached a bend where they landed. The lay down on the yellow buttercups and Mr. Timberlake was covered with yellow and appeared golden when he got up. They went back home, but Mr. Timberlake still did not change his clothes or get near the fire. He was just thinking about the train back to London. After 16 years, the boy heard that Mr. Timberlake had died of heart disease. The doctor said that it was a miracle that he had survived over the past 20 years until he was 57. A little shock would kill him, but he survived. Since the experience the boy lost his faith. (I do not understand the "ape" eating up his heart.) (Now I understand what the "ape" means. The ape is the false, foolish belief that Mr. Timberlake believed wholeheartedly in. The boy was once followed by the ape, but now he was not. The ape helped Mr. Timberlake to stay alive for over twenty years, so he would not have a heart attack. Still he died of heart failure.)

Emergency!

David and I's short story.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1906avExUTqh-NLYPIGoXLSz6WODMZaZ_-XgvwHfA9do/edit?hl=en_US



Emergency!
by David and Michelle Ku
“Emergency!” read Radoosta on his message board.
A giant exclamation mark popped out on his screen. Radoosta reached out his right index finger to touch it.
“TADA!”
“Congratulations! You have just won a seven-month fishing trip to the Nitrogen seas of planet Koolant.”
“You must be kidding me!” Radoosta jumped up out of his chair, hitting the ceiling.
“Ouch!” exclaimed Radoosta.
“This time I will surely catch the fabled Elu fish!” He declared.
Unfortunately, he won’t be catching one in the near future, as planet Koolant is a dreary three-month trip from home, and nothing exciting ever happens on a spaceship.
Seven weeks have passed and Radoosta is nearly bored to death. He has gone through the same routine, the same food, the same drink, the same entertainment, as if the same exact day had gone by 49 times.
“Been----Bean-----Ben-----Ban”
“Huh what?” said Radoosta in his zombie-ish early morning voice. “What’s that annoying sound? I’m sure I didn’t set the alarm so early!”
“Been----Bean-----Ben-----Ban-----Been-----Bean-----Ben-----Ban”
“Fine, I’ll get up.” Radoosta threw up his blanket, jumped up from his bed, and stood up like a soldier.
“What’s this, Kon? Playing tricks on me?”
“Beep. Certainly not. I have no sense of humor. I do not have a ‘play tricks’ module installed. If you desire such a behavior there is a selection of programs on Amabom.com” The monotonic, computer-generated voice replied.
“Let me see. Where’s the ‘off’ button? I thought I put a big sign in front of the ‘stop buzzing’ button! Why can’t I find it?” Radoosta ran around the cockpit looking frantically for the right button.
“Kon! Where is the button?”
“Beep. You looked: five. point. one. minutes and passed over the button: six. times. Intelligence quotient: 46. Your green sign is right over there. Left wall.”
“Kon, what are you talking about? How can I not see a gigantic sign?”
“Beep. Intelligence quotient: 31. Your wall is green!”
“Fine, Whatever! Now tell me what all this buzz is about.”
“Beep. We are entering an asteroid belt. There is a 61.3% chance of collision. Ship speed too high to change course. You can start praying.”
“Don’t be so useless! Do something! Isn’t your intelligence quotient supposed to be off the scales?”
“Beep. There’s no use flattering me. I’m a computer. I do not fix things. I only do what I have been programmed to do.”
“Now, let me think. No, I can’t think right now. We are all doomed!”
“Beep. Lights off. Asteroid collision. Power generator damaged. System shutting down. Have a nice day.” All the lights around Radoosta shut off in unison, leaving him in total darkness.
“I can’t see anything! I knew I couldn’t trust a lifeless computer. I always have to do everything myself.”
Bling! A flash of light zoomed past the cockpit window.
“Light! Hope! We’re saved!”
Suddenly there came a grating noise from the back of the ship. Immediately, Radoosta glanced backward. Stars were gleaming before his eyes.
“Wait! What’s happening? Where’s the back of my spaceship? What’s that?”
Looking out of the window Radoosta saw that the blip of light was in fact a giant, an unusually shaped life form sparkling with visible energy.
“HA! HA! What a great surprise?” Came its slow, baby-like voice. “This will be perfect for Zoofi’s toyland! Zoofi will be happy!”
“What a disgusting sound! Who does he think he is?” Radoosta jumped out of his hiding place, wielding his tiny laser pistol and declared, “Whatever you are, you’re never going to stop me from going to Koolant.”
“A tiny human huh? You don’t even have control of your own spaceship! Who are you to talk to me?”
“You better have a good explanation for taking my spaceship apart, you ugly looking substance!”
“I’m the magnificent Sheemiba. You will regret talking to me like that!”
“Sheemiba? What a hilarious name! You call yourself ‘magnificent’?”
Immediately, the steaming Sheemiba grabbed Radoosta’s spaceship with his magnetic hand, intending to fling it out into the depths of space. In reality however, a loud crackle emitted from where the giant hand met the metal, and a visible flow of energy transferred into the spaceship, lighting the whole thing up.
“Wait! What’s happening? I can’t get it off. My power...!” exclaimed Sheemiba. The light around his body began to dim and his body waned, slowly at first but faster and faster until he was not much bigger than the ship itself.
“Nobody ever mess with Radoosta!” Came the triumphant cry.
“Ahhhhhhhh! How is this possible?...” Sheemiba’s voice was now a thin, reedy thread of sound coming from a collapsing ball of substance. Soon there was nothing left of him except for his giant hand, which soon loosened and drifted slowly off into the nothingness.
“Silly aliens.” Radoosta said snobbishly. “Don’t they know not to touch bare wires? Oh well, power is restored. Kon should be back on in no time!”
Sure enough, when Radoosta returned to the cockpit, the resident supercomputer was up and running again.
“Beep. System online. Power levels unusually high. This place is a mess. Better clean up.”
“Welcome back, Kon! You missed the most exciting fight ever! I defeated an ugly giant alien! Koolant, here I come!”
“Beep. You are hopeless. Intelligence quotient: 0.”

2 The Three-Day Blow by Ernest Hemingway (finished 8/24/2011)

Nick picked up an apple on his way to Bill's house. There was the first autumn storm which probably would last for three days. Bill's father went out to hunt. Bill and Nick began drinking whisky diluted with water. Bill said that his father said that the person who opens a bottle of wine will be a drunkard, so he will just drink the ones that were already opened. Nick and Bill talked about baseball, literature of Chesterton and Walpole, their fathers' drinking habits, and finally Nick's lost of his girlfriend, Marjorie. Nick went to get a log for the fire, but on his way, he hit a pan full of apricots. He picked up the apricots, put them back into the pan, and added some water. Then he saw himself in a mirror, but he looks different. He was not bothered by his distorted image and went to the fireplace. Nick's father was a doctor, so he never drinks. Nick and Marjorie were about to get married, but he let her go. Bill said that Nick was making the right decision, because if he was married, they would not be able to hunt and spend time together. Nick was relieved when he heard that on Saturday, he can always go into the town to find Marjorie. Nick and Bill kept telling themselves they were not drunk, but they were drunk. At last they went out to find Bill's father.

3 The Standard of Living by Dorothy Parker (finished 8/26/2011)

Annabel and Midge were two best friends. They worked together and spent most of their times together. They always ate greasy food, but they were very thin. They did everything a working person should not do, wearing short skirts, lipsticks, colored nails, dyed hair, and darkened eye lashes. Usually on Sundays, they spent time with two young men who often changed but were similar to the old ones. Annabel and Midge usually walked across the Fifth Avenue with their heads up, back straight, and steps straight in the afternoons and played the game, what-would-you-do-if-you-had-a-million-dollars?, an improved version. Annabel added that a person died and gave you a million dollars, but you can only spend the money on yourself. Midge added that an old stranger saw you and thought you have lots of nice things, so after he died naturally in his sleep, he gave you a million dollars. One day, they were playing this game. Midge asked Annabel what she would do first after she received the million dollars. Annabel said that she would buy a silver-fox coat. Midge was disappointed and said that it was such a common thing. Annabel and Midge did not talk for a while until Annabel suddenly changed her mind and said that she would buy a mink coat. Then they continued to play the game. Annabel asked Midge what she would do first with the million dollars. Midge said that she would buy a mink coat as well in a mechanical way, because it was such a hot afternoon. Mink coat does not seem so appealing. Then Midge saw the two row of pearls wrapped with green emerald. She changed her mind and said she would buy a string of pearls. Annabel challenged Midge to go in and ask the price of the pearl necklace. They went in and found out that it costs 250,000 dollars. When they were in the store, they had terrible looks and left with the same terrible look. Midge said that it costs a quarter of a million dollars! They both walked discouraged and hit one another while they walked. Suddenly, Midge straightened her back and restarted the game by asking Annabel what she would do first if an old man left her 10 million dollars.

1 The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield (finished 8/22/2011)

Wealthy Laura and her family had a garden party. It was all planned out perfectly until Laura heard that Mr. Scott in her neighborhood had just died of a horse accident. Laura was confused. She felt that it was wrong for her to have a garden party while a funeral was going on in her neighborhood. Her sister and her mother both told her to forget about the dead man and enjoy the perfect party. They thought that it was none of their business. Laura had the most successful party. When the party was over, her mother Mrs. Sheridan saw the leftover food, so she made a basket. Laura was angry that her mother did not stop the party but wanted to give the "leftover" to Mr. Scott's family. Eventually Laura went to the dark people area and into Mrs. Scott's house. She was afraid, because she was wearing the most beautiful hat she had just got from her mother. She wanted to run away, but it was too late. Mrs. Scott invited her in and Laura saw Mr. Scott lying peacefully on his bed, dreaming. Never to be awaken. Laura thought about how he looked so happy and content and magnificent. He had gone away from all the things in this world. Then she left and started crying and met Laurie, her brother, on the street. Laura tried to tell Laurie "Isn't life..." but she could not say what is was. Laurie told her he understood.