Showing results for "The Second" in Short Stories

Lytcham Close, one of the oldest stately homes in England, is owned by the last remaining heir and ruled by his intolerable whims. Old Hubert demands complete silence when he plays music and times dinner exactly by a resounding gong. Rushing down at the sound of the second—or is it the first?...

In a desolate future ravaged by nuclear war, humanity faces its own worst creation—machines that think, adapt, and kill. Second Variety by Philip K. Dick is a chilling sci-fi novella that explores the horrifying consequences of unchecked technological advancement. The United Nations and Soviet Union are locked in a cold, crumbling war, but the true enemy is no longer human. Enter Major Joseph Hendricks, a weary soldier tasked with a final negotiation—but what he finds on the other side of the battlefield isn’t diplomacy. It’s evolution.

In this new collection of short stories, vignettes, and autobiographical sketches - many previously unpublished - Charles Willeford, author of Miami Blues and The Burnt Orange Heresy creates a mosaic of the absurdities of life in the 20th century. From a malicious grandmother to prophetic depictions of the power of reality television, with his wry humor and sudden shifts to violence, he seduces, amuses, and repeatedly surprises you.

In the underground tunnels below Grand Central Terminal, Lee Stringer - homeless and drug-addicted for 11 years - found a pencil to run through his crack pipe. One day he used it to write. Soon writing became a habit that won out over drugs, and before long Stringer had created one of the most powerful urban memoirs of our time. With humane wisdom and a biting wit, Stringer chronicles the unraveling of his seemingly secure existence as a marketing executive and his odyssey of survival on the streets of New York.

UN forces have retreated to a moon base in the aftermath of early Soviet victories in a nuclear conflict. In response, the UN forces developed special robots, called "Claws", which feature spinning blades and rudimentary artificial intelligence. Six years later, the Soviet leadership asks for negotiations to end the war. A UN officer travels back to earth to discover that not only have the Claws learned to replicate themselves, they have also created a much deadlier cyborg that threatens humanity itself.

"Second Best" was written by D.H. Lawrence in 1912. In this delicate story of boy-girl love, Lawrence is at his best, intertwining the feelings of the two lovers with the natural world around them, the countryside, flowers, and fields, and the moles who are sacrificed to bring the lovers together. The young girl may consider her lover "second best", but his passion and honesty ring true.

David Herbert Lawrence was born on the 11th September 1885 in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, a coal mining town where the reality of a harsh life was only useful as experiences for future literary works. Lawrence’s first efforts were poems, short stories and a draft of ‘The White Peacock’. Moving to London and a teaching position in Croydon his writing attracted the attention of Ford Madox Ford, editor of The English Review, and he commissioned him to write ‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’. Wanting to write full-time he now began work on what would become ‘Sons and Lovers'.

We all know what happened in the Arabian nights. The King's plan to put his wife to death in the morning was always foiled by her telling an exciting but unfinished story the night before the execution... until finally after 1001 nights, he agreed not to have her killed. But at this point the traditional story ends. In this tale, Poe conjurs up an amusing and macabre scenario for what happened on the thousand and second night.

Isabel Gibson has all but perfected the art of forgetting. She’s a New Yorker now, with nothing left to tie her to Brinkley’s Island, Maine. Her parents are gone, the family bookstore is all but bankrupt, and her sister, Sophie, will probably never speak to her again. But when a mysterious letter arrives in her mailbox, Isabel feels herself drawn to the past. After years of fighting for her independence, she dreads the thought of going back to the island.

Sidney Larson always thought dark-haired, blue-eyed Brett Carmichael was sinfully sexy, to say nothing of the muscular mechanic's talent with his hands. But Sidney so didn't have time for Brett's overbearing tendencies when they were together so she broke things off. Now a chance encounter brings Brett back into her life, and Sidney can't help but notice intriguing changes in her ex. So what's stopping her from revisiting their scorching-hot chemistry?