I’ve been working on a new collection of short stories that will be released soon. It’ll have 5 stories altogether: 1 is a novella, and the other 4 are short stories.
Unlike THE INVAS10N, these stories aren’t connected. They’re more like Twilight Zone type stories with odd/inexplicable stuff happening. The novella will start off the book, and it’s a sci-fi story about humans with enhanced powers.
I’ve been reading more short stories by Shirley Jackson, and am about 60% through the book Just An Ordinary Day. The last story I read was a fun and lighthearted read. Entitled About Two Nice People, it has a surprising twist at the end which made the overall story a comedy though I thought it might’ve gone in a darker direction given the stories in part 1 of the book.
It’s about two tenants who live on the same floor and begin to have a feud. It begins with phone calls that Ellen receives which are intended for Walter, her neighbor. When she tries to get him to answer it, the person hangs up.
Later, Walter receives a parcel for her at his doorstep, and when he shows up at her door to drop it off, she believes he’s come to apologize about the phone calls, but that’s not the case.
The misunderstandings escalate to the point where they sneak into each other’s apartments to cause mischief (she leaves rotten eggs in his slippers, and he leaves rotten smelly cheese in her apartment). Then the landlady intervenes, thinking that the feud was actually about Ellen wanting to court Walter, who is her nephew.
The story is humorous, and takes a turn I didn’t see coming. Like many of her short stories, they end with a twist or a bit of irony that leave you surprised and quite amused.
The stories in part 2 of the collection have mostly been comedies so far. Another story I’ll mention is The Wishing Dime, which is about a man who finds a dime on the street and gives it to two girls, telling them that it is a wishing dime. Throughout their day, the girls carefully decide who they should ask to make wishes. In each case, the wishes come true, but in very unexpected and comedic ways.
Fallton Havenstonne 