Our Collection – Page 7 – The Short Story Project

Russia

The hatch slammed shut above his head, muffling the voices of the men up on deck, and Charles Darwin cautiously went below deck. He held the railing, polished by many palms, with one hand and a...

The Origin of Species

Viktor Pelevin

18 min

USA

It was all to be done in thirds. I was to get 1/3 for doing the typing, and she was to get 1/3 for doing the editing, and he was to get 1/3 for writing the...

1/3 1/3 1/3

Richard Brautigan

6 min

USA

Traveling with a movie star Twice I have sat next to a famous man on an airplane. The first man was Jason Kidd, of the New Jersey Nets. I asked him why he didn’t fly...

Roy Spivey

Miranda July

11 min

Russia

From outside there came a soft knock at the door: once. Pause. And again—a bit louder and bonier: twice. Sutulin, without rising from his bed, extended—as was his wont—a foot toward the knock, threaded a toe...

Quadraturin

Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky

10 min

Russia

I (From Pyotr Ivanitch To Ivan Petrovitch) Dear Sir and Most Precious Friend, Ivan Petrovitch, For the last two days I have been, I may say, in pursuit of you, my friend, having to talk over...

A Novel in Nine Letters

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

14 min

Israel

The light has turned green and my son shows no sign that he wants to cross the street. He won’t budge from the traffic island, his eyes squinting against the lashing sun, his hands on his...

What You Looking at?

Tamar Merin

8 min

USA

It began in a hailstorm in 1975 when Benito Picone trotted across Market Street with his briefcase gripped overhead, shielding him both from the falling sky and, inadvertently, the oncoming Buick. His legs buckled on the...

The Last Words of Benito Picone

Anthony Marra

16 min

Serbia

The years have taken their toll: I wake up at night more often, and then, bereft of sleep, I go to the bathroom, perch on the bathtub, and stare at my reflection in the mirror. I...

The Pajamas

David Albahari

6 min

Argentina

“Where are your parents’ clothes?” Marga asks. She crosses her arms and waits for me to answer. She knows that I don’t know and that I need her to ask another question. On the other side...

My Parents and My Children

Samanta Schweblin

6 min

USA

Anders couldn’t get to the bank until just before it closed, so of course the line was endless and he got stuck behind two women whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper. He...

Bullet in the Brain

Tobias Wolff

7 min

France

In Montmartre, on the fourth floor of number 75b Rue Orchampt, there once lived a fine fellow named Dutilleul who had the remarkable gift of being able to pass through walls with perfect ease. He wore...

The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls

Marcel Aymé

15 min

Spain

To Narciso, protector of shipwrecks The kids insisted on buying an inflatable float on our way to the beach. They chose the biggest one, a yellow circle with some rocks and a crab in relief....

The Islands

Marina Perezagua

9 min