FICTIONAL GIFTS

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

Talking about short stories never bores me. The elements are pared down to what is really important and nothing more or less. There is no time to meander about someone’s intricate background. Yes, it may be interesting, but no, it may not really matter all that much by the end of the tale.

We don’t have to know why Sherlock Holmes plays the violin or succumbs to cocaine. In fact, it is the skillfulness of the author to make us wonder, but not enough to make us stop reading the story to ponder Holmes’ reasons. Although, Holmes is quite observant, he’s certainly not perfect. Maybe it’s due to that smarter brother that may have stolen too much limelight from the parents. It doesn’t matter. The characters and plot do. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used words to convey Sherlock is human by showing him perform less than heroic acts. I doubt we would like him so much if he didn’t possess a few flaws.

If we retold the story of Psycho, we probably would mention Norman had an overbearing mother—because that really does matter in this story. As the story progresses, we can guess how Norman was raised, but there’s no need to bog us down with details of a miserable childhood. The real question is who stabbed Marion Crane in the infamous shower scene—and why.

I like that Edward D. Hoch’s Nick Velvet only hires himself out to recover objects of negotiable worth. Of course, “recover” isn’t as much what Velvet does as thievery, but it soothes his soul to think of it that way. I think it makes us like a burglar when on first thought we wouldn’t. I like if even more when we find out even worthless objects mean something to someone, and definitely enough to pay to have removed from its current owner’s possession.

Short stories provide entertainment in a way a novel or a film can’t. Naturally, it’s concise, tied up in a little package like a remembrance gift from a loved one. They usually make me smile, whether from their final sentence or the whole of the story sitting in my mind like a memory of a savory meal with a good friend.

The best part of reading a good story in the discovery and the gift of sharing with other fiction aficionados.

Do you remember the last story you couldn’t wait to share? I bet you didn’t tell the ending in hopes your friend would want to find out for himself. When someone tells us about a story whether read in a magazine, an anthology or online, it’s like giving a gift for no special occasion from one reader to another. When it’s good, we don’t want to keep it to ourselves. I love that about short story lovers. What a gift!