Pretty Story Bag: 7 Sweet Tales to Carry Along

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Narayan, who wrote more than 200 short stories, called them “concentrated miniatures of human experience in all its opulence”. The opulence of the clay horse at the centre of this story has faded beneath the Indian sun, but the conversation it triggers between an American tourist who speaks no Tamil and Muni, a poor peasant who speaks no English, is not only very funny, but also telling about the degree to which misunderstanding is an unavoidable part of human interaction. “Minutes of Glory” by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1976) Only afterwards did I discover that this was in fact a piece of densely textured reportage, but it taught me so much about how to write a short story that I will always see it as one. A young man, Werner Hoeflich, trapped by a fire, escapes by leaping from the window of his New York apartment, across the intervening gap and in through the window of the adjacent building. It has the richness of a novel, the raw and dirty grip of life and was, for me, a revelation. Fine language and a deftly conjured mood are all well and good, but fiction – of whatever length – should thrill. Mark Haddon “The Window Theatre” by Ilse Aichinger (1953) Sarah’s father sends her from Canada to Grenoble as a way of ending her relationship with a married professor, but she ends up on the French Riviera. There she meets Roy, an ex-prison inspector, and rashly moves in with him. The story’s charge arises from a combination of wit, the awfulness of the relationship’s collapse, and Gallant’s profound grasp of the psychology of love affairs. She talks about her characters in a way that makes you feel your own perceptiveness is being worked like a muscle. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) Toward the end of the novel, Belly’s attraction to Cam wanes, and after Jeremiah reveals his interest in her, she can no longer deny her crush on Conrad. Unwilling to let her affection remain unspoken, Belly confronts Conrad and tells him that she loves him. He rejects her, which leads to a physical altercation between the Fisher brothers. After Laurel breaks up the fight, Belly discovers the secret behind underlying tension in the house; Susannah’s cancer has returned, and she does not have long to live. Belly switches her attention from romance to supporting the Fisher family through their painful time. She comforts Jeremiah, promises Susannah that she’ll look after Conrad when she’s gone, and listens to Conrad express his devastation. Belly and Conrad share a kiss, but Conrad explains he is too distraught about his mother to start a relationship now. The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories, edited by Jhumpa Lahiri, will be published on 7 March. “A Simple Heart” by Gustave Flaubert (1877)

A character participates in a march for a cause they believe in when violence breaks out against the people. A middle-class family works to start the first intergalactic newspaper company using all the money in their savings. In the midst of a plague-ridden Venice, an inspector begins a series of unethical experiments to find a cure. The ambassador of a small country spends his final moments of life in conversation with his assassin.

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A librarian encounters an unusual amount of noise at work and must figure out what the commotion is. A door-to-door salesperson struggles to make ends meet and acts out in a moment of desperation with the next person they talk to. An old woman tries her hand at cooking for a man again for her first first date in over fifty years. A peace treaty becomes a standoff when someone mistakenly makes an offensive gesture towards the other party.

A drama series about a spaceship and its crew set out to discover new galaxies, and the many things they encounter. A character's home is split in two by a sudden Earthquake. They must work to find a way to the other side, where something valuable is. A game in which you confront the reality of death and its closeness to your life and the life of those you love. She was fully aware of what the future held and decided to refuse artificial ventilation. Rather than the fear of dying by choking or suffocation, she wanted a doctor to help her die when she was no longer able to communicate with her family and friends. She discussed this with her husband of 25 years, Brian, who had to come to terms with what she wanted and to respect her decision. A sailor banished to a year-long journey to atone for his crimes must reconcile with what he's done.

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Emotional impact … Akhil Sharma. Photograph: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images “We Didn’t Like Him” by Akhil Sharma (2013) You and three other players solve a hotel murder mystery together, but the decisions you make change the story and survival of various characters.