He got up and sat on the edge of the bedstead with his back to the window. “It’s better not to sleep at all,” he decided. There was a cold damp draught from the window, however; without getting up he drew the blanket over him and wrapped himself in it. He was not thinking of anything and did not want to think. But one image rose after another, incoherent scraps of thought without beginning or end passed through his mind. He sank into drowsiness. Perhaps the cold, or the dampness, or the dark, or the wind that howled under the window and tossed the trees roused a sort of persistent craving for the fantastic. He kept dwelling on images of flowers, he fancied a charming flower garden, a bright, warm, almost hot day, a holiday—Trinity day. A fine, sumptuous country cottage in the English taste overgrown with fragrant flowers, with flower beds going round the house; the porch, wreathed in climbers, was surrounded with beds of roses. A light, cool staircase, carpeted with rich rugs, was decorated with rare plants in china pots. He noticed particularly in the windows nosegays of tender, white, heavily fragrant narcissus bending over their bright, green, thick long stalks. He was reluctant to move away from them, but he went up the stairs and came into a large, high drawing-room and again everywhere—at the windows, the doors on to the balcony, and on the balcony itself—were flowers. The floors were strewn with freshly-cut fragrant hay, the windows were open, a fresh, cool, light air came into the room. The birds were chirruping under the window, and in the middle of the room, on a table covered with a white satin shroud, stood a coffin. The coffin was covered with white silk and edged with a thick white frill; wreaths of flowers surrounded it on all sides. Among the flowers lay a girl in a white muslin dress, with her arms crossed and pressed on her bosom, as though carved out of marble. But her loose fair hair was wet; there was a wreath of roses on her head. The stern and already rigid profile of her face looked as though chiselled of marble too, and the smile on her pale lips was full of an immense unchildish misery and sorrowful appeal. Svidrigaïlov knew that girl; there was no holy image, no burning candle beside the coffin; no sound of prayers: the girl had drowned herself. She was only fourteen, but her heart was broken. And she had destroyed herself, crushed by an insult that had appalled and amazed that childish soul, had smirched that angel purity with unmerited disgrace and torn from her a last scream of despair, unheeded and brutally disregarded, on a dark night in the cold and wet while the wind howled

Category: short story

  • Review of Damion Searls “What We Were Doing and Where We Were Going” image of tag icon

    In the fourth story of this collection, “A Guide to San Francisco,” the narrator says, “I have to admit I have never been as moved by the realists or the world-creating fabulists as I am by the pattern-makers.” If you agree with that aesthetic preference, you should read Damion Searls’ “What We Were Doing and […]

    June 23, 2009

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  • Cao Naiqian: There’s Nothing I Can Do When I Think Of You Late At Night image of tag icon

    Before I get to a micro review of the collection itself, I have to admit that I’m impressed by Naiqian’s bio. Growing up in a rural section of China, he didn’t start writing until 37, as a result of a bet with a friend. He still has his day job as a detective (!) for […]

    June 22, 2009

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  • Narrative Has Competition! (Hello, Electric Literature) image of tag icon

    Narrative has become the current gold standard for online literary magazines, wading in the fray and dominating the competition in a relatively short time. Well, watch out. Electric Literature just launched, and it looks like a doozy. True to the name, EL is distributing electronically, through a host of formats: e-book, Kindle, and iPhone, plus […]

    June 16, 2009

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  • How Do Parks Resemble Short Stories? image of tag icon

    At the Guardian, they review the new anthology “Ox-Tales,” structured around the four elements, and “Park Stories,” a set of eight specially commissioned short stories all corresponding to a major British park. Explaining the rationale behind the parks, editor Rowan Routh said: “There’s a kinship between parks and short fiction – both are confined things.” […]

    June 16, 2009

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  • Open Letters Monthly In June image of tag icon

    The June issue of Open Letters Monthly is out — A Fiction Issue, no less — and it’s a doozy. Not only a ton of reviews, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck, reviewed by John Madera, but the genuine article of fiction itself. This issue includes six short stories/novel excerpts. Also, I […]

    June 1, 2009

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  • Mix Tape of All-Time Best Short Stories (With Secret Theme!) image of tag icon

    Over at Emerging Writers Network, Dan’s been hyping up Short Story Month, and a lot of others are getting in on the action. Marcel Jolley mentioned mix tapes over there. So I submitted a mix tape for Dan, themed along Fantastic Fiction. Love the concept of mix tapes. Did a bunch on this blog way […]

    May 10, 2009

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  • Esquire Fiction Contest image of tag icon

    Esquire is giving the short story a little nudge. Or, given the bar-brawl story they just published, more like a shove. They are starting to publish stories again, albeit only online, and are also sponsoring a contest for short stories under 4000 words with one of these three titles: Twenty-Ten An Insurrection Never, Ever Bring […]

    April 29, 2009

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  • Online Short Story Award for 2008 image of tag icon

    storySouth, one of the more notable literary journals operating online, has announced the longlist of short stories up for the Million Writers Award. All stories published online in 2008 were eligible. On May 15th, the shortlist of ten stories will be announced, at which point the winner is determined by public vote. I would offer […]

    April 21, 2009

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  • The Familiar Short Story Take image of tag icon

    Articles about short stories come with almost metronomic precision from the major media outlets. You can almost count on their release — every few months, a short story article will try to stir up the literary hornets nest. There was Steven King, there was Mary Gaitskill, there was Millhauser. Granted, most of these articles say […]

    April 13, 2009

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  • Best (?) Five Lit Journals image of tag icon

    The Daily Beast has an article about the five best literary journals, but two of the journals — N+1 and The Believer — I’d describe more as book reviews. One Story deserves its place on this list, but it’s interesting that Quick canadian pharmacy onhealthy Fiction gets a nod — as the name implies, it’s […]

    March 18, 2009

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