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The Open Window: Short Story by Saki

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Framton Nuttel, a nervous man, has come to stay in the country for his health. He meets, Vera, a charming teenager, who plays a practical joke on him. The story’s surprise ending, its witty, concise narrative, and its slightly sinister tone are all trademarks of Saki’s fiction.

Vanka: Short Story by Anton Chekhov

Vanka is one of Chekhov’s many stories with a child-family separation theme. When Anton was fifteen he was separated from his own family when his father fled creditors and took his family to Moscow. Chekhov stayed behind to finish school, working to pay his own tuition and sending extra money to his family when he could. The trials of family separation became a recurring theme in Chekov’s writing. Vanka was published on Christmas Day in 1886.