A Short Story a Day By Katy England edge staff writer kengland@themaineedge.com MONDAY ‘Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Edition,’ ISBN 0-312-26416-X “The Chop Girl,” by Ian R. MacLeod. This melancholic tale about a young woman in World War I who slowly discovers she has the curse of being a “chop girl,” which means that any man who dances with or kisses her is fated to die in battle. She becomes a pariah at the base she’s stationed at, watching from the shadows when a new pilot comes to the base who’s as lucky as she is cursed, and how they’re oddly drawn together. This is a tale of sadness, loss, war, and pain that can easily break your heart. TUESDAY ‘The Complete Sherlock Holmes’ by Arthur Conan Doyle ISBN 0-385-00689-6 “The Red-headed League” A man with vibrant red hair is distraught after the job he had been offered by the mysterious “red-headed league” where he was paid good money to do nothing but copy the encyclopedia for a few hours a day vanishes. Sherlock Holmes quickly deduces that there was more going on with that job than met the eye. This is a cute and whimisal case that’ll tickle your fancy – especially if you’re a coppertop. WEDNESDAY ‘The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves, and Other Little People’ by Thomas Keightley ISBN 0-517-26313-0 “Origin of the Word Fairy” fans of etymology will enjoy this chapter, though it contains an awful lot of un-translated foreign language (French, Italian, Greek, and Latin just to name a few). Keightley runs through not only the true etymology but also dismisses some of the more popular myths of how the word became common in English. THURSDAY ‘The Lemon Table: Stories,’ By Julian Barnes ISBN: 0-486-27053-X “A Short History of Hairdressing” You follow the main character as he visits a hair dresser or barber at different points in his life (childhood, adulthood, later life). As you peer into the different windows in time, you see the fears and revelation that flex and change but never quite leave him. This is an excellent, if mildly disturbing tale. FRIDAY ‘The New Oxford Book of American Verse’ edited by Richard Ellmann Library of Congress catalog number 75-46354 “The Flesh and the Spirit,” by Anne Bradstreet, 1612-1672 The age old argument between worldly wants and desires and the divine needs of the spirit as they argue back and forth. If you’re following along, don’t forget to tell me what you think. E-mail me at kengland@themaineedge.com. I’m also on the lookout for other short stories, poems, essays, novellas, and anything else that is longer than a sentence and shorter than a novel. Send them all my way and I’ll tackle ‘em as they come.