Introduction
Welcome to my corner! Last week, I shared with you three of Aesop's Fables, including: "The Bat and The Weasels," "The Ass and the Grasshopper" and "The Lion and The Mouse." Today, I'll be sharing with you "A Strange Story" by O. Henry, also known as William Sydney Porter.
At the end, I'll share some of my thoughts. Enjoy!
A Strange Story
O. Henry
In the northern part of Austin there once dwelt an honest family by the name of Smothers. The family consisted of John Smothers, his wife, himself, their little daughters, five years of age, and her parents, making six people toward the population of the city when counted for a special write-up, but only by three by actual count.
One night after supper the little girl was seized with a severe colic, and John Smothers hurried down town to get some medicine.
He never came back.
The little girl recovered and in time grew up to womanhood.
The mother grieved very much over her husband's disappearance, and it was nearly three months before she married again, and moved to San Antonio.
The little girl also married in time, and after a few years had rolled around, she also had a little girl of five years of age.
She still lived in the same house where they dwelt when her father had left and never returned.
One night by a remarkable coincidence her little girl was taken with cramp colic on the anniversary of the disappearance of John Smothers, who would now have been her grandfather if he had been alive and had a steady job.
"I will go downtown and get some medicine for her, " said John Smith (for it was none other than he whom she had married).
"No, no, dear John," cried his wife. "You, too, might disappear forever, and then forget to come back."
So John Smith did not go, and together they sat by the bedside of little Pansy (for that was Pansy's name).
After a little while Pansy seemed to grow worse, and John Smith again attempted to go for medicine, but his wife would not let him.
Suddenly the door opened, and an old man, stooped and bent, with long white hair, entered the room.
"Hello, here is grandpa," said Pansy. She had recognized him before any of the others.
The old man drew a bottle of medicine from his pocket and gave Pansy a spoonful.
She got well immediately.
"I was a little late," said John Smothers, "as I waited for a street car."
That's puzzling.
According to Google: William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Magi", "the Duplicity of Hargraves," and "The Ransom of Red Chief," as well as the novel "Cabbages and Kings."
I would argue that his most famous work is "The Gift of the Magi" at least that's the one I know the best. It's certainly one I hear every year when Christmas rolls around. If I'm remembering correctly, the first time I actually read "The Gift of the Magi" was in high school. I had seen it adapted many times before through movie, television or cartoon. I really enjoyed the story then, and still do.
When I saw that the author who wrote "The Gift of the Magi" also wrote "A Strange Story" I was pleasantly surprised. However the mystery of "A Strange Story" being left at that, with no answers as to where John Smothers went, bothers me. I need answers!
Where did he go? What happened to him? Why did he show back up all of a sudden? How did he survive? Etc., etc. This story was meant to be open-minded I'm sure, but not cool, O. Henry, not cool. Some people can read stories without all the answers, but I'm not one of those people. I need to know the who, what, where and why!
Readers can come up with any scenarios they want to in the case of "A Strange Story" and sometimes that's good and works well for the story as a whole. You might not get the full ending, but it may be hinted at or eluded to. I would argue that the ending of "A Strange Story" isn't really open-ended. I mean, we can assume that the little girl got the medicine and everything was hunky-dory for the family afterward. But where's the middle of the story? What the hyuck happened to John Smothers?
I can't be the only one bothered by this, right?
That's it for this week! What were your thoughts? Feel free to share them with us! You can call us, email us, visit us at the office, leave us a comment or message on Facebook, or even mail us something. Keep the comments, suggestions, questions, submissions, etc. coming our way! We'd love to hear from you!
