Short stories | Lecturia

Ray Bradbury: The Long Years

In “The Long Years,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published on September 15, 1948, in Maclean’s and later collected in The Martian Chronicles (1950), Mr. Hathaway and his family are the only inhabitants of a desolate Mars. Twenty years ago, the Great War on Earth left the red planet a tomb. When Mars was evacuated, Hathaway and his family, who were engaged in archaeological studies in the mountains, were left behind. Since then, they have lived in a state of waiting, hoping for the return of a rocket to take them back to civilization. One day, a light in the sky seems to herald the end of their long wait, offering them renewed hope of rescue and a return home.

Mario Vargas Llosa: A Visitor

“A Visitor” (Un visitante) is a short story by Mario Vargas Llosa, published in 1959 in the book Los jefes. It tells the story of the unexpected arrival of a man nicknamed El Jamaiquino at a lonely farmhouse where Doña Merceditas, an older woman, lives on the edge of the jungle. Although the visitor initially appears friendly, he soon reveals a hidden agenda: he is on the trail of Numa, a former accomplice. Through a series of tense and enigmatic interactions between the protagonists, Vargas Llosa develops a plot of betrayal and revenge, in which the characters’ pasts and their complex relationships are crucial to bringing to life a suspenseful narrative.

Ray Bradbury: Night Meeting

“Night Meeting” is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in 1950 in The Martian Chronicles. Set on Mars, colonized by humans, the story follows Tomás Gómez, an Earth colonist traveling along an old Martian road on his way to a party. On his way, he stops to contemplate the beauty and tranquility of the night landscape. However, his journey takes an unusual turn when he encounters an enigmatic Martian. Although they try to greet each other cordially and communicate, they soon discover that something insurmountable separates them.

Edgar Allan Poe: Silence—A Fable

In “Silence” (Silence—A Fable), a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1838 in Baltimore Book, a demon tells a story about a desolate region in Libya near the Zaire River. A disturbing landscape marks this land: a sickly river, gigantic water lilies, and a dark and turbulent jungle, all without calm or silence. One night, under a rain that turns to blood, the demon observes a majestic man on a rock. This man, lonely and melancholic, contemplates the desolate landscape. The demon invokes the elements to torment him, but nothing seems to move this man, who is tired of people and eager to be alone.

Isaac Asimov: Big Game

In “Big Game,” a short story by Isaac Asimov published in Before the Golden Age (1974), a group of friends in a bar discuss a time machine that has sent a mouse into the future without any harmful effects. The conversation takes an unexpected turn when one of them, Hornby, claims to have traveled to the past and discovered the true cause of the dinosaurs’ extinction. With his account, Hornby challenges common theories and proposes a surprising and unconventional explanation for the fate of these prehistoric creatures, leaving his friends intrigued and questioning what they thought they knew about ancient history.

Ray Bradbury: The Lake

“The Lake” is a short, moving story by Ray Bradbury, published in May 1944 in Weird Tales magazine. The story follows Harold, a boy who makes his last visit to Lake Michigan before moving to the western United States. During that visit, he wanders away from his mother to remember his friend Tally, who disappeared in the lake a year earlier. Years later, Harold, now an adult and married, returns to the place of his childhood with his wife, unaware that fate has an unsettling and revealing experience in store for him.