United States | Lecturia

Philip K. Dick: Exhibit Piece

“Exhibit Piece” is a short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, published in August 1954 in If magazine. In a future society, George Miller is a historian dedicated to the study of the 20th century. Obsessed with his work, which consists of overseeing a detailed exhibition dedicated to that era, he adopts its manner of speaking, dress, and even the use of its everyday objects. Facing hostility from his superiors due to his overzealousness, everything changes one day when, inside one of the houses in the complex he oversees, he hears voices that shouldn’t be there.

Ray Bradbury: The Scythe

“The Scythe” is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in July 1943 in the magazine Weird Tales. It tells the story of an exhausted and starving family arriving at a solitary house next to a mysterious wheat field. Drew Erickson, the father, discovers a will that bequeaths him the property, including a gleaming scythe. As he tries to rebuild his life in that fertile and seemingly providential place, the field and the tool begin to reveal a deeper, darker purpose. In a setting steeped in symbolism, Drew faces a task that transcends the agricultural and drags him toward the inevitable.

Murray Leinster: Sidewise in Time

“Sidewise in Time” is a short story by American writer Murray Leinster, published in June 1934 in the magazine Astounding Stories. A series of inexplicable phenomena rocks the Earth until, one day, reality begins to fracture: ancient forests spring up out of nowhere, dinosaurs emerge from a farmyard, Roman legions march through the streets of Missouri, and Viking ships raid the coasts of New England. While the world reacts in astonishment, a single man seems to understand what is happening: Professor Minott, a mathematician at a small university in Virginia, who has been secretly preparing for months for a cataclysm that threatens not only humanity, but also space and time as we conceive them.

Ben Bova: A Small Kindness

“A Small Kindness” is a short story by American writer Ben Bova, published in April 1983 in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact magazine. Jeremy Keating is a U.S. diplomatic agent sent to Athens on a mission to assassinate Kabete Rungawa, a venerable African leader known as “The Black Saint of the Third World,” a key figure in the newly created World Government. Determined to carry out his mission, on a rainy night he follows his target through the city streets to the ruins of the ancient Acropolis. However, what appears to be a routine political assassination soon turns into an encounter that will shake Keating’s certainties about the world, his enemies, and his own reasons for killing.

Truman Capote: Miriam

“Miriam” is a short story by Truman Capote, published in June 1945 in Mademoiselle magazine. Mrs. H. T. Miller is a sixty-one-year-old widow living in New York, where she leads a solitary life marked by tranquility and routine. One snowy night, while waiting in line to get into the movie theater, she meets Miriam, a peculiar girl with silver hair who asks her for help getting into the movie. Although Mrs. Miller readily agrees, she soon begins to sense something about Miriam that unsettles her and causes her to distance herself. However, that will not be the last time she sees the girl.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Purloined Letter

“The Purloined Letter” is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, published in September 1844 in The Gift for 1845. In Paris, the police prefect visits detective C. Auguste Dupin to consult him on a case that has him baffled: a letter of enormous political importance has been stolen right under its owner’s nose by Minister D…, who is using it to blackmail her. Although the police have thoroughly searched the alleged thief’s mansion, the letter remains missing. Faced with the failure of conventional methods, the prefect turns to Dupin’s ingenuity, who will use his unique analytical skills to solve the mystery.