Big Two-Hearted River
Ernest HemingwayNick Adams walks away from a burned town into the Michigan wilderness, building a camp and fishing the river one careful act at a time.
37 min · Reflective
The story shelf
Follow your curiosity.
A name you know. A mood you’re in. Ten minutes to yourself. Start anywhere.
The Brother and Sister
Mary ShelleyA banished young Sienese entrusts his sister to the rival who toppled their family.
53 min · Melancholy
The Elder Son
Mary ShelleyAn orphaned heiress's secret promise entangles her with two brothers divided by inheritance.
47 min · Foreboding
The Pilgrims
Mary ShelleyTwo young pilgrims seek shelter with a Swiss baron haunted by the daughter he drove away.
40 min · Solemn
A Blackjack Bargainer
O. HenryA ruined lawyer is offered cash for his inherited feud, forcing an old mountain honor code into a startling new bargain.
25 min · Suspenseful
A Double-Dyed Deceiver
O. HenryA fugitive from a Texas gunfight is offered a dangerous new identity in a distant coastal country.
19 min · Suspenseful
A Retrieved Reformation
O. HenryA celebrated safecracker tries to build an honest life under a new name, but his old skills are not finished with him.
13 min · Hopeful
By Courier
O. HenryA young man sends a street boy to plead his case to the woman who has forbidden him to write or speak to her.
6 min · Romantic
The Duplicity of Hargraves
O. HenryA proud former Confederate officer is offended when an actor turns his old-fashioned manners and clothes into a theatrical sensation.
22 min · Bittersweet
The Trimmed Lamp
O. HenryTwo young working women pursue very different futures in a city where wages, style, and marriage all promise escape.
20 min · Bittersweet
The Whirligig of Life
O. HenryA mountain couple arrives at a makeshift court demanding a divorce, only to discover that separation may be harder than marriage.
10 min · Humorous
Jonah of the Jove-Run
Ray BradburyAn aging, disgraced navigator claims he can guide a vital supply ship through an asteroid belt after its computers fail.
25 min · Hopeful
The Creatures That Time Forgot
Ray BradburyOn a world where people are born, grow old, and die within eight days, a boy races against his own lifetime to find a way beyond it.
71 min · Wondrous
13 stories