Stories to be Read with the Lights On 15: The Bitter Years by Dana Lyons

On to the next story... 'The Bitter Years' by Dana Lyon. This one felt very familiar, as though I've read it more recently. I don't think I have, though, so I guess it's just one of the stories that stuck in my head more firmly.

This one isn't particularly notable in terms of plot or structure. It's a classic 'Tales of the Unexpected' type of story, where the set-up (a woman looking forward to a happy retirement after 'the bitter years') is turned on its head. And there's plenty of just deserts in the story's ending, as you might expect for a story of this sort. I think this one may have stuck with me because of the writing style. I really like the way this one is told. It's so easy to picture the setting and the woman's life. For such a short story, it's really quite immersive.

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Stories to be Read with the Lights On 14: Payoff on Double Zero by Warner Law

The next story I (re)read was 'Payoff on Double Zero' by Warner Law. I had a bit of a reversal with this one compared to the last story. It didn't seem the slightest bit familiar when I started, but the more I read the more I felt like maybe I'd read it before.

I couldn't remember anything more than the fact that the main character (a young man who gets a job at a Vegas casino) was not quite how he seemed, but that memory was a pretty strong one (and an accurate one, it turns out!). Law's story is pretty typical of this collection - and other collections like it. As promised in the title, it has a 'payoff' that's not quite a twist, but still pretty satisfying.

Don't mess with the smartest guy in Vegas is the moral here.

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Stories to be Read with the Lights On 13: The Pile of Sand by John Keefauver

On to the next story: 'The Pile of Sand' by John Keefauver. Okay... this one felt really familiar from the off, but I didn't remember it well enough to know where it was going...

It's weird... I had no idea the story was going to end the way it did (and I loved the ending), but all the way through I had a strong sense of familiarity. I think I know why this one might have lodged itself somewhere at the back of my mind though. 'The Pile of Sand' opens with a sandcastle building competition on a beach, and at the time I would've read it we'd had a few family holidays to Cornwall where we often saw sand sculptures on the beach. That probably made that opening more memorable for me.

Keefauver's story is a charming little tale of the unexpected. Or, more accurately, the unexplained. The story is about the effect the titular pile of sand has on the beach-goers, but the pile itself is left resolutely unexplained. (When I say 'charming', I mean it's a story that casts a bit of a spell as you read. It's not cute, by any means, and the ending is just the right amount of unsettling.) I think 'The Pile of Sand' is one of my favourites so far!

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