"Night Surf " written by David W. Burns

“Night Surf,” written by David W. Burns, is an astonishing short story—one of the most memorable I’ve ever read. It stands beside the finest short fiction I know, such as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce and "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe.

One of the story’s greatest strengths is the dual nature of the creature—both Cassie and a Nereid sea nymph. As a Nereid, she is cool, distant, and otherworldly; as Cassie, she becomes warm, human, and quietly tender. This contrast gives the story emotional depth.

The narrative succeeds because it follows the timeless principle of crafting a moving story: crushing hopelessness just before the ending, followed by the faintest glimmer of hope in the final moment. And that hope arrives beautifully in the last line:

“Next time, bring more of the pink ones.”

In that single sentence, we understand that the old man—the protagonist—will return, prepared with an abundance of pink jelly beans, carrying with him the fragile promise of connection.

This short story was published in 2019. It won the Grand Prize in the 14th Annual Writer's Digest Popular Fiction Awards. 

大岡越前 吉川英治

 諸悪の根源は将軍にある。依って将軍を召し取る、と江戸城に出掛け吉宗に説教する大岡越前。誰しも考えられない展開。出だしの犬殺しの三人も島流しから恩赦を受け許される。越前守の前の名前、市之助も娘、燕に親身に学を教え、妻のお袖の心が和む。出だしからエンディング迄、間延びする箇所もあるが、上手く展開している。

Hinoki by Chance Freihaut (2025)

Chance Freihaut is the winner of the 2024 Writers’ Union of Canada Short Prose Competition. The protagonist, Peter, tries to recover the memory of his mother, who abandoned him when he was seven. To reconstruct what he has lost, he enlists an improv group of three performers and directs them through scenes he invents—assigning places, situations, and even lines of dialogue.

As the improvisations unfold, fragments of the past begin to surface. Peter recalls, with painful clarity, the moment his mother left him and his father for good. “I love you, Peter,” she tells him. “But you need to know something. Mommy is like the sand and the wind.” And like sand carried off by a gust, she disappears from his life.

Through this process, Peter begins to understand his own identity and releases himself from the long struggle to remember her. A phone‑sex worker known as V eventually joins the troupe and takes on the role of his mother, further blurring the boundaries between performance and memory.

The story moves between two intertwined realms—the real world and the world of improv. At times, they overlap so closely that the distinction becomes deliberately unclear. Each sentence carries layers of implication, and each paragraph hides more than it reveals. The narrative demands an active, imaginative reader, one willing to navigate its shifting realities.

Hinoki is a tree name. It smells good. For Peter, the fragrance of Hinoki is his mother's smell.

「東方見聞録 1」マルコポーロ 平凡社

13世紀、ヴェニスから大都（北京）に到る広大な地域を国毎に、文化、習慣、生活、物産、貨幣、食事、風俗について詳述している。

驚くのはクビライカン（フビライカン）の権力の強大さである。彼が酒の盃を手に取る毎に、楽隊が音楽を奏で、家臣が跪き、カンが盃を飲み干すと、家臣が姿勢を正すとか。美女を５００人集め、基準に合致しているかを担当官に判定させ、３０人を選ぶ。選ばれた美人を家臣の妻と同衾させ、人品を評価させる。合格した娘は六人一組で、三日三晩、カンに侍らせ、交替させたとか。

ある地方では処女は結婚できないので、旅人に娘を交接させ、一人前の女として嫁せたとか。キリスト教、イスラム教、道教、偶像崇拝教（釈迦）の話とか、カンが家臣や兄弟と如何にして戦い滅ぼしたかとかが記述されている。

驚くことばかり多し。

 

虫めでる姫君 黄港佑

ミステリーもの。以下ネタバレ。大納言の姫が毛虫を集めているが、その死骸をどう処置しているかが分からない。結局、骸を姫が食べていたと最後のページで分かる。

悍ましい結末。読者は考えつかない。言葉遣いも平安時代のような雰囲気を醸し出し、40年経った後の主人公が姫に会いに行き、真相が分かるという設定も面白い。

後味が悪い。毛虫を長年食べ続けた姫は火葬されるが、主人公は、その骨を食べる。最後の一文は「消えない苦みが、ざらりと舌の上に残った」。同じように、ざらりとした、歪なエンディングである。無理に大納言時代に合わせようとする、持って回ったような表現が多い。

堤中納言物語『虫めでる姫君』を題材にしている。作者の応用力に関心した。

京都短編ミステリ―大賞授賞作品 原稿用紙８８枚

Identities by W. D. Valgardson (1995)

“Identities” is only four pages long, yet it delivers a tremendous shock. The protagonist begins his drive with no destination in mind, feeling calm and at ease. Gradually, however, a subtle sense of unease creeps in. At first, I assumed he would encounter some kind of trouble, but the ending was far worse than I expected—his death.

The story’s central theme, identity, is handled with bitter irony. Surrounded by suspicious people in a rough neighborhood, the protagonist tries to conceal his true identity by blending in, attempting to look like one of the “bad guys.” But this disguise backfires. A tense, inexperienced officer misinterprets his appearance and behavior. When the protagonist sees the officer, he actually feels relieved, believing he is finally safe. Yet in that moment, he makes a fatal mistake: instead of raising his hands as ordered, he reaches toward his wallet to retrieve his identification. The officer, already on edge, interprets the gesture as a threat and shoots him.

The tragedy lies in the cruel misunderstanding—he dies while trying to reveal the very identity that could have saved him.

Autogas Ferryman” by Champ Wongsatayanon

 What I have learned from reading “Autogas Ferryman,” written by Champ Wongsatayanont, a Thai, published in 2025

1.     Not so important an incident that happens at the beginning part turns out to be a very important matter that solves all the confusion, a clue to the labyrinth.

2.     Introduction is a daily routine that somehow catches the readers’ attention

The middle part consists of chaos, confusion, and catastrophic disaster; no solution is possible

     The ending dissolves all the intricated knots and leaves a peaceful atmosphere.

4.     The final one sentence is brief: And she fades away.

5.     One paragraph before the last sentence makes the readers smile and relieve the tension: The ghost of his mum smiles gently. It’s like that one time he finally got good grades for maths. She was so proud of him that day