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"What The Moon Brings" takes place in a surreal dreamscape. The narrator strolls through his garden at night and sees strange things in the moonlight. He comes to a stream which turns into a river and brings him to a sea. What he sees then, makes him plunge into the water to escape it, even at the cost of his life.

The short story focuses on two lovers torn apart by the American Civil War and the locket that inexorably binds them together.

First published in 1876 in The Dolliver Romance and Other Pieces, writer and dark romantic Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story collection, this ruminative soliloquy is written from the point of view of a ghost. The ghost, or rather Hawthorne, discusses life and death, the living and the dead, considering and dealing with one’s mortality, and the soul and the spiritual afterlife.

Jack London (1876-1916) wrote extensively of the Klondike Gold Rush. This is the story of Kink Mitchell and Hootchinoo Bill who came to the Yukon in 1896. The claim called 24 Eldorado finally brought a huge surprise for them and for Ans Handerson.

Set in mid-15th-century Paris, the tale centers around Francis Villon, a man with poetic sensibilities, long since driven to crime out of desperation and poverty. After fleeing from a tavern along with all other patrons after a grisly murder is committed on premises, Villon desperately visits a series of one-time acquaintances hoping to find shelter from the cold weather and certain death. Along the way, Villon ruminates on morality, honor, and poverty.

"A Respectable Woman", first published in Vogue in 1894, is quintessential Chopin and shows us the full extent of her skill as a short-story writer. The story centers around Mrs. Baroda, who, somewhat reluctantly, is playing the gracious host to her husband’s surprise guest, Gouvernail, an old friend of her husband’s from college. The story delves into Mrs. Baroda’s psychology as she struggles with her desires versus her self-made image and self-opinion.

Mildred Orme visits the Kraummer farm and becomes infatuated by an attractive young farmhand. She finds him at a fishing pond, and while trying to teach her to fish, they end up kissing passionately. She feels guilty and then receives a letter which reveals the identity of the young man.

"The Californian's Tale" is the story of a man, Henry, waiting for his wife to come home. The narrator, a stranger to the town, knows nothing of the circumstances. He discovers the tragic truth at a party thrown by Henry’s friends at his house.

A Tent in Agony is a humorous story of a man who looked after a tent when his companions went to fetch supplies. He was attacked by a bear and ran into the tent. The bear got entangled as the tent collapsed around it which caused quite a spectacle.

A man and a woman who used to be lovers meet by chance after not having seen each other for about six years. At first, their reminiscences about their romance proceed with fondness. Then, due to his lack of sensitivity, the woman gets up and leaves.

"The Domain of Arnheim" is a short tale about a man of great means named Ellison who builds a castle with a garden of breathtaking beauty called Arnheim. In "The Domain of Arnheim", Poe delves deep into the human mind, creative imagination, the soul, and the nature of beauty.

The story of St. George, adapted by Hamilton Wright Mabie. St. George was born in Cappadocia in 280 and achieved fame by subjugating and slaying a dragon. He became a martyr on the order of Emperor Diocletian.

This is the humorous story of the royal huntress Josefa. When a lion was about to attack her, a knight intervened, to her chagrin, as she wanted to shoot it. The knight then claimed that the lion was his pet and that he tried to protect it, and Josefa played along but as it turns out, never believed it.

"The Incantation", also published as "A Strange Story", is the tale of Dr. Allan Fenwick, a rational materialist who is forced into a series of encounters with clairvoyance, ghosts, and hypnotism. The Victorian narrative blends romance, science, and various occult phenomena in an intriguing way. Dr. Fenwick braves all to rescue his beloved Lillian.

Two drunken sailors, Hugh and Legs, find themselves in a part of London quarantined due to the plague. Passing by one of the buildings, they are lured inside by loud noises and discover a party of people around a table and a cellar full of liquor. A quarrel ensues, a barrel of punch is knocked over, and everyone but the sailors and two of the women drown in the deluge of liquor.

Herman Melville, potentially one of America’s most important novelists, wrote White Jacket (published in 1850) based on his experiences serving the US Navy aboard the frigate USS Neversink from 1843 to 1844. White Jacket is considered to be Melville’s most politically charged novel due to its severe criticism of the US Navy and its policies at the time. In fact, the novel helped bring about the end of flogging aboard Naval ships (then a standard practice) due to its graphic and brutal descriptions of the floggings Melville himself witnessed.

In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne is a diary of the observations of Fritz Napoleon Smith, the editor of an influential futuristic newspaper. It is an action-packed tale of technological advances and science fiction scenarios. Some of the predictions were remarkably accurate.

Daddy Downey and Mammy Downey were reputed to be already living at Rough-and-Ready when the first settlers arrived; they were considered saints and word of their great age and piety had spread far beyond the foothills, into The Union Ditch newspaper and beyond. However, the arrival of a second aged couple first made them hermits and then Mammy passed away. With both of them gone, the sheriff of Calaveras revealed the shocking truth.

The Praise of Folly is a hilarious satirical essay on various superstitions and irrational beliefs held by European society and the Roman Catholic Church at the time of Desiderius Erasmus. The narrator is Folly and her attendants include Philautia (Self Love), Kolakia (Flattery), Lethe (Forgetfulness), and Anoia (Imbecility).

This simplistic and ingenious allegory from one of the fathers of Western philosophy casts light on society’s naiveté and ignorance.