So I’m at the friendly neighborhood grocery store–the only one within a 500-mile radius–and I was made uncomfortable by all the face masks–standard and home made.
The virus itself doesn’t make me uncomfortable, primarily because I haven’t caught it, but seeing so many masked people does.
That’s when I realized how far the Reverend Hooper was ahead of his time.
That got me thinking about…
Short Stories that Covid-19 Has Made Relevant Again
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“The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I hated Reverend Hooper before the mask-wearing recommendation came down in my hometown–even though the only confirmed case was more than 2 weeks ago and everyone entering is automatically quarantined for 14 days (I live on an island, by the way). I really hate Reverend Hooper now. Seeing somebody in a home made mask makes them non-human and completely unrelatable. I hate the masks. I refuse to wear one. They’re creepy. Imagine how creepy they would have been hundreds of years ago, being worn by your minister. Perhaps you can discuss this from 6 feet away.
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. There are a lot of people sitting around day-dreaming. I, for example, have been on Momondo every day during the past month looking for killer Covid travel deals this summer. I’ve already imagined myself exploring ruins in the Yucatan, enjoying a baseball game in Cleveland, and laying on the beaches of Southern Spain. Perhaps I will start the newest chapter of the Walter Mitty Society?
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“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs. The fakir-cursed Monkey’s Paw teaches its users to be careful what they wish for. I got a feeling that a lot of students have wished they wouldn’t have to go to school for a few months. It looks like they got their wish. And truth be told, there’s probably a teacher or two that wished the same thing.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. Under orders from her caregivers, a woman is confined to her bedroom. Now that you all know what this feels like, you probably understand why she goes crazy. She starts seeing things in the Yellow Wallpaper. I had a dream the other night that my wife dug up my recently deceased dog and the dog was still alive. After I awoke I had a long conversation with the aforementioned deceased Bichon Frise and she definitively told me she was dead and that she was playing with Tinker, my childhood pet.
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe. Speaking of going insane–mixed with copious amounts of alcohol–our animal-loving narrator terrorizes his cat who terrorizes him whom he hangs from a tree who terrorizes him and forces our crazy narrator to take an ax to his wife’s skull. Now I’m not saying your spouse wants to take an ax to your skull…
“The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov. I included this on my original series of Coronavirus short stories. It really fits this anthology. And if you’re in for some hopeful short stories, here they are.
Last Updated on April 6, 2020 by Trenton Lorcher
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