On the edge of the cliff V. S.

Pritchett
Harry is about 70 years old and Rowena is only 25. She suggests they go to a fair near the Withy Hole, a place he is fascinated about. He accepts it begrudgingly, partly because he is in love with her, partly because he thinks he needs to please her as she is so much younger than he is. At the fair, Rowena goes for a ride in the carousel. There is another adult in the roundabout besides her. In the meantime, a woman approaches Harry and asks if he remembers her. He does not for a moment, but after she explains her name is Daisy Pike, he realizes he knows her: she used to be friends with his deceased wife. He feels very uncomfortable with the situation and decides to leave, but Rowena insists on meeting Daisy and her son (the adult in the roundabout was now with Daisy). The couples greet and then Rowena and Harry head to the Withy Hole. It is a long walk there, but he does not seem to mind it. When they get to the Hole, they decide to walk down to the beach where he used to swim with his wife. As they get down there, he climbs a cliff and jumps in the water completely naked. Some days later, when Rowena is out, Harry receives a surprise visit from Daisy. She talks about how she used to be in love with him, and about her son, who is actually her lover. She also tells him they should avoid meeting up because their partners are both young, and they are both old. She fears their lovers might end up together. Daisy leaves and ,just after that, Rowena arrives. She does not believe when Harry tells her Daisys son is actually her lover, because she is too old for him; she starts voicing her thoughts about it but stops herself halfway. She then tells him she does not like Daisy coming around.

Enochs two letters Alan Sillitoe

Enoch is 8 years old. His parents, Jack and Edna, decide to leave each other on the same day, but they do not mention a word about it to one another. After Jack has breakfast, he pretends to go to work but goes instead to the train station to meet Ren, his lover. They leave to London together. He thinks his son will be fine because his mum will take good care of him. He will send them a letter explaining the situation. However, Edna also leaves that day, after sending Enoch to school. She thinks he will be well taken care of by his dad. She will too post a letter telling them she left. When Enoch comes back, he is happy the house is empty because he can do whatever he wants; he almost wishes they did not return. As time passes, he starts to wonder what would happen if they did not come back, and regrets wishing they never returned. After eating some more bread and cheese he decides to fall asleep in the sitting room, with the fire burning, and he covers himself with the carpet. The next morning he is still alone, so he takes the money his mum gave him before he went to school, and takes the bus to his grandmothers place across town. When he gets there, she is very surprised and asks him what happened. He explains the whole situation, and that he thinks his parents are dead. They take the bus together to his house to check it out. Once there, she wanders around the house and sees it is still empty. Enoch notices two letters lying on the floor just inside the front door and, as his grandma bends to pick them up, he thinks his parents are dead for sure.

Telephone John Fuller

A man is staying at Dickies place during his absence. Dickie told him to make himself at home and so he has. He is lying on the couch and drinking some vodka. The phone rings non-stop and he wonders if he should pick it up, if it would be the polite thing to do. He does not answer it, though. The phone rings persistently and he concludes the caller does not know the place, because he/she keeps letting the phone ring, as if the place were so big it would take someone that long to get to the phone. He wonders why they keep letting it ring, when they surely must

have realized there is no one there. The phone rings thirty times, which seems like a lot to him. He deduces it must be a code, and that the number of rings corresponds to a hidden message from his secret lover. He plays with the idea that thirty rings must correspond to Dickies alleged lover masturbating during bath. He thinks about Dickie slyness with amusement, and pours himself some more vodka.

My story John Fuller

A man is getting old and starts to think about how someone should come and write his life story down while there is still time. He wonders about what he would tell them. He mentally goes over all the feats he has achieved throughout his life. The man realizes nobody can imagine themselves as a character for their own story, because no one sees their life as a story. He concludes that happens both because people can never get outside their own existence to be able to see the big picture, and because they are never able to see how the world goes on without them. He realizes then, that perhaps obscurity would be a better fate; and concludes that there is only one real story, the story of peoples bodies telling them they exist.