My Three Favourite Short Stories (are all free on the internet!)
I've recently been using short stories as a palette cleaner between books, or even at the end of a particularly heavy chapter. While reflecting on my favourite short stories, I realised that I discovered all of my top three online, and they didn't cost me more than the time I spent reading them (a bargain!)
Here they are, in no particular order:
The Egg by Andy Weir, 2009
Before The Martian or Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir published short stories on a simpler, more entertaining internet. And the best way to explore that internet, in my opinion, was StumbleUpon. I Stumbled across this short story, not realising that it would from that moment on live rent free in my head. I'm intentionally avoiding any spoilers for these short stories, but in particular I recommend you dive in to The Egg completely blind. It's a tiny story that packs a huge punch.
I don't know, Timmy, being God is a big responsibility by QNTM, 2007
Continuing the trend of short stories that I can't stop thinking about is this story by the excellent QNTM, my all-time favourite piece of science fiction short fiction, and the first piece of media to expose me to the Simulation Hypothesis. Originally released online in 2007, QNTM later released an updated version of this story in his excellent short story collection, Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories, however I genuinely think his original take was the better version of the tale, for reasons that I may need to blog about to get out of my head once and for all.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, 1890
My most recent read on this list, though by far the oldest by publication date. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is both a beautiful example of American literature and an excellent case study in foreshadowing and stream-of-consciousnesss writing. I usually consider it a red flag when someone shares their experience of a book by saying something to the effect of 'the moment I finished it I went straight back to the first page and started it again!', because either A) they're exaggerating or B) the story is so convoluted that the reader needs multiple attempts to understand what it's trying to say. This story suffered me neither fault: I did immediately re-read Owl Creek Bridge, because the ending captivated me so much that I wanted to experience it again with the knowledge of what would happen. I picked up so much more the second (and third!) time around.
Note: I've linked to this book's entry in the excellent Library of Short Stories, which you should absolutely take the time to explore. It's one of my favourite sites on the web and one that any reader would enjoy.
Happy Reading!