Miriam's Lover

I read a short story called Miriam's Lover, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It is about two friends that were discussing a girl, Miriam, ,that had stayed with one of the girls, Mary. Mary explained how Miriam was "queer" looking because she dressed very different than most people. Mary told her friend stories about Miriam and how she claimed that she communicated with her lover, Sidney, who was far away. She told Mary how they didn't need to write telegrams all the time, because they could send messages to each other. Mary was very skeptical about Miriam's claim and didn't believe in ghosts or telepathy of anything of the sort. Miriam claimed one day that she knew that her fiance, Sidney, had had an accident but she didn't know what kind of accident exactly. Two days later, she received a telegram saying that he fell off a horse and had broken his arm. Mary, still skeptical, started to think her friend Miriam maybe wasn't as crazy as she is claiming her to be. Another incident was when Miriam told Mary that she knew Sidney was dangerously ill. She wasn't sure with what either but sure enough two days later, she received another telegram saying that he had typhoid fever. Mary, at this point couldn't believe her eyes. Sidney is very deathly ill but is still alive at this point. One day Miriam and Mary were in her room when Miriam fainted out of nowhere. It took awhile for her to wake up after fainting but once she did, she had a very bizarre explanation. She said that Sidney was in the room with her and Mary right before she fainted and said he came to say good-bye because he was dying. Mary explains this story and it shows how her take on everything spiritual and what she considered "queer," may not be all the hocus pocus she claimed it was. Maybe there was some way all of these events really did happen and Miriam wasn't crazy. I really liked this short story because it was unlike the other two that I read. It was interesting and the events that were happening were just too bizarre ironic. I thought it was a really cool different story and I really enjoyed reading it.

The Waking of Helen

I read a short story called The Waking of Helen, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was about a man that is in a small town for summer vacation. He notices a youong girl, and befriends her. She is actually the niece of the family he is staying with. His aunt and uncle aren't very fond of the girl, Helen, but he is intrigued by her. They also won't let her read any books, although she loves it so much. He brings her books and they talk about literature and become very close with one another. Helen mentions on day, a cave that if you wait to long, you can't escape the tide. She tells Reeve about a young pretty girl that died there once because she had fallen asleep on the sand and woke up just too late. He decides to go there one day and ironically falls asleep on the beach as well. When he wakes up in a panic, he notices that Helen is on her way to save him. He would've dies if she hadn't come to his rescue. At the end of the story, his summer vacation was coming to an end very shortly. He lays a huge secret on Helen a few days before he leaves. He tells her that he is engaged to a girl at home. He couldn't tell if Helen cared or not, judging by her expression. He ends up leaving after having a very passive good-bye. That same day, Helen went to that cave and sat exactly hwere Reeve had days before her. She notices the tides started to change but doesn't even get up to move. I am not sure if she was wanting to kill herself or even if she did die. I really liked this story because there was a lot going on and it was almost a love story with a twist at the end and left me wanting to know more about what happened after he left his vacation spot.

The Red Room

i read the short story, The Red Room, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I found it on a website and had never heard of it so I decided to read it. It starts off with a mother telling the story to her daughter of when she was young. She told her about when she used to go visit her grandma's house for christmas and the odd things that would happen there. It was a very odd story and i picked up on certain things that happened but wasn't sure if I was understanding them correctly. The young girl, Beatrice, told stories of her uncle and his wife, who she met for the first time that one christmas. It seemed like they had a really weird relationship and almost seemed a little sexual. The story is about Beatrice and her aunt, who become very close. I think her aunt had mental issues because she seemed very munipulating and finally her affair with her foreign lover surfaces right in front of her husband, Beatrice's uncle. She continues to live in her room, "The Red Room," until her husband comes home from work one day. He finds her about to kill herself and she finally stabs him in the chest with a dagger, killing him. The story is very odd but kind of interesting because it had a lot of twists to it. Because her uncle died in that "Red Room," hardly anyone ever goes in there after his death. Beatrice is telling her daughter this story because she is going to visit her grandma shortly in the same exact house with the "Red Room." Overall, I thought this story was very interesting but also very weird at the same time.