A Southern Reader Volume II

Southern Short Fiction. The Mystery Caller. A young man bound for college takes one last hunting trip. In his stand by the river he witnesses an intentional drowning but refuses to get involved, he doesn't want anything to hold him up. He makes a secret call to the authorities on his CB radio. Thirty years later the guilty party confesses on his death bed and reveals there was a witness in a tree stand by the river that day unknown to him. Willoree. A beautiful young blonde farm girl is courted by a number of boys until she becomes afflicted with polio and they all stop coming except for one boy who is drafted in the army. While he is gone a local testosterone driven boy comes calling with naughty tempting words and ways. She is tempted. Her mother sends her to stay with her grandmother who has years of experience with handling men like the young midnight caller. About Zachary. A young man returning home after the great depression discovers all his relatives are dead or gone. He travels to the Okefenokee Swamp in search of a cousin but is involuntarily mixed up with a gang of violent moonshiners and pot growers. Letters. A GI returning home from Australia discovers that his fiancé at home knows that he had a girlfriend while over there. His fiancé insists that he tell her the girls name and address. He relents when she assures him that nothing will ever separate them again. And he does love her. After that revelation begins a wise decision by the fiancé and soon to be wife that will last a lifetime. Unintended Consequences. A retired doctor volunteers his services to a tribe of near extinct natives in the amazon. A fungus has infected a tuber, the tribe depends on for food. The tuber also has a hormone that helps to control the birth rate. A company that specializes in firing rays at grasshoppers is hired to direct their rays at the fungus. It kills the fungus but also has an adverse unexpected affect on the men of the tribe. Reduced Circumstances. A wealthy man has a daughter who is responsible and obedient. HE gives her a generous allowance and sends her off to college. His generosity to her reaches an unexpected conclusion. Keeping Company. Five men in the logging business are marooned in a cabin by the river during a violent thunderstorm. To pass the time they tell stories each in his turn. The stories cover the spectrum of back woods lore hunting, fishing war, strange women, orphaned, until they come the youngest man has a sad tale to tell which explained why he was so sarcastic, ill tempered, and melancholy. The four men get together and do something that is life changing for him.