Story Time for Grown-Ups - New York Shorts: Stories by New York Writers

 

 

Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton

Two middle-aged ladies on holiday in Rome spend the afternoon reminiscing about their first visit to Rome  twenty-five years before. Their conversation unexpectedly reveals long-held secrets from that visit. (1934)

 

The Furnished Room by O. Henry

The lower West Side is filled with boarding houses offering furnished rooms. Mrs. Purdy just rented her third-floor-back to a young man searching for his sweetheart, who came to New York City to follow her dream of life upon the stage. (1906) 

 

 

Johnny One-Eye by Damon Runyon

Rudolph is wanted dead or alive by the D. A. He’s on the run, but he’s been wounded by Buttsy Fagan. He decides to pay Buttsy an unexpected visit to get even. While hiding out in Buttsy’s neighborhood, he finds a frowsy white kitten with only one good eye who is also wounded and in need of a friend. (1941)