Author: Oscar Wilde
Where I Read It: The Happy Prince and Other Tales
"'There is no good in my going to see little Hans as long as the snow lasts,' the Miller used to say to his wife, 'for when people are in trouble they should be left alone, and not be bothered by visitors. That at least is my idea about friendship, and I am sure I am right. So I shall wait till the spring comes, and then I shall pay him a visit, and he will be able to give me a large basket of primroses and that will make him so happy.'The Miller is wealthier than Hans not only materially but also in wisdom. He has such strong ideas about what a good friendship should look like and makes sure that Hans lives up to them. Even if this results in Hans giving and giving to the point of death, while the Miller benefits without losing anything at all, the Miller will still be able to pat himself on the back for being a steadfast, devoted friend.
Title: Fish
Author: Lienna Silver
Where I Read It: Los Angeles Noir
The story features older Russian immigrants living in Los Angeles. The main character, Ivan Denisovich, was forced into a gulag earlier in his life (the character is an allusion to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn). These days, Ivan lives comfortably, though he isn't entirely satisfied with his life and feels out of place in California. In the course of the story, he heads out on a fishing trip with a much more easygoing friend; their lifelong friendship, which has spanned continents, has given Ivan's life a greater sense of stability and continuity. But by the end of the story, he learns some things about his friend. Should he react in anger? Because what would anger change, anyway, late in life.
Title: A Friend in the Trade
Author: William Trevor
Where I Read It: The Hill Bachelors
This is a surprisingly moving story about a married couple (Clione and James) who part ways from an odd, often self-absorbed friend (named Michingthorpe). They're about to move out into the country, and because Michingthorpe doesn't have a car, he likely won't come by anymore.
Their friendship has a professional basis, as they're all working in the book trade, but Michnigthorpe has become more than a professional connection. He's a part of their life in a way that feels more personal. He's probably in love with Clione, even if he doesn't (or can't) show it in a conventional way. Also, he appears to need the couple more than they need him. Few other people – maybe no one else – would spend time with him as they do.
Whatever the true nature of Michingthorpe's attachment, Clione doesn't want to write him off as just some oddball with poor social skills.
She does not know why he will not come, only that he won't. She does not know why the pity she feels is so intensely there, only that it is and that his empty love is not absurd.
Title: Friends
Author: Lucia Berlin
Where I Read It: A Manual for Cleaning Women
The main character, Loretta, saves the life of an elderly man at a swimming pool and befriends him and his wife. The couple, Sam and Anna, both had interesting careers; he was an engineer, and she was an archaeologist. They have always been inseparable and have met each other's needs fully. Loretta assumes that her friendship is helpful to them, especially when they're facing a struggle – for example, the one time Anna is hospitalized with pneumonia. She finds it inconvenient to visit them as often as she does, but she makes the effort. Anna and Sam, however, have their own perspective on the friendship and assume that their regular company is indispensable to Loretta; they see her as a deeply lonely person.
Title: Lucille
Author: Elizabeth Nunez
Where I Read It: Trinidad Noir
Two friends go to school together but as teens their paths wind up diverging, with one becoming more successful than the other. Differences in personality probably play a role in the outcome. For example, one of the girls is able to scare off aggressive boys, while the other winds up craving praise from them after her body develops. Other influential factors: successful siblings that a child is pressured to live up to, always being compared to others, and developing a fear of failure. The story speaks of "crimes and misdemeanors against the spirit" – the relentless, relatively subtle ways in which a person can be stifled.
Title: Miss Nyberg and I
Author: Karin Tidbeck
Where I Read It: Jagannath
The narrator is speaking directly to her friend and describing how one night she spotted a small, gnarled creature in her friend's room. She wasn't sure if she was imagining this creature, but she began to write a story about it. She imagined the creature living among her friend's plants, and what her friend's encounters with it were like.
I liked the strangeness and sweetness of this story. Reading it felt like running my hand across overlapping leaves. I liked the idea of a sentient creature who lives among flower pots. And I also enjoyed the cozy atmosphere of two long-time friends catching up.
Title: Nothing to Ask For
Author: Dennis McFarland
Where I Read It: American Voices
Dan is taking care of his best friend, Mack, who's dying of AIDs. Years ago, Mack helped Dan successfully fight alcoholism; now, there's nothing Dan can do to save Mack. They had traveled together in the past; now, the journey is the passage from life to death. It's written with straightforward, painful details, including the strain felt by two other people: Dan's wife and Mack's lover. Dan, however, persists in caring for his friend, helping him with cleaning, bathing, and visits to the hospital. He seems determined to remain a devoted friend for as long as Mack has breath left in him.
Title: Pride
Author: Alice Munro
Where I Read It: Dear Life
A friendship, or something resembling friendship, springs up between a man with a cleft lip and the daughter of a failed banker. It's an odd relationship, mostly private; they don't go about together in public.
This uneasy friendship (uneasy mostly on the part of the man, it seems) is a thread that has linked them over the years, tugging them into each other's company. At one point he becomes ill, and she looks after him in a motherly sort of way. This upsets him, because it appears she can't think of him as sexually desirable. He winds up turning down her proposal to move in together and look after each other in their old age. (Because who else do they have?) His pride won't allow for a relationship in which they live together in a platonic way for convenience and companionship. Regardless of his refusal, they remain constants in each other's lives, never going far from each other. They've both been on the outskirts of life looking in – guarded, passive, acting too late or not at all.
Title: Stop
Author: Steve Almond
Where I Read It: Sudden Flash Youth
A lot is packed into this work of flash fiction. It invites you briefly into the life of a girl working in a fast food restaurant. She's competent at her job, doing what needs to be done and of course smiling. ("At great expense, you smile.") Who can even tell that she's grieving for a dead friend.
