I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 24, 2024] “The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Thomas Hardy.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  Although today doesn’t have an interview just this blurb:

It’s December 24. Thomas Hardy, author of Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles, died in 1928 and was unavailable for an interview.

This is one of Hardy’s earliest short stories.  It seems like it is going to be a Christmas-related ghost story, because a man sets out n horseback on a spooky, foggy night.  But there are no ghosts.  Rather, he is set upon by bandits who steal his possessions and his horse. 

He stumbles (with his arms bound) to a house.  The house has its door open and lights on–there’s a huge dinner set at the table.  This struck me as hugely unlikely, but it turned out that everyone fled the table because they heard noises outside.

The noises were the bandits, who made a ruckus in order to sneak into the house.  The victim hides as the bandits sneak into a closet.

When everyone returns to the table, the victim comes out and asks for help (I was surprised by the attitude that he might be a bandit, even though his arms are tied behind his back).  When the family feeds him, he decides to reveal the bandits,  Who, indeed, can’t help but sneezing.  It’s a trifle of a story, but a fun one.