The top five stories from our 2009–2010 Story of the Week issue include works by new and emerging authors, as well as by an established favorite of ours. The subjects range from war in the Balkans to the problems of illegal immigrants in the U.S. to a migrant farmworker’s love story in the Pacific Northwest. In one story a woman holds herself together in the face of a degenerative ailment, and in another a disastrous storm unpredictably opens a young girl’s path into a new life. Taken together these stories offer a rich panorama of life and of the authors’ gifts. We’re proud of these stories on their own terms and as representatives of all the Stories of the Week of the past year. Enjoy the five presented here, and revisit the others, especially those you may have missed when they first appeared. After all, there’s nothing like a good story.
Eugene Cross
Harvesters
She looked pretty, but he hadn’t told her so.
Pete Fromm
Bluff
She doesn’t flinch at the bitch, instead actually smiles.
Lisa Ko
Jackpot
2016 PEN/Bellweather Award for Socially Engaged Fiction
Anthony Marra
Typhoon
The world, newly made, filled with a frightening silence.
Aggie Zivaljevic
Where Is My Boy?
War was about to begin, and the boys were in charge.
