"The Sadness of Detail" by Jonathan Carroll

...I noticed a number of photographs he had spread out on the table in front of him. Most of the pictures were of my family and me.

A woman takes a break at her favorite coffee shop before heading home to her husband and children. While enjoying a glass of wine and humming to herself, she is confronted by a mysterious man who seems to know things about her that nobody could possibly know. It seems that the woman has a talent, and the strange man has a proposition for her...one that could completely change the woman's future. But who is the man who calls himself "Thursday", and what does he gain from the woman's talent?

Jonathan Carroll quickly draws the reader into the world of his main character, using the setting of a quaint coffee shop as a resting place for a woman who is exhausted of running daily errands. The pacing of the story is perfect, and the "otherworldly" aspects of the tale are introduced in a believable way. The final few paragraphs, which explain the motivation for Thursday and what effect the woman's ability could have on the world as a whole, describe a unique perspective on a subject that many pages have been written on over the course of history.

"You know the sadness of detail, using your phrase. That is what makes you capable of transcendence."

"The Sadness of Detail" can be found in the anthology Poe's Children: The New Horror, which was edited by Peter Straub.

 

"The Griffin and the Minor Canon" by Frank R. Stockton

The poor Minor Canon would rather have had his hand cut off than go out to meet an angry griffin; but he felt that it was his duty to go, or it would be a woeful thing if injury should come to the people of the town because he was not brave enough to obey the summons of the Griffin.

In an old town, there lies a church that is adorned with many sculptures. Among these is a large statue of a griffin, notable because (unbeknownst to the townsfolk) there is only one live griffin that remains in the land. This griffin finds out that there is a sculpture in his likeness, and decides that he would like to see for himself what he looks like. Upon arriving in the town, the Griffin encounters the Minor Canon, a respected figure in the town. Initially, the Griffin means the townspeople no harm, but when they decide that they would like the Griffin gone the burden falls upon the Minor Canon...

This tale was a departure for me, as I usually read stories that are more "horror" in nature. While not a scary story by any means, the premise was interesting and the tale was written well enough to be both whimsical and suspenseful. I found myself feeling bad for the Griffin, as he became the classic "misunderstood monster", but also feeling bad for the Minor Canon, who is tasked with getting rid of a beast who has so much potential for destruction.

"The Griffin and the Minor Canon" can be found in the collection Unnatural Creatures, which consists of short stories (featuring creatures) selected by Neil Gaiman.