Short Stories

Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Tellez

Captain Torres, a military soldier came into the barber shop and wanted a clean shave. While the barber was shaving Captain Torres he was debating on slitting the Captain's throat. Although, he didn't want to be known as a coward or a murderer but instead he wanted to be a hero. The Captain knew that the barber may in fact kill him, but he was to stay to find out. After the barber finished shaving his beard the Captain grabbed his belt and pistol off the hanger and headed for the door. Before he left he turned to the barber and said, "They told me that you'd kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn't easy. You can take my word for it."

This short story reflects the main ideas of being loyal to yourself when Captain Torres stays loyal to his job, committing to do anything his job asks of him. Captain Torres doesn't let anything stop him from taking his position very seriously in the military. When he goes to the barber shop he knows that there might be a chance that the barber will murder him, but he doesn't let that get in the way of doing his job. Captain Torres is staying true to himself and his job, even though it may lead to death. This is very important as Captain Torres is willing to sacrifice his life to get some answers.

Appointment with Love by S.I. Kishor

Lieutenant Blandford, a young army soldier was waiting at Grand Central Station to meet a woman that he has been writing to for the past thirteen months. They started writing to eachother when he read the book Of Human Bondage and found Hollis Meynell's writing in the back of the book. She wrote so beautifully that it influenced him to find her address in the telephone book because he wanted to meet her.  They began writing back and forth to eachother and eventually decided it was time to meet. When he was at Grand Central Station he saw the a woman wearing a rose on her coat, which was what Hollis Meynell was to wear. From her looks he would have rather followed the young woman in the green dress that was leading him to the restaurant. Lieutenant Blandford decided to meet with the woman with the rose, who ended up being a woman that Hollis begged to impersonate her. The Lieutenant passed the test that Hollis had planned and made his way to the big restaurant across the street where she was waiting for him.

Lieutenant Blandford is a prime example of remaining loyal to others, as it shows in this short story. When he realizes that the woman he has been sending letters to for thirteen months is an old woman, he is put to the test of either introducing himself to her or following the young woman in the green dress. Even though Lieutenant Blandford wants to chase after the young girl, he decides that being loyal to others is more important than getting what he wants. This is very significant because he is staying loyal to the older woman even if that's not what he truly desires. In doing so, he also receives other great qualities of loyalty.