Stella Canis and Other Short Stories

By Predrag Mihajlovic

How did Mrs. Grankvist's daughter die? What does it cost to make a pumpkin pie? What secret does Vittorio Vespucci's smile conceal? How did Professor Roman Bloch grant his own dying wish? What did a man see in the mysterious Mirror? What did the encounter with Noriko Shimada lead to? Why are we skilled constructors? What are the best memories? What can a plane trip lead to?
Stella Canis and the eight other short stories introduce the reader to a number of questions in which life alternates between the constructed and the unpredictable, in spite of the predictable motion of time and the planets.

• Language: Svenska
• Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand
• Release date: Jul 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9789178515103

Predrag Mihajlovic

Predrag Mihajlovic (född i f.d. Jugoslavien) har bott i Sverige sedan 1992. Han är jurist, litteraturvetare och gymnasielärare. Mihajlovic debuterade med långnovellen Apatriden och den förvirrade hunden år 2017. Novellen finns översatt till engelska och serbiska. Samma år kom hans första kortroman Skuggor och eldflugor. Den finns i serbisk översättning. Novellsamlingen Stella Canis och andra noveller (också i engelsk översättning) kom ut 2019. Långnovellen Glömskans fantomsmärta kom ut 2020. Stella Canis och andra noveller och långnovellerna Glömskans fantomsmärta och Apatriden och den förvirrade hunden finns samlade i en bok under namnet Novellsamling. Han har också gett ut flash-dramat Soldaten och tio hönsägg (översatt också till engelska). Kortromanen Den sparkade fågeln kom ut 2021. Kortroman Skuggor och eldflugor ges ut i en reviderad version nu.

Book preview

If we hadn’t forgotten to lock the door, I’m certain that none of it would have happened.

(from The Apatride and the Confused Dog)

Contents

No One is Responsible

No one cares

Stella Canis (Dog Day Afternoon)

The Indefinite Position of the Full Moon

Under the Starry Sky

The Only World

Vittorio Vespucci's Smile

The Little Purple Planet

My Dying Wish I Will Grant Myself

No One is Responsible

Good day, Mrs. Grankvist!

The police inspector expressed his welcome in a quiet, compassionate voice. He carefully extended his hand toward the woman, who was wearing a long, black winter coat.

Good afternoon.

The woman's response was so quiet that the inspector found it easier to read the greeting on her pale lips than by listening to her voice.

Please sit down.

He motioned for her to sit down before they stopped shaking hands.

Thank you.

They let each other's hands go as she thanked him.

My name is Tristram Lind.

Tristram?

The woman spoke just as quietly as when she said hello. She looked down at the table. Inspector Lind had a hard time telling if the woman was just routinely repeating his first name or if it was a reaction to its rarity. In the end he decided it was the latter.

Yes, really.

His response was almost apologetic, and he wondered if it would be appropriate to explain how he had gotten his unusual name.

An unusual name.

It is, yes.

His voice grew a bit livelier when he confirmed the woman's comment. He considered whether it would make for a less painful conversation if he opened it by giving a brief background of his name. The woman was still looking down at the desk as the inspector spoke.

There are unusual things going on, too.

This time his emphasis was on the phrase unusual things. At the same time, he attempted a guarded smile. He purposely waited a moment before speaking another sentence, so that the phrase he emphasized would settle in the woman's consciousness.

"I got it from my grandmother. It's from the name of the protagonist in an old English novel called Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne."

Tristram, it's got a nice ring to it. How nice that your grandmother chose it and that your parents accepted her suggestion.

Yes, I'm very grateful to my grandmother and to my parents for that.

It's always good not to lose sight of our most tender feelings and the feeling of closeness to our children and parents. And our grandparents too, if they're still alive.

The room grew quiet for a while.

It was nearly two minutes before the woman broke the silence.

Today is the November 26th.

Only