With Rachael

Charlotte Perkins Gilman gave us “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and now she’s back with a different story. Mollie Mathewson wishes she were a man. Almost immediately after she makes that wish, she gets transported into her husband’s mind. In that mind he quickly forgets why they had a little argument, and runs to catch the train. As the men on the train are chatting, the train is moving, and she finds th...

I put a few authors we hadn’t read before on a random wheel and spun it. Unfortunately this is the story the wheel chose for us and I’m not really convinced the author or the story is actually something I’ll ever want to read again. The story isn’t bad, it just doesn’t fit what I would consider to be intriguing. The sentence structure is very long, and almost feels like the story is composed of ru...

We do what we can to mitigate the pain of heartbreak. Some people cry in bed. Some people eat everything they have in their fridge. Some people dust themselves off, put on a camel costume and go to a party. Our main character and his partner are minutes away from signing the marriage license when they break up. Since both of them are a part of the upper echelon, they have to understand that they’l...

If I ever meet Nathaniel Hawthorne in the afterlife, he’ll never know peace. This story is about a successful scientist named Aylmer who falls and love and marries the most beautiful woman, Georgiana. The men want to be with her. The women are jealous of her. The only flaw she has is a tiny birthmark in the shape of an infant hand on her cheek. The birthmark is a little red, so when she blushes, t...

I want to get something off my chest. I feel as though it’s been a long time since our last TRUE invention. A tangible thing that flips the entire world on its’ axis hasn’t been released in a long time. Don’t fight me. This story is all about an inventor investing all of his time and money into this flying machine. The papers, his community, and passersby mock him and laugh at this seemingly unatt...

Wow. What a story. The first story on this podcast that made me think, “I should call him… Actually, I most definitely should not. ” This story is written as a letter from one woman to an old lover. She’s actively running away from meeting him one last time because she realizes that nothing can come from another reunion. As the woman recounts the beautiful moments between them, oh so long ago, she...

Don’t let that first line fool you, this story is interesting and made me laugh. Each story I read, I get more of an idea of the time period it was written, themes that may have been important back then, and how language changes over time. In this one, I found that in detective stories, I want more detail on how the protagonists solves the crime or problem. I want the step by step process on how t...

Once again we start a story with someone who’s on “an adventure”. Unfortunately, it feels as though adventure is a code name for trespassing on private property and getting flipped upside down- literally and figuratively. Although this story is classified as a gothic, it seems more whimsy than dreadful and scary. The forest is alive and playing small tricks on Mr. Thomas, starting from the crossed...

Warning! This is a children’s story, but here are a few choice words. A Prince is on bedrest which means he can’t do what he loves most about the job, making appearances in front of his adoring fans! As the young Prince tries to feel well enough to assume his responsibilities, he quickly comes to understand what it means to be Royalty, and just how clueless he’s been. This story is a direct repres...

Aldous Huxley wrote one of my favorite books known to man, Brave New World. Since I read it the first time in 9th Grade Honors English, I knew that it and Aldous Huxley would remain in my life forever. The amount of detail in his writing made it difficult to read back in that time, but as a nosy gal who needs to know everything about everyone, I thoroughly enjoyed it. He, along with my English tea...

This week’s story is an Estonian fairy tale, translated to English, about a young boy trying to save his town from being eaten by a roving dragon. The only way he can do that is to make sure that he has the Ring of Solomon, that has written instructions - but where is it? And how does he decipher what to do? Listen to this episode of With Rachael to find out! I hope you enjoy. Like, Comment, or Sh...

Edgar Allan Poe is practically the godfather of macabre. This story is just an example of his writing in a way that allows the readers to be fully immersed, but deeply trouble them. Although I didn’t enjoy the themes and plot of this one, I can recognize that his writing is impressive, intriguing, and bursting at the seams with details. There’s also something so honest about loving something so mu...

We as a human race are always searching for more. If we’re looking for a higher power or hunt for a better way to do something - that’s not anything new. What do we do once we learn the truth about a situation or if we build a new technology? Do we hold it for ourselves or do we innately get so excited to share about it, not thinking about potential risks? Personally, I stop and share everything I...

Today’s episode is about a woman who’s not well. Her husband/physician, since that’s a great combination, has prescribed her rest in the countryside. It’s a beautiful house with incredible gardens and greenery - grape vines, and pathways around the property. What isn’t gorgeous however, is the musty, dirty, yellow wallpaper in the room in which she is ordered to rest. The man she has trusted to be...

This is a whimsical confession to a woman who will never read it. While trying to make the trek cross country on top of a train, the protagonist comes across many people. Some may be willing to feed him, some want him to kick rocks, and some might just stare and wait for him to move past. In choosing this short story, I thought it would be a delightful way to shake off some of the funk from the la...

This episode may be short and sweet, but long after recording, I began to think. I tend to ponder ideas and concepts to the point where I’ve thought it to death and I annoy myself. This rumination has deeper implications. The biggest take away here is that there’s a man that’s tired of being poor, so he sets off to be rich, but stops to say that he’ll never make an honest penny again. Fine. I can...

“With Rachael” has quickly become a way for me to get to know classic authors, read their short stories, and expand my horizons when it comes to reading. What started as just a podcast to help me, and you (duh), go to sleep at night has me checking out more books from the library. You hear the name Ray Bradbury so often when it comes to literary greats. He’s been on every high school english curri...

You all know H.G. Wells from his exciting works like, The Invisible Man or War of the Worlds , but have you ever ventured into his other works? This short story is about a shy kid and his dad going to a Magic Shop meeting unique characters and the presence of magic in an ordinary space. This is my first time reading anything by H.G. Wells and if any of his other work is like this, I’d be happy to...

I’m not the most creative human being on the planet, but I do like to make up scenes in my head. I spent a lot of time reading books on the couch about far away places, things that could never happen in real life, and imaginary worlds filled with any type of living being that you could think of. As a chronic over thinker, Sherlock Holmes brought out a world where I could overthink and it still wou...

I’ve always wanted to start a podcast, but I’ve never had the content ideas. One of my friends is a creative and he gave me some advice that he probably heard from someone else. “Create the kind of art that you’d want to listen to. What kind of podcasts do you like?” That’s how this podcast was born. For over 10 years I’ve been listening to podcasts to fall asleep. I’ve been listening to other peo...