After Twenty Years - O Henry

If someone loves short stories with a great twist in the end, then “After Twenty years” by O Henry is the perfect read.  The short story that tells a story of a reunion of two friends after a gap of twenty years with an eye popping climax at the end, was written and published by O Henry in 1906 along with his book of Anthology, “The Four Million”.

Anyone reading the short story can hardly guess where the story would end. The short narratives starts with, one of the friends, named Jimmy wells navigating the streets of the city as part of his routine duty, but he is also waiting for his twenty year old friend, Bob, who had promised to meet him at destined spot twenty years ago. What follows is something the readers would thoroughly enjoy in this short twist of tale.

Beautifully paced and amazingly plotted, the reader only comes to know the twist only in the last three lines of the narrative. Like his classic, “The Gift of the Magi”, this story too has its surprise moment with a classic twist that can be termed as a stroke of smart writing.

“After Twenty Years” is a must read for anyone who love conversationalist twisted tales. Everything lies in the words of the story but is beautifully revealed and connected in the finale. Don’t miss this one.