Short Story Wednesday: Polly’s Hack Ride

“Polly’s Hack Ride” by Emma E Butler is a child’s-eye-view story published in the Vol. 12, No. 2, June 1916 issue of The Crisis. (Archived PDF)

This is the story of how Polly, a six-and-a-half-year-old girl from the poor end of the village, comes to ride in her first hack(ney carriage). It is also a story about how a child experiences death and learns about grieving properly. A moral tale told through the eyes of a little girl allows the reader to consider the arbitrary nature of the rituals adults have around death.

The PDF of the story shows it in the full context of its publication, with the entire magazine available to flip through, making the reading of an old story even more immersive.

(I learned of this piece through my blog friend Whispering Gums’ deep dive into what little information there is about Mrs. Butler.)

Each Wednesday, I review my favourite published story I’ve read during the past week. If you’d like to join me by reviewing a short story on your blog each Wednesday, email me the link to your post, and I’ll share it below. I learned of Short Story Wednesday from Patricia Abbot’s blog.