The Monkey's Paw: A Short Story

After Herbert’s death, Mr. and Mrs. White could no longer live together. Every little thing reminded them of their dead son, and they blamed each other. Mrs. White moved out just a few months after his death, and Mr. White stayed and sold the house to a young couple. Wanting to leave the memories behind forever, Mr. White threw the Monkey’s Paw into the unlit fireplace before he walked out. As Eric, a young chap who had recently been married to the love of his life, Monica, began to move their things into the house previously owned by the Whites, something resting in the fireplace caught his eye. He strided over to it and picked up a strange foot like thing on a keychain. Strange, he thought. Then a realization came to him. This was the Monkey’s Paw, the legend he grew up hearing about from his older friends and grandparents. It could grant him three wishes and solve his biggest problem-the fact that his only desire was to be a father, but his wife was unable to bear children. Right then and there, he held …show more content…
I’ve not been able to have children with Eric. I think he is sterile. This baby is yours!” Monica proclaimed. Bill stared at her intensely, clearly not surprised. “Monica, why don’t you just say it’s Eric’s? I don’t want to cause a scandal in this town,” Bill reasoned. Monica knew this would never happen. She couldn’t lie to Eric like that.
Eric froze. He stared at them. He thought back to his wish: “I wish that my wife would have a baby.” Now, that his wish was coming true, Eric began to see why people always spoke of the Monkey’s Paw like a curse. He took the Paw out of his pocket and spoke his second wish: “I wish that I could undo my first wish.”
Looking back to where Monica and Bill were standing, Eric stood astonished. Monica was still speaking to Bill. They were still bickering about the baby. Defeated and unsure of how to handle the situation, Eric went home. Once he got home, he flopped on the couch and stared at the