Writer Brady Udall with another story about what animals can take the place of, in our lives and in our homes—this one involving an armadillo. This work of fiction originally appeared in the Autumn 1999 issue of Story magazine.

So what if you held onto a high-school crush? Under what conditions would it never go away? Tobias Wolff reads a short story called "Kiss." (38 minutes)

Ira reads a very brief excerpt from a short story from writer Stuart Dybek called "We Didn't." Dybek fills 11 pages, thousands of words, describing all the things two people do when they're not doing something.

Writer Achy Obejas reads a piece of short fiction from her book, We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (11 minutes)

Writer Tobias Wolff reads his story "Bullet in the Brain" from his collection of stories The Night in Question, about a bank robbery and a man who's shot, and what he thinks about before he dies.

A how-to by Junot Diaz, from his book Drown.

Richard Bausch reads his story Letter to the Lady of the House.

Writer Donald Antrim's The Hundred Brothers, and the question: What happens when we grow up? (24 minutes)

A man tries to calculate what love costs. From Lydia Davis's book Break It Down, read by actor Matt Malloy.

There can be consequences for reading other people's mail.

Ron Carlson's short story.

Actor Michael Stumm reads from fireman and fiction writer Larry Brown's book On Fire.

"Edison, New Jersey," a story about delivering pool tables from Junot Diaz's book Drown.

Short fiction by George Saunders.

Fiction writer George Saunders reads his story "Offloading for Mrs Schwartz," from his book CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. It's the story of someone who can't get over the death of his ex-wife.

Even the most innocent office job can take over your life. A story by fiction writer Daniel Orozco about one such job.

Scott Carrier's Haiku stories. Scott is the author of Running After Antelope.

Original fiction by Ira Sher about a group of children who find a man trapped in a well but decide not to get him any help.

Audio artist Gregory Whitehead weaves a story of sexual discovery. And This American Life producer Nancy Updike makes an odd discovery about condom use ... or the lack thereof.

Sarah Thyre reads author David Sedaris' "The Last Time You'll Ever Hear from Me," a story of the ultimate Machiavellian scheming.

A story about quitting by Sandra Tsing Loh.