The Buried Treasure Corner is dedicated to all the readers who are looking for a short story they read in the past but cannot find it.

Please publish a comment on this page or contact us at clairekeeganfictionclinic@gmail.com to give us any details you remember from the story you are looking for and we will try to help.

Also, if you recognise the details someone else provided about a lost story, please write to us. Help others find their buried treasure!

Here are the first two lost stories looking to come home:

1)

“I believe it’s by an American writer but am not entirely sure. The details I remember are as follows:

The story opens with a woman taking a bus ride. She is on her way to see her husband and as the story progresses it becomes clear that this is a prison visit. He is in jail for murdering their/her? children. On the way there the bus breaks down. The story ends with the bus being fixed/or another bus coming along that she gets on. Either way, she does not continue her journey to see her husband. 

It’s ten years or more since I read it, and I have read countless stories since but this one has stayed with me. I’d love to read it again. I’m interested to see if my memory of it is near the mark and if it is as powerful on a reread as it is in my memory.” Claire Bamber, London 

2)

“I’m looking for a short story, also American, I think. The narrator in the story looks into the kitchen and sees the cook spitting in the food. I can’t remember much more except that it was a powerful story. I want to say it’s by an African American writer and that I read it in the Joyce Carol Oates anthology but I just can’t find it. If anyone out there recognizes the story, I’d much appreciate their getting in touch. Many thanks.” Claire Keegan, Dublin  

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