The Stout Miss Hopkin's Bicycle — novellutmaningen

 18. Läs en novell där det finns en cykel — "The Stout Miss Hopkin's Bicycle", (1911), av Octave Thanet ur novellsamlingen "Stories That End Well"

 Rencontré à bicyclettes

Federico Zandomeneghi 

Lorania rose; in the glass over the mantel her figure returned her gaze. There was no mistake (except that, as is often the case with stout people, that glass always increased her size), she was a stout lady. She was taller than the average of women, and well proportioned, and still light on her feet; but she could not blink away the records; she was heavy on the scales. Did she stand looking at herself squarely, her form was shapely enough, although larger than she could wish; but the full force of the revelation fell when she allowed herself a profile view, she having what is called "a round waist," and being almost as large one way as another. Yet Lorania was only thirty-three years old, and was of no mind to retire from society, and have a special phaeton built for her use, and hear from her mother's friends how much her mother weighed before her death.

Vad har kvinnor, i alla tider, inte stått ut med för att uppnå sin drömfigur. Lorania beslutar sig för att lära sig cykla för tukta sin kropp, så att den inte ska välla ut på icke önskvärda ställen. En väninna ställer upp som moraliskt stöd och en instruktör städslas.

Between their accidents, they obtained glimpses of an exquisite exhilaration. And there was also to be counted the approval of their consciences, for they felt that no Turkish bath could wring out moisture from their systems like half an hour's pumping at the bicycle treadles. Lorania during the month had ridden through one bottle of liniment and two of witch hazel, and by the end of the second bottle could ride a short distance alone.

Trägen vinner — vilket i det här fallet inte betyder att hon förlorade alla kilon hon tänkt sig, men hon fann, och vann, lyckan. 

Lästa noveller:
 29. Läs en novell där någon dör/har dött — How He Left the Hotel, ur "Collected Stories" av Louisa Baldwin.

35. Läs en novell vars titel är en allitteration — Possessing Prudence av Amy Wentworth Stone, ur Atlantic Narratives (1918)

34. Läs en novell där ett brev spelar en viktig roll  —  The Case of the Registered Letter av Auguste Groner

12. Läs en novell med ett efternamn i titeln — Dr. Wygram's Son av G. M. McCrie 

31. Läs en novell där det sker något övernaturligt — The Last Séance" av Agatha Christie