Last week we reviewed 2013’s ten most-read Stoneslide pieces that weren’t short stories. Today we take a long, satisfying look at the year’s ten most-read short stories.

 We continue to marvel at how writers can pack so much import and action into the briefest of narratives. Some are brief to the extreme. Yet in those few words lie powerful images breathed into life by powerful characters, who in turn are the stout creations of powerful writers.

We hope you enjoy this look back at 2013.

“Stripped” Sometimes I think everyone knows.

“Tighty-Whitie Deep Sea Divers” I was three years old and my new baby brother Daniel was dressed in a white christening gown, way too big for him, that contrasted against a black-leather reading chair in our living room.

“The Disappearance” Diego rarely returned home to D.F. and when he did, he felt foreign, extracted.

“Slower Than Death” My dog, Mickey, was already eleven years old when I noticed that he no longer bugged me to go out all morning but just lay in the spot he’d been in since our walk to Dunkin.

“Houseplants” Houseplants are generally inconsequential and are only imbued with the meaning you bestow on them.

“Write a Letter” you should write letters to the newspaper.

Gracious Living Without Servants, excerpt Not counting the reception after the funeral, this was Juliet’s first party as a widow.

“Dating Hall of Shame: The Halloween Edition” Halloween my sophomore year of university was one of those scintillating and gloriously bright Midwest fall days that had you humming Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff the Magic Dragon”—the line where he was frolicking in the autumn mist and all that.

“Warning Light” It was a cold Monday, and I would be late coming back to work.

“36-Inch Waist” I carry the bag of old clothes.