Mysterious Kôr

During the war, Arthur, a soldier on leave, is staying with Pepita and her roommate Callie in their one-room apartment. Pepita and Arthur walk through the moonlit streets wishing they could be alone together, and Pepita describes the deserted city of Kôr. Back at the apartment, the moonlight inspires Callie to romantic but chaste imaginings about the others, and she does not understand why they are annoyed with her when she welcomes them back.

Borderline fantastic story: moonlight pervades this story, inhabiting the thoughts of the characters and emphasizing their isolation from each other, to the point that it becomes significant in itself. First published in Penguin New Writing 20 (January 1944)