
Short Story Press Presents: Chest of Childhood
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $7.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Krista Nicely
About this listen
Short Story Press Presents: Chest of Childhood by Janet Marie Lewis
An aged, decrepit old woman wanders the quiet hallways of her home. She remembers a day when they were brighter...more kinetic with anticipation of life within their walls. Family was a regular occurrence, and the tinkling laughter of grandchildren used to echo through the house. Oh, how she missed those times, as she now hobbles oh-so-slowly with her cane through the archaic old home.
And as the old woman wanders, reminiscing through the halls, she comes upon a door. Rusty hinges amplify groan of age as the door swings slowly open, and she balances herself in the doorway.
The old woman discovers a chest...an antique old cedar chest that is very large, and her breath catches briefly as her heart thumps in her own body. The chest has sparked a memory, and she releases the door jam. Using her cane for support, the woman shambles over to the massive trunk with anticipation in her eyes.
It had been near 85 years after all, since she’d seen what was in the trunk, and she could barely remember, though it called out to her in the otherwise empty room. Now, it took her what seemed like a very long time to reach it, and when she did, her weakened old body fell against it for support. She fumbled with the latch as her gnarled and arthritic hands fought against what it was she desired, but finally...she was able to snap the hasp upward, releasing the lock on the trunk.
What she discovered inside was not just a memory. What she discovered was a living, breathing catalyst that grasped her firmly in its grips and propelled her back in time. The old woman discovered herself in the midst of her childhood friends. A child again herself, she caught the jump rope chant on the wind....
©2018 Short Story Press (P)2018 Short Story PressListeners also enjoyed...
-
We
- By: Yevgeny Zamyatin
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the 26th century A.D., Yevgeny Zamyatin's masterpiece describes life under the regimented totalitarian society of OneState, ruled over by the all-powerful "Benefactor." Recognized as the inspiration for George Orwell's 1984, We is the archetype of the modern dystopia, or anti-Utopia: a great prose poem detailing the fate that might befall us all if we surrender our individual selves to some collective dream of technology and fail in the vigilance that is the price of freedom.
-
-
Interesting history, prose a little outdated
- By Joel D Offenberg on 11-30-11
By: Yevgeny Zamyatin
-
House of Salt and Sorrows
- By: Erin A. Craig
- Narrated by: Emily Lawrence
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were 12, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that her sister's deaths were no accidents. The girls have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts.
-
-
a novelized folk tale
- By Sarah on 10-30-19
By: Erin A. Craig
-
Fifty Words for Rain
- A Novel
- By: Asha Lemmie
- Narrated by: Robin Eller, Siho Ellsmore, Katharine Lee McEwan, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity.
-
-
Transformation of a bastered girl with Blue blood
- By Emiko Sugita Deri on 10-11-20
By: Asha Lemmie
-
This Is Happiness
- By: Niall Williams
- Narrated by: Dermot Crowley
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is idling in the unexpected sunshine when Christy makes his first entrance into Faha, bringing secrets he needs to atone for. Though he can't explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed. As the people of Faha anticipate the endlessly procrastinated advent of the electricity, and Noel navigates his own coming-of-age and his fallings in and out of love, Christy's past gradually comes to light, casting a new glow on a small world.
-
-
Poetry disguised as Prose
- By bobgreenberger on 09-26-20
By: Niall Williams
-
Pariah
- Bequin: Warhammer 40,000, Book 1
- By: Dan Abnett
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the city of Queen Mab, nothing is quite as it seems. Pariah, spy and Inquisitorial agent Alizebeth Bequin is all of these things and yet none of them. An enigma, even to herself, she is caught between Inquisitors Gregor Eisenhorn and Gideon Ravenor, former allies now enemies who are playing a shadow game against a mysterious and deadly foe. Coveted by the archenemy, pursued by the Inquisition, Bequin becomes embroiled in a dark plot of which she knows not her role or purpose.
-
-
Whistle like kettles, wheeeee!
- By Hans on 03-04-21
By: Dan Abnett
-
A View Across the Rooftops
- By: Suzanne Kelman
- Narrated by: Alan Medcroft
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Would you risk your life to save just one person? An incredible story of love, hope, and friendship; and a testament to humanity and courage in history’s darkest days. 1941, Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Professor Josef Held has never recovered from the loss of his beloved wife - and has no intention of ever letting anyone new into his quiet, safe world. But then the Nazis come for the Jews - and Mrs Epstein is killed. And Josef, in an impulsive act of courage, offers his student Michael Blum a place to hide.
-
-
Didn’t want it to end!
- By Daylelianna on 10-30-19
By: Suzanne Kelman
-
We
- By: Yevgeny Zamyatin
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the 26th century A.D., Yevgeny Zamyatin's masterpiece describes life under the regimented totalitarian society of OneState, ruled over by the all-powerful "Benefactor." Recognized as the inspiration for George Orwell's 1984, We is the archetype of the modern dystopia, or anti-Utopia: a great prose poem detailing the fate that might befall us all if we surrender our individual selves to some collective dream of technology and fail in the vigilance that is the price of freedom.
-
-
Interesting history, prose a little outdated
- By Joel D Offenberg on 11-30-11
By: Yevgeny Zamyatin
-
House of Salt and Sorrows
- By: Erin A. Craig
- Narrated by: Emily Lawrence
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were 12, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that her sister's deaths were no accidents. The girls have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts.
-
-
a novelized folk tale
- By Sarah on 10-30-19
By: Erin A. Craig
-
Fifty Words for Rain
- A Novel
- By: Asha Lemmie
- Narrated by: Robin Eller, Siho Ellsmore, Katharine Lee McEwan, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity.
-
-
Transformation of a bastered girl with Blue blood
- By Emiko Sugita Deri on 10-11-20
By: Asha Lemmie
-
This Is Happiness
- By: Niall Williams
- Narrated by: Dermot Crowley
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is idling in the unexpected sunshine when Christy makes his first entrance into Faha, bringing secrets he needs to atone for. Though he can't explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed. As the people of Faha anticipate the endlessly procrastinated advent of the electricity, and Noel navigates his own coming-of-age and his fallings in and out of love, Christy's past gradually comes to light, casting a new glow on a small world.
-
-
Poetry disguised as Prose
- By bobgreenberger on 09-26-20
By: Niall Williams
-
Pariah
- Bequin: Warhammer 40,000, Book 1
- By: Dan Abnett
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the city of Queen Mab, nothing is quite as it seems. Pariah, spy and Inquisitorial agent Alizebeth Bequin is all of these things and yet none of them. An enigma, even to herself, she is caught between Inquisitors Gregor Eisenhorn and Gideon Ravenor, former allies now enemies who are playing a shadow game against a mysterious and deadly foe. Coveted by the archenemy, pursued by the Inquisition, Bequin becomes embroiled in a dark plot of which she knows not her role or purpose.
-
-
Whistle like kettles, wheeeee!
- By Hans on 03-04-21
By: Dan Abnett
-
A View Across the Rooftops
- By: Suzanne Kelman
- Narrated by: Alan Medcroft
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Would you risk your life to save just one person? An incredible story of love, hope, and friendship; and a testament to humanity and courage in history’s darkest days. 1941, Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Professor Josef Held has never recovered from the loss of his beloved wife - and has no intention of ever letting anyone new into his quiet, safe world. But then the Nazis come for the Jews - and Mrs Epstein is killed. And Josef, in an impulsive act of courage, offers his student Michael Blum a place to hide.
-
-
Didn’t want it to end!
- By Daylelianna on 10-30-19
By: Suzanne Kelman
-
Swimming in the Dark
- A Novel
- By: Tomasz Jedrowski
- Narrated by: Will Watt
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism, a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide - a stunningly poetic and heartrending literary debut for fans of Andre Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst.
-
-
One of the Best Contemporary Novels Ever
- By Jeffrey veals on 05-11-20
By: Tomasz Jedrowski
-
The Third Policeman
- By: Flann O'Brien
- Narrated by: Jim Norton
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flann O'Brien's most popular and surrealistic novel concerns an imaginary, hellish village police force and a local murder.
Weird, satirical, and very funny, its popularity has suddenly increased with the mention of the novel in the TV series Lost.
-
-
Hell is other people's bicycles.
- By Darwin8u on 03-01-15
By: Flann O'Brien
-
The Looking Glass Wars
- By: Frank Beddor
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The "true story" behind Alice in Wonderland! Princess Alyss Heart is brutally cast out of Wonderland by her vicious Aunt Redd, who beheads Alyss' mother ("Off with her head!" she cries) and begins to rule over Wonderland with an iron fist. Alyss escapes and is exiled to another world entirely, Victorian London. At age 20, she returns to Wonderland to battle Redd, reclaim the throne, and lead Wonderland into its next golden age of imagination.
-
-
New Twist on Favorite Story
- By Jessica Talbot on 07-22-09
By: Frank Beddor
-
Crier's War
- By: Nina Varela
- Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, designed to be the playthings of royals, usurped their owners’ estates and bent the human race to their will. Now, Ayla, a human servant rising in the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging her family’s death...by killing the sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier.
-
-
the ending was so unsatisfying
- By April Ohms on 11-23-19
By: Nina Varela
-
Summer
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917, a woman's awakening to her sexuality. Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around them, Charity's romance is lush and picturesque, but its consequences are harsh and real.
-
-
Excellent first audible purchase!
- By lilyglint on 08-23-04
By: Edith Wharton
-
Letter from an Unknown Woman
- By: Stefan Zweig
- Narrated by: Heather Wood, K. Anderson Yancy
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Immediately following the death of her young son, distraught and heartbroken, a woman sends a heart-wrenching letter to the only man she has ever loved, chronicling their love affair, opening with, "To you, who have never known me."
-
-
Tough 2 Hear With Background Music & Sound Effects
- By DK on 09-19-15
By: Stefan Zweig
-
Goblin
- A Novel in Six Novellas
- By: Josh Malerman
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Goblin seems like any other ordinary small town. But with the master storyteller Josh Malerman as your tour guide, you’ll discover the secrets that hide behind its closed doors. These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin....
-
-
Ugh…
- By Dave on 05-31-21
By: Josh Malerman
-
Small Graces
- The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life
- By: Kent Nerburn
- Narrated by: Kent Nerburn
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Small Graces is a journey into the sacred moments that illuminate our everyday lives. In 20 elegant pieces, writer, sculptor, and theologian Kent Nerburn celebrates the daily rituals that reveal our deeper truths. Through the exploration of simple acts, Small Graces reminds us to chart a course each day that nourishes the soul, honors the body, and engages the mind.
-
-
worth every minute spent listening
- By Jory on 02-25-18
By: Kent Nerburn
-
Set the Stars Alight
- By: Amanda Dykes
- Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucy Clairmont's family treasured the magic of the past, and her childhood fascination with stories of the high seas led her to become a marine archaeologist. But when tragedy strikes, it's Dashel, an American forensic astronomer, and his knowledge of the stars that may help her unearth the truth behind the puzzle she's discovered in her family home.
-
-
Sweet but lacking
- By Justin K Flora on 08-16-20
By: Amanda Dykes
-
The Memory Theater
- A Novel
- By: Karin Tidbeck
- Narrated by: Tanya Cubric
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a world just parallel to ours exists a mystical realm known only as the Gardens. It’s a place where feasts never end, games of croquet have devastating consequences, and teenagers are punished for growing up. For a select group of masters, it’s a decadent paradise where time stands still. But for those who serve them, it’s a slow torture where their lives can be ended in a blink. In a bid to escape before their youth betrays them, Dora and Thistle - best friends and confidants - set out on a remarkable journey through time and space.
-
-
This is an amazing book
- By Love on 02-20-21
By: Karin Tidbeck
-
Nausea (New Directions Paperbook)
- By: Jean-Paul Sartre
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sartre's greatest novel and existentialism's key text, now introduced by James Wood, and read by the inimitable Edoardo Ballerini. Nausea is the story of Antoine Roquentin, a French writer who is horrified at his own existence. In impressionistic, diary form, he ruthlessly catalogs his every feeling and sensation.
-
-
Glad to have existed to enjoy reading this book!
- By mohammed on 08-11-21
By: Jean-Paul Sartre
-
The Memory Collectors
- By: Kim Neville
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ev has a mysterious ability, one that she feels is more a curse than a gift. She can feel the emotions people leave behind on objects and believes that most of them need to be handled extremely carefully, and - if at all possible - destroyed. The harmless ones she sells at Vancouver’s Chinatown Night Market to scrape together a living, but even that fills her with trepidation. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Harriet hoards thousands of these treasures and is starting to make her neighbors sick as the overabundance of heightened emotions start seeping through her apartment walls.
-
-
Had potential
- By Bianca on 04-06-25
By: Kim Neville