Includes bibliographical references.

Acknowledgments -- The short story in the Arabian Gulf region : origins and development / Deborah S. Akers -- Saudi Arabia. Auntie Khadarjan / Ahmad al-Sibaʻi ; Suq al-Nada / Zahra S. al-Muʻbi ; The jewelry box / Badriyah al-Bashar ; The impossible / Najat Khayyat ; I was betrayed with a single golden pound / Munirah A. al-Ghadir ; Knowing his secret / Sharifah al-Shamlan ; The shelter / Ibrahim Nassir al-Humaydan ; An encounter / ʻAbd Allah Husayn ; Bloodstains on the wall / Ahmad Bogary ; The sliver polisher / ʻAbd Allah Bakhshawayn ; Reaching you through the letter carrier / ʻAbd al-ʻAziz MIshri -- Yemen. The corn seller / Zayd Muti' Dammaj ; Trilling cries of joy / ʻAli ʻAwad Badib ; A parting shot / Muhammad O. Bahah ; Sanaa does not know me / Muhammad al-Gharbi ʻUmran ; The veiled one / Zayd Salih al-Faqih ; To return by foot / Wajdi al-Ahdal ; The nightmare / Hamadan Dammaj ; Bus #99 / Yassir ʻAbd al-Bagi -- Oman. Oranges in the sun / Yahya bin Salam al-Mundhri ; A crisis at sea / ʻAli Muhammad Rashid ; A voice from the earth / Ahmad Bilal ; Ghomran's oil field / Suʻad al-ʻArimi ; Sounds of the sea / Saud Bulushi ; The disaster / Muhammad ibn Sayf Rahabi ; The white dog / Sulayman al-Maʻmami -- United Arab Emirates. The plight / ʻAbd al-Hamid Ahmad ; An idyllic world / Muhammad al-Murr ; Surprise at the airport / Asma' al-Zarʻuni ; A bouquet of jasmine / ʻAbd al-Ilah ʻAbd al-Qadir -- Bahrain. That winter / Muhammad Abd al-Malik ; Al-Assadiah / Hasan ʻIsa al-Mahrus ; The dogs / ʻAbd Allah Khalifah ; The siege / ʻAbd al-Qadir ʻAqil -- Qatar. Layla / Widad ʻAbd al-Latif al-Kawari ; A night of sorrow / Kulthum Jabr ; The storyteller / Hasan Rashid ; A woman / Huda al-Nuʻaymi ; The checkpoint / Muhsin al-Hajiri ; The prize / Jamal Faiz ; The alley / Nasir al-Hallabi -- Kuwait. The homeland is far away, the roads are many / Layla al-Uthman ; The ID card / Layla al-Uthman ; Hunger / Muna al-Shafiʻi ; The age of pain / Muna al-Shafiʻi ; The return of a captive / Hamad al-Hammad ; New wrinkles / Badr Abu Raqabah ; Guns and jasmine / Layla Muhammad Salih ; Bashrawi / Talib al-Rifai.