O. Henry

No author has broached the subject of short stories with the theme of 'Man proposes, but God disposes' as well as O. Henry a.k.a. William Sydney porter has. The easy flow of his stories with an equally easy twist, brings a smile of acknowledgment on every reader's face, since each one of us has experienced ruin of our plans in a good or evil way. And yet, no one has figured why some things that should run smoothly end up so rough.
The collection of stories starts off with the infamous 'The Gift of Magi', which is the story of a loving couple, who lose their best possessions to make their other half's treasure more valuable, yet, in the end, find out that their love for each other is the best present they could have got for Christmas. Second in line is 'Mammon and the Archer', which is the story of a rich father who believes in money's power to achieve anything and proves so, when he stages the situation for his son's proposal to the lady he loves. 'After Twenty Years' tests the bonds of friendship between two men, along with a moral crisis, since one of the men, now, is a wanted criminal, while the other, a dutiful law enforcer. 'Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen' shows how not knowing how to refuse can overfeed a man to hospital and brings his benefactor to death bed. Human spirits and beliefs are tested in the 'The Last Leaf', when a woman close to deathbed survives, which the man who saves her succumbs to death. Old habits die hard in 'A Retrieved Reformation' for a hard core thief, who even after turning a new leaf, is forced to re-live his old habits at the time of a crisis, while his old mate, who is waiting to expose his old habits accepts his new situation gracefully.
My grandfather introduced this author to me and as much as O.Henry's short stories are much celebrated, seems like the local library has little momenta of his to remember.