# Please identify this short story

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-short-story/699441>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 24, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-short-story/699441 "2014-09-24T16:28:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-short-story/699441/1 "2014-09-24T16:28:11Z")

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My gf posed this question on another message board but got no answers.

Her thread was titled “Best short story I’ve ever read. Starts with a legless body being carried onto a train in a burlap sack.” More:

I think it was in one of those “Best of” compilations, but I’ve gone through the indexes online and found nothing. It’s set in a rural pioneer town. A huge blizzard happens, and some people completely lose it, and others die keeping people warm. At the end, a girl is walking home from a party balancing on an ice covered train trestle.

Anyone recognize it?

Thanks in advance,  
**E.**