"An Afternoon in the Woods" is a short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor

Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...

. It was published posthumously in 1988 in her Collected Works. It is the final version of The Turkey

The Turkey

"The Turkey" is an early short story by the American author Flannery O'Connor. It is one of the six stories included in O'Connor's 1947 master's thesis The Geranium: A Collection of Short Stories and was published in Mademoiselle in 1948 as "The Capture." It later appeared in the 1971 collection...

 and "The Capture" and was originally part of her 1947 master thesis and was going to be published in 1955 compilation, but was replaced with "Good County People." A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.

Plot summary

In the story a 10-year-old boy, Manley, sneaks into the woods from a birthday party. During this sojourn he has fun humorously blaspheming by himself and reflects on his older brother who is always getting into trouble but kills a bobcat, partially redeeming himself. Manley ends up spotting a wild turkey which he chases through the wood and eventually finds it dead, suffering from a wound. The boy thinks he will be a hero when he brings the large turkey home and proves himself to his family. He marches it the long way through town so everyone can see him carrying it. Feeling bad about his blaspheming and other sins, Manely prays that he sees a homeless person to give his dime to, and he sees Hetty Gilman who takes his dime but looks dissatisfied. He sees this as testing God. People in the town notice Manley, including some boys who follow him. When he puts down the turkey to show it to the boys, they steal it and run off. Manley runs home feeling as though something terrible is chasing him.