If you haven't read O Henry's amusing "Rose of Dixie," check it out at The Literature Network, a website that has lots of classic short stories in an easily legible format.
Afterwards, a little background on the punchline here.
O Donnah,
I used a book of short stories by this author that you had left at Mom's house with my 5th graders one year.
I thought "The Monkey's Paw" would be delicious to use with predict/infer because what happens next... isn't anything what you'd think.
And when the monkey's paw wiggled, OMG...