The following version of this short story was used to create the guide: Ishiguro, Kazuo. "A Village After Dark." The New Yorker, 2001.

Kazuo Ishiguro's short story "A Village After Dark," is written from Fletcher's first-person point of view, told in the past tense, and set in an unnamed location.

When Fletcher first arrived in the village, he was struck by how unfamiliar the place was. As a young man, Fletcher had been a confident and astute traveler. His age, however, had made him increasingly disoriented.

The streets were narrow and winding. The light was poor. Fletcher felt as if his body was too big to navigate the small channels. Fatigued, he started banging on a random cottage door, hoping someone who remembered him might welcome him inside.

Suddenly, a young girl appeared behind him, calling him by name. Fletcher was surprised and flattered. The girl was one among many in a group of young people who remembered and lauded Fletcher's former political influence in the town. The girl invited him to her house to spend time with her friends. Fletcher wanted to rest first, and banged on the cottage again. The girl said the place belonged to the Petersons, people who knew Fletcher but who Fletcher did not remember.

An old man opened the door, and regarded Fletcher with disapproval. He let him inside anyway. The cottage's interior was small and cramped, and lit poorly. Though Fletcher could not remember the current occupants, he suddenly remembered that he once lived in this cottage. Suddenly the place seemed like his own, and he rushed towards the bed where he used to sleep.

Between waking and sleeping, Fletcher caught snatches of the group's conversation. Fletcher assumed the negative things they were saying about him were in fact about someone else.

Once he fully awoke, a middle-aged woman approached the bed. She told Fletcher they were once lovers, and she hated him for all the hurt he had caused her. Fletcher said he did not remember her, and would not apologize. Once he finally surveyed the room, he realized the people had all been saying nasty things about him. He imagined all the awful conjectures they must have made during their conversation. Determined to stand up for himself, and prove himself morally superior, Fletcher told the group that their beliefs about him were wrong. He would go to the young people at once. They would listen to him, and their lives would have purpose. He would make more positive change and prove than they had ever been able to.

Outside, he and the girl started walking. On their way, they encountered one of Fletcher's former classmates. Roger Button. Suddenly Fletcher remembered their fraught relationship. Roger reminded him how unkind he had been in their youth. Fletcher tried changing the subject. The girl had disappeared. Because Fletcher refused Roger's attempts to make amends, Fletcher lured him to a bus stop, insisting a ride would soon arrive. The bus was magical, too, and Fletcher would love it. Fletcher stood in the dark of the middle of the night, and thought of how excited he was for the bus, and for the gathering with the youth.