In Saki's celebrated short story "The Open Window," Mrs. Sappleton's mischievous, imaginative fifteen-year-old niece Vera is introduced to the neurotic, gullible Framton Nuttel. When Vera answers the door, Mr. Nuttel proceeds to introduce himself, and she asks him several probing questions about his visit and background. After learning that Framton Nuttel is unfamiliar with her aunt and the surrounding region, Vera proceeds to convey a detailed fabricated story about why her aunt keeps her large French window open, in the hopes of frightening the anxious Mr. Nuttel.

Vera proceeds to tell Framton Nuttel that three years ago, Mrs. Sappleton's husband and two brothers left through the French window for a day's shooting but never returned. Vera tells Mr. Nuttel that the men were engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog, when the unstable ground suddenly collapsed below them. She also mentions that their bodies were never recovered and that her aunt continues to believe that they will one day return, which is why she keeps the large French window open every evening. Framton Nuttel believes Vera's unsettling story and is unnerved when Mrs. Sappleton mentions that her husband and brothers should be returning soon from shooting. When Vera's uncles begin to walk toward the home, Vera pretends to be horrified, and Framton genuinely believes that ghosts are approaching, which causes him to run out of the house in fear.