On "Marionettes" by David Erlewine (855 words) ****

Erlewine's tale starts in media res, where great stories often start. Only once we begin to understand what's going on is the actual situation actually discussed--and that not in detail. We don't need the details. The more interesting thing here is the means of talking, the way this story, or message, is being written and what it suggests about the narrator and all of those still around the narrator. Something's missing from their lives--something very important. Second-person narrator used to great effect here. Read the story here at Necessary Fiction.