On "Seamus, Then" by J. M. Patrick (644 words) ***

I'm not sure this piece qualifies as a story in terms of the conventions of rising conflict, climax, and resolution, but I like the way the author pulls the story of a life into a single moment at the blackboard, how the present and future mix here. What makes the mix of future tense with the present tense interesting is how the letters that Seamus writes are used as a kind of analysis of his future--and of the narrator's future. We're left wondering, is this the actual future or is it the narrator's imagined future. In the end, though, I suppose it doesn't matter. Read the story here at Contrary Magazine.

On "Instead of What We Could Have Said" by Vincent Reusch (1185 words) ****

Tragedy lurks behind this piece by Vincent Reusch. I like it when there's a bit of mystery, a certain unknown, to a story--enough that you can sort of figure out what's going on, what happened, but not so much that you know all. I suppose, back when I had to write papers for classes, such stories could drive me crazy unless I knew I "knew" what was going on, but for casual reading, such pieces are grand. They make me read them again, and again. You can read the story--again and again--here at Contrary.