On "Effigies of Ourselves" by Ursula Villarreal-Moura (187 words) ***

Currently in my first official serious relationship (and having experienced a few unofficial ones), I am learning how the pacing between men and women often differs and can cause numerous problems with regard to desire. Villarreal-Moura's short take is essentially about this. And really, even as timing seems to be so much to what makes a relationship happy or frustrating at a given moment, it has to do with having a relationship in and of itself. I sometimes think about that. I'd be with someone else right now had I gone for a girl who I failed to pursue three years ago, because other things were going on in my life. But had I gone for her, I'd have never met certain other women along the way to my current girlfriend. Read the story here at Dogzplot.

On "Last First Date" by Kate Folk (194 words) ***

Here's a dark and humorous look at a very bad date. Each word is carefully chosen, since Folk only had two hundred max to work with--and work she did. Read the piece here at Dogzplot.

On "The Regatta" by B. J. Hollars (635 words) ***

When I first came across B. J. Hollars's work, I found it rather fantastical--well, most of the time. Occasionally, he ventured into straight-out realism. But the works I enjoyed most were those that had strange connections to this world.

Most recently, Hollars's work has seemed to move toward the gothic--or at least what I think of as gothic. We have stories of people doing disturbing things told in hyped-up and beautiful prose. This short recent piece is emblematic of that. Ostensibly the story of a boy in some kind of race out on the water, it's power is drawn from the odd use of language--paddles like crossbones--and by a rather chilling metaphor made real toward its end. Read the story here at Dogzplot.

On "Krazy Glue" by Hallie Elizabeth Newton (3494 words) ****

This story transfixed me with its voice. A woman sort of falls in love with a set of mixed tapes, a correspondence made up of someone else's love tunes. A woman goes to Mexico to change her life. A woman tries to glue herself back together. Much of this piece isn't in chronological order. We get bits about the time in Mexico, bits about past boyfriends, bits about her life, but by the time we get to the end, we know where all the pieces are, and we're ready to begin Krazy gluing ourselves. Read the story here at Dogzplot.

On "My Gift to Her" by Lauren Becker (196 words) ***

This short, short piece starts with a curse and ends with a curse. In between, we get a glimpse into the life of a bitter woman. She's bitter for a good reason. But she'll do what she is supposed to do for the family--for a while. Read the story here at Dogzplot.

On "Happy Ending Sundae" by Ravi Mangla (217 words) ****

Another Mangla special. I'm not sure this one qualifies in terms of being a true short story--is there a plot? Is there a conflict? A crisis? A rising action? A resolution? And then, again, metaphorically, I think this is. This story is about brain surgery, about making it through something for the first time, trying to do that right thing. And it's beautiful. Read it here at Dogzplot.

On "Push or Pull" by Lauren Becker (276 words) ****

It's hard to come up with something that has any power in five hundred words, let alone less than three hundred. Becker manages to pull it off here, the story of a desperate woman, one apparently of many. I don't get guys like this. Sometimes, though, I wish I were one of them. And then again, not. Something in me prefers being rejected to rejecting. Read the story here at the top of the page (among many others) at Dogzplot.