On "Where Our Wives Are" by Greg Oaks (3177) ***

Here's a deceptively interesting story. I say deceptive because it's not one that at first hooked me in, but by about a third of the way through it, the story took hold. For me, what was working was the theme, this way that Oaks keeps circling back to crime. If stories are obsessions, crime is this story's obsession--all the horrible things this one man has had to endure. And then comes the end, all those crimes take on a whole other meaning. What are our lives when our loved ones are gone? Who do we trust? How can we? Read the story here at Switchback.

On "Applied Algebra" by Harbeer Sandhu (916 words) ****

To what extent this qualifies as a story, I'm not sure. But certainly, Sandhu conveys a life, a situation--a series of situations--in unique terms that add up to more than just their singular parts (in this case, 1 + 1 does not equal 2). I would have never thought I'd enjoy reading math problems quite so much. And the story has me thinking about the way in which our lives really are in every single decision we make, as those economics professors like to spout, about economic choices. On just what do we put our priorities? How much money could I have earned had I copyedited a page of someone's textbook rather than read this story? Was it worth it. As Sarah Palin would put it, you betcha. Read the story here at Switchback.