On "What Love Is Really About" by Sonya Friedman (3440 words) ***

This is a love story that relishes in love. This isn't something one sees a lot of. I'm reminded of a movie with Richard Dreyfus where he is at a racetrack, and he wins on his bet--and wins and wins. Where's the conflict one might ask? If this person lives on easy street, gets things right. But in the Dreyfus film, I'm guessing the reason folks stayed enthralled was because they were certain that at some point Dreyfus would lose, and they wanted to see what happened when he did.

The love in this story isn't so simple. Sure, the man and woman love and continue to love, but what one also sees is the cost. This isn't a case where circumstances make love seem easy, but they keep on regardless. Why read on? Perhaps because, as in the film A Beautiful Mind (not true, apparently, to the real-life story), we are fascinated by how people can stick together in such trials. Read the story here at TPQ Online.

On "The Shorty" by Zachary T. Vickers (7990 words) ****

This is a long one, but it kept me reading. I liked the voice. Vickers, here, is able to channel the world of a short man who wants--well, basically--a normal life. Sure, there's the part about him wanting to high jump, but that's more a comment on something he can't even try to do. There is also the desire to own a house, the desire for a decent job, and most important the desire for respect. Does he get it? I don't know. But maybe that doesn't matter. Maybe what Vickers is hinting at here is that respect starts off in one's own mind. Read it here at TPQ Online.