"The Bob Society,' by Nina Schuyler

It’s no laughing matter when you’re the center of attention and claimed “a riot” when really all you are is you. That’s Bob’s dilemma when a woman, an antique dealer, arrivers to buy an antique desk that he owns, or possibly owned by his ex-wife. The woman arouses him with her presence and the rustle of her gauzy blouse that makes the sound of the “dazzle of fireflies.” The middle of the story moves in all directions, the backstory, the present moment, and Bob’s reflections on his past relationship with women. But he’s preoccupied with the work crew across the street building a stonewall around the house. He considers the possibility that they are members of a secret club and muses about starting his own secret society. The ending uses strong imagery and action and comes to a crashing halt leaving Bob imagining the weight of the stone shouldered by the men across the street as they complete their project. Read it here in The Meadowland Review.

"Black Holes," by Nina Schuyler

A wonderful vignette that captures a moment of tension for a physicist that the reader intuits is fundamental to his life. And I suspect this is not uncommon for those whose minds are enraptured with the esoteric world of particle physics. But in this story, the dilemma unfolds with rich language that opens up the reader’s empathy for him. He thinks a possible solution to his problem might involve “magnetic separation.” Later, he recalls an earlier time with his wife when her eyes “caught his … a magnetic force not flowing clockwise or counter clockwise, but straight at him.” Read it here in Big Ugly Review. For an added treat, you can also hear the writer tell the story.