"Saint Vera," by Barry Jay Kaplan

An unusual use of language and omniscient viewpoint taps into the reader’s familiarity with stories of those who survived the horrors of World War II. Beauty and death, the power of story and how it is passed on to others, are all at the center. And then the drama of the story shifts to the first person narrator’s impressions of an older woman, once beautiful as evidenced by photographs of her. Appreciating her art in pictures and her life story, the narrator is deeply touched by her present circumstances and physical appearance. The end of the story leaves us with this narrator in shock and speaks to the mystery and power of art. Read it here in Prick of the Spindle.