A Stop: Stories That Never Happened

Any little thing throws you off balance. Any moment can become a turning point. But in fact, even just thinking about changes—let alone deciding to make them—is already a big step that requires serious inner work.

The new stories by Roman Senchin in the collection “Stop” were written before February 24, 2022, but now they sound especially piercing. The heroes are ordinary people with their hopes, desires, indecision, obedience to fate and circumstances. Yet in each story there is a turn, some kind of pause—when a person must make a choice, take a decisive step, say “no,” or “yes.” To give something up for the future, for ideals, for goodness at last. To shake off the everyday haze and see things as they truly are. Will it happen?