By Wendy K. Mages

As he caresses the guitar, making music as only he can, her jealousy ignites. The way he cradles the old instrument, strokes its taught strings, harmonizes with its chords, sears. She wishes he still embraced her with such passion, such adoration, but with her, he is all dissonance and discord.

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Wendy K. Mages, a Pushcart Prize nominee, is a storyteller, educator, and researcher who earned a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a master’s in Theatre at Northwestern University. As a Professor at Mercy College, she researches the effect of the arts on learning and development. To complement her research, she performs original stories at storytelling events and festivals in the US and abroad. Please visit https://www.mercy.edu/directory/wendy-mages to learn more about her and her work and to find links to her published stories and poetry.