Meg Wolitzer

Reading it is Jessica Hecht.

She's a Broadway regular whose credits include the recent Eureka Day, for which she earned a Tony nomination.

She's also recognizable for her many films and TV series, including Breaking Bad and The Boys.

And now, here's Jessica Hecht performing a slightly abridged version of The Shabbos Goy by Helen Schulman.

That was Jessica Heck reading The Shabbos Goy by Helen Schulman.

I'm Meg Wolitzer.

I know, I know, there's a version of this story in which the divorcee and the rabbi get together and open their own Yiddish-English-French bookstore.

But that's a rom-com, and Shulman's version, full of people navigating messy, difficult situations, is more true to real life.

In my own writing, when my characters face hard decisions, I have to try and stay a writer and not become a parent.

What I mean is that I have to keep myself from bursting in and pushing for the choice I would have made in the same circumstance.

Instead, I have to know who the character is and through that knowledge understand what they would do.

I've had readers write me letters saying that they were annoyed with one of my characters because of certain choices she made.

Though it can be hard to hear that, maybe it just means I was doing my job.

And the next time you reach your next fork in the road, keep our stories in mind.

Maybe you feel required to make a brash, wild decision, like the oak tree from our Le Guin tale at the top of the hour.

Or maybe you take a somewhat more measured approach, as does the narrator from Shulman's story.

Whether your choice signals a wild departure or a way forward that's a bit closer to where you've been, remember that change is a constant, and the best thing we can do is embrace it.

I'm Meg Wolitzer.

Thanks for joining me for Selected Shorts.

Selected Shorts is produced by Jennifer Brennan and Sarah Montague.