Do you think it's love? How can you tell?

When you start to hope, then comes the danger.

You begin to think that love is like song lyrics, and then you're in trouble.

I'm Meg Wallitzer, and on this week's Selected Shorts,

we'll hear stories about figuring it out, performed by Maya Dillon and Jennifer Ikehda.

Stay with us.

I'm Meg Wallitzer, and you're listening to Selected Shorts,

where our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

On this particular show, love stories, or maybe not.

How do we actually know when it's love? It's not like there's a definitive test,

and what if it's not quite love, but maybe as good as it gets.

Our two stories delve into this tricky and traditional subject.

In one, a woman is baffled by her attraction to a modern-day caveman.

She can't seem to get enough of what he doesn't have to offer.

And in the other, a widowed mother starts dating again.

Zayn Smith has described writing about a character who rummages in their purse for something

because, as she writes, I was too lazy and thoughtless and unawake to separate purse

from its old persistent friend, Rommage.

The same pitfalls await when you write about love.

You might reflexively say that someone's heart flutters or skips a beat,

but that's not going to do what you want.

I think you have to try to get to the sensations to what feels true for these people that you've created.

...