Short Fiction Fridays #6: Heartwrenching
Shellfish, angels, linguistics, and more...
The theme of these short fiction recommendations is Heartwrenching, so I’m going to note right away that any content warnings listed are severe in the context of the story.
There are stories that are sad, there are stories that are twisty, and then there are stories that are both. I both admire and fear the way these authors were able to tie up my heartstrings and then slice straight through, Gordian knot style.
Other than their common emotional theme, the short fiction pieces below contain linguistics, angels, cell phones, and shellfish.
“Alive, Alive Oh” by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
A couple moves from Wales to exoplanet G851.5.32, intending to return in ten years. When it becomes clear they will never go back to Earth, the narrator must raise her space-born daughter Megan on the careful line between fond memories and harsh reality. Razor-sharp, lonely, and unfair.
CW: Plague, suicide, death of a child
“Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue” by Charlie Jane Anders
Rachel, a trans woman preparing for her upcoming art show, is abducted for “treatment” at Love and Dignity for Everyone. Her estranged childhood friend Jeffrey works there and reflects on their past, even as he helps transfer her mind to the preserved corpse of a man. Brutal, personal, and sickening.
CW: Transphobia, transmisogyny, conversion therapy, medical abuse, body horror
“Hell Is the Absence of God” by Ted Chiang
After Neil Fisk’s beloved wife is killed in an angelic visitation, her soul rises to Heaven. He cannot join her without true devotion. However, in this alternate theology where pilgrims gear up like storm chasers and Hell manifests like a glass floor, there is a guaranteed way to love God… Impartial, clinical, and soul-searching in more ways than one.
CW: Death of a spouse, ableism, religious trauma, suicide
“If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love" by Rachel Swirsky
The narrator of this flash piece imagines possible worlds where her fiancé is a T-Rex. As she explores the possibilities, she reveals why she is imagining these worlds in the first place. Tender, sentimental, and forlorn.
CW: Hate crimes, slurs, violence
“Ej-Es” by Nancy Kress
Medical researchers fly out to investigate the death of a planetary colony, but discover a young woman still living in the decaying city. Esefeb, a descendant of the original colonists, cares for nothing but her hallucinatory companion. Scientific, paternalistic, and troubling.
The last line will make no sense until you’ve read the rest of the story, and then it will make terrible, terrible sense.
CW: Plague, medical abuse
IF: “Something Happened & The Lights Are Out” by Steph Beck Fey
A short game about the apocalypse, designed for two players. The power just went out—forever—and you have one hour to talk to your long-distance best friend before cell service also disappears. Nostalgic, open-ended, and grim.
(I have not played this yet, but just reading the instructions struck the same chord in my heart as the other stories in this recommendation list)
CW: None
UP NEXT
As a counterweight to these heartwrenching stories, the next issue’s theme will be Heartwarming.
THANK YOU FOR READING
If you enjoyed any of these stories, please support their authors and the magazines that published them. I’d also love to hear any suggestions for future list themes! Just reply to this email or contact me elsewhere and I’ll use your theme (within reason) for a future newsletter.
I have contacted the Revue team to request the ability to add alt text for photos, since these back issues are available on the web, but until that is an option please note that all included images are non-informational cover art for linked stories.