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ladybusinessI gave myself the first week of my new furlough off from doing any projects, including Short Business, but even with that break to re-adjust I've found myself slow to get back into short fic. So, if you think 'Hm, that's a short post about an odd mix of stories this week' yes it is, and we're just going to roll with it.
Monday
I started with forestofglory's Marissa Lingen rec from our Cosy Up With Our Short Fiction Recs post - "Points of Origin". Yep, predictably, loved it. A couple find themselves looking after three grandchildren after an economic collapse means they're the closest, acknowledged relatives to children born from their genetic material. The couple never had kids of their own, and they never expected to have grandchildren so the children's arrival necessitates a huge learning curve for several reasons. The story is told from the grandfather's point of view, and the developing relationship between him and the children (especially the wary Enid) is lovely. Ice-skating adventures on Mars was a particular delight to read.
I really enjoyed the world that Lingen created for "Points of Origin". Sometimes, fictional worlds can be a background to character interactions, and sometimes fictional worlds can be a dominant factor in a story. Both are interesting approaches. In this story, Lingen creates a world that's important, and distinct, interesting to read about, and key in several ways to the story. At the same time this is not a world that is, as we sometimes say, a character in its own right, and yet it's still a very central part of the story. In theory, this story about family, place, and identity could take place anywhere; the themes are very universal. However, Lingen makes the reader feel like this is the only place this story could take place by tying the specificities of the world into the character interactions, the action, and the wider themes of the story. It feels like this is silly to say; surely all stories do this? But it doesn't feel like all stories do this in quite the same way as in "Points of Origin".
Tuesday
I read "Christmas For Mrs Smith" by Dorothy Whipple, which was recently reprinted in the Persephone Biannual. It's a story, which was originally written as war-time propaganda for the MOD, about an older lady living in England during WWII, and it covers the general run of life at the time. The story is preoccupied with Mrs Smith's own drive to be useful during the war by helping out her younger neighbours who are working in the munitions factories, and serving tea at a canteen. She's also expecting her pregnant daughter-in-law for Christmas, and has made all the arrangements for her to give birth in a nearby nursing home.
There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between "Christmas For Mrs Smith", and our country during the current pandemic which, I expect, is why it's been republished in this edition of the magazine. And the fact that this story ends so optimistically, on Christmas with a birth and bells, and that this optimism falls in the middle of an ongoing war where one of the protagonist's sons is a prisoner of war, was a real tonic for me at this present moment in time.
Wednesday
Omg, I fell so hard for this micro story from the![[twitter.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
MicroSFF account run by O. Westin. A lot of the stories on this account are right little heart-piercers, and this one is no expectation. Also, it's about Theseus in the labyrinth, which is my catnip.
Thursday
Accidentally read a sad story, oops! "Felt Along The Seam" by Kelly Sandoval was recommended in Maria Haskin's last short fiction roundup and apparently I thought I could handle a story about ghosts right now? Ha, I am hilarious.
In all seriousness though this flash piece, about a girl who peels off pain which becomes ghosts that never leave her is haunting, poetic, and lovely. It just had a middle section that was a little bit sadder than I was really ready for this week. It also comes with a good dash of hope and self-healing at the end though, and it definitely feels like Brooke, the protagonist, has a weird, sometimes difficult, but positive future ahead of her.
No Friday story this week because like I said I was still finding it hard to get back into the project, but I'll return next week with a full complement of five stories, and hopefully more coherent thoughts about them.
Monday
I started with forestofglory's Marissa Lingen rec from our Cosy Up With Our Short Fiction Recs post - "Points of Origin". Yep, predictably, loved it. A couple find themselves looking after three grandchildren after an economic collapse means they're the closest, acknowledged relatives to children born from their genetic material. The couple never had kids of their own, and they never expected to have grandchildren so the children's arrival necessitates a huge learning curve for several reasons. The story is told from the grandfather's point of view, and the developing relationship between him and the children (especially the wary Enid) is lovely. Ice-skating adventures on Mars was a particular delight to read.
I really enjoyed the world that Lingen created for "Points of Origin". Sometimes, fictional worlds can be a background to character interactions, and sometimes fictional worlds can be a dominant factor in a story. Both are interesting approaches. In this story, Lingen creates a world that's important, and distinct, interesting to read about, and key in several ways to the story. At the same time this is not a world that is, as we sometimes say, a character in its own right, and yet it's still a very central part of the story. In theory, this story about family, place, and identity could take place anywhere; the themes are very universal. However, Lingen makes the reader feel like this is the only place this story could take place by tying the specificities of the world into the character interactions, the action, and the wider themes of the story. It feels like this is silly to say; surely all stories do this? But it doesn't feel like all stories do this in quite the same way as in "Points of Origin".
Tuesday
I read "Christmas For Mrs Smith" by Dorothy Whipple, which was recently reprinted in the Persephone Biannual. It's a story, which was originally written as war-time propaganda for the MOD, about an older lady living in England during WWII, and it covers the general run of life at the time. The story is preoccupied with Mrs Smith's own drive to be useful during the war by helping out her younger neighbours who are working in the munitions factories, and serving tea at a canteen. She's also expecting her pregnant daughter-in-law for Christmas, and has made all the arrangements for her to give birth in a nearby nursing home.
There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between "Christmas For Mrs Smith", and our country during the current pandemic which, I expect, is why it's been republished in this edition of the magazine. And the fact that this story ends so optimistically, on Christmas with a birth and bells, and that this optimism falls in the middle of an ongoing war where one of the protagonist's sons is a prisoner of war, was a real tonic for me at this present moment in time.
Wednesday
Omg, I fell so hard for this micro story from the
Thursday
Accidentally read a sad story, oops! "Felt Along The Seam" by Kelly Sandoval was recommended in Maria Haskin's last short fiction roundup and apparently I thought I could handle a story about ghosts right now? Ha, I am hilarious.
In all seriousness though this flash piece, about a girl who peels off pain which becomes ghosts that never leave her is haunting, poetic, and lovely. It just had a middle section that was a little bit sadder than I was really ready for this week. It also comes with a good dash of hope and self-healing at the end though, and it definitely feels like Brooke, the protagonist, has a weird, sometimes difficult, but positive future ahead of her.
No Friday story this week because like I said I was still finding it hard to get back into the project, but I'll return next week with a full complement of five stories, and hopefully more coherent thoughts about them.
