Short Business: A Talking Cat, You Say?

[bookgazing]

A bit of a departure for me this week as I read two horror stories, and a very sad story. If you don't want to read about ghosts, or death, right now (I think we can all understand why), don't worry - I also stayed true to my emerging "soft stories" brand by starting this roundup with a story about a talking cat.

Monday

This week, forestofglory tweeted about "A Star Without Shine" by Naomi Kritzer; part of the New Decameron, which I think is my new favourite short story project. Another Naomi Kritzer story, and it features a talking cat? Yes please!

In this story, a princess with a hard to please father sets out on a quest that she believes will finally win his approval. Along the way the princess, Lenore, meets a talking cat, who helps her unravel her father's cryptic mission, and fulfill her quest. On her return however, she discovers that some people will never be satisfied with just having their wishes fulfilled. Her father will always ask her to go a step further to prove herself, and in the process of "proving herself" she will be asked to break herself. Luckily, Lenore has her limits. By the end of the story knows much more about herself, and where her true loyalty lies. So, she sets off to shape herself a new kind of life away from her father, and her inheritance.

I feel like this story is a good companion for the Hugo award winning "Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar; another fantasy story which brings feminism to fairy tales, and deals with the relationship between a loving daughter and an unreasonable father. Kritzer makes it clear to the reader from the start that there is no way for Lenore to please her father. If she dresses up she's 'vain'. If she dresses plainly she's 'slovenly'. And the reader gets the strong sense, from the fact that Kritzer makes this contrast about Lenore's feminine presentation, that part of why Lenore cannot please her father is because a woman could never do anything right for him. Her father's sexism isn't explicit in the story, but I suspect if the king also had a son his path would have been much easier than Lenore's.

Lenore's journey with the cat is lovely. They have this really laid back, comfortable relationship from the start, and their conversation is very natural. The main bulk of the story is a talking cat and a princess on a road trip, where they also meet a witch, but the whole thing feels very believable; which always feels like a weird thing to say about fantasy as an avid fantasy reader. Of course, I find fantasy believable while I'm reading it; I love fantasy, and I'll believe in pretty much any world you put in front of me. I guess what I mean is there's nothing to jar the reader out of the world, and it feels very easy to slip into this kingdom of talking cats and quests without needing too much explanation about the rules, or background, of the world Lenore lives in.

Anyway, I loved it, in case you couldn't tell. Kritzer wins me over again!

Tuesday

I'm feeling the need for a little light horror recently so it seemed like the perfect time to try "How To Host A Haunted House Murder Mystery Party" by A. C. Wise, which just got a new audio version via Serial Box. This is a really cool, creepy tale which breaks down the component parts of haunted house and mystery stories, and mashes them together into, ostensibly, a manual for people looking to host haunted house mystery parties. As the story walks readers through each step they need to take to host a successful party, it builds up the creepy atmosphere you'd expect to find in stories about haunted houses, or parties that turn into murder mysteries. Wise has a great eye for horror detail, as well as the patterns stories use to create unease. And, the tension builds and builds throughout the story. The story is lightly meta, which makes it a fun read for fans of the two genres who can get a kick out of spotting common tropes and references.

Along the way the "manual" turns, through its growing specificity, into a story of its own. As it reaches its conclusion, the piece departs from the conventions of the mystery story and heading more firmly into the realms of a ghost story:

Ideally, this is the part of the evening when you gather your guests to reveal how and where and who and why. However, it seems there is no one left to gather. You aren’t even certain anyone has been murdered, or whether there is any crime to reveal.

At this point, the fact that the reader has been directly addressed throughout makes the final terrifying trip around the house feel really immersive and propulsive. It's almost like the reader is compelled to follow the path the story sets out, which tracks because the other characters were compelled to follow their pre-written paths in the story/manual that has previously been narrated to the reader:

All that remains is your own exploration, a foray through the empty rooms of your house to take stock of the evening’s game. You may delay, hesitate, hem and haw, but sooner or later you’ll have to climb the attic stairs and throw open the steamer trunk that is large enough to fit a body inside.

I will admit though that I found the ending a little puzzling because the final paragraph continues to address the reader, but is also clearly addressing someone more specific than a universal reader. I couldn't work out how the story felt about the person it was addressing. Is this story vengeful because the person does deserve a haunting? Or does the final line convey sympathy? Is it meant to be entirely open to interpretation in the way that many ghost stories are about how a life-long haunting can seem disproportionate to a person's crimes (or maybe that's just my interpretation of ghost stories)? It left me with a lot of questions, but I'm wondering if it's intended to be quite open-ended.

Wednesday

Continuing the creepy trend, on Wednesday I read "teatime" by Zin E. Rocklyn. "teatime" is part of the collaborative flash fiction project Breathe Fiyah, which was created by Tor and Fiyah magazines in honour of Black Speculative Fiction Month.

If you like creepy, but just, kid ghosts "teatime" is the story for you. A boy follows Sophie's aunt home. She cleans him up and tries to feed him, but he won't eat her food so she prevails on Sophie to give her some sandwiches; ironic because it's obvious that Sophie herself is hungry and poor. It's clear from Sophie's initial reaction that this is no ordinary boy, and that she might know a bit about why the boy has followed her aunt home.

There is a really impressive punch of horror packed into the second half of this story. And although kid ghosts, and vengeance, is not my usual thing I found this story very satisfying. I think that's because it's so well paced and shaded. Rocklyn spends the first half of the story building darkness in the middle of the day, as well as establishing Aunt Jillian's character and Sophie's relationship quickly and succinctly. Then the story picks up the threads of discomfort established in the first half, and resolves them into full blown horror.

When the boy leaves Sophie without demanding anything more I was so relieved because he sounds like the kind of spirit you fear to have on your side even as he helps you. Calling on spirits for help should come with a healthy dose of fear in my opinion because it's such a desperate solution to go asking the dead for help. Being afraid of what might happen to the characters is a pretty sure sign this story connected with me.

Thursday

I've been meaning to read "Small Magics" by Juliet Kemp for a while since Maria Haskins mentioned it in her September instalment of Short Fiction Treasues. It's a story about two immortal magical siblings who both try to help the world in different ways, and often disagree with the way their sibling approaches the task. That's a theme and set-up very much on my mind since I read "Torn" by Rowenna Miller, and I thought Juliet Kemp handled it beautifully; especially the resolution between the siblings at the end which showed how the world needs different kinds of action working in tandem, and continuously re-worked in tandem, to bring about change. It's a lovely little package of a story that I think lots of readers will enjoy.

Friday

And finally we come to "Now Watch As Belinda Unmakes The World" by Lynette Mejía which is another flash fiction piece that was also featured in Maria Haskin's roundup. This story, about a woman who is unpicking her embroidery while her daughter lies in hospital, has echoes of the classical, and makes me think of Penelope unwinding her weaving, and of the Fates poring over their web of human lives. Upfront warning though that this is about a mother watching her daughter die, and there is no reprieve.

"Now Watch As Belinda Unmakes The World" is one of the most emotional, accomplished sad stories I've read in a long time. I think it pairs well with "If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love", not just because it's about grief but because it takes such a gentle tone when depicting the most difficult of scenes. Much like Rachel Swirsky's story, the SFF element to this story very much runs through the story, but it feels subtle and it's not obvious that the whole story is based around fantasy until the end. However, unlike Swirsky's story which ends by grounding itself in reality, Mejía's story ends by embracing the fantastical and making it real. At the same time, the ending also allows the magic of the ending to stand as a metaphor for how this mother must feel as her child finally dies.

This little piece feels so emotionally true, and so careful with the emotion it's depicting. I really want to search out some more of this author's writing soon.

This week, I have a Christmas craft project I need to wrap up so I might just read flash fiction to fit Short Business in. If there are any great pieces of flash fiction you think I should read drop links in the comments :)