The Twinkle Of A Fading Star

 My very short story The Twinkle Of A Fading Star is now available in the June 2022 issue of The Quiet Ones!

The theme of this issue (available for free on the website) was post-apocalyptic pride. The magazine also said in the submission guidelines that they like "Quiet horror." Somehow, the juxtaposition of those ideas led me to The Hollow Men by TS Eliot.

Even if you don't know the poem, you've probably heard the ending:

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper

That kind of exemplified the idea of a quiet apocalypse to me, and while I enjoy the imagery and metaphors TS Eliot used to describe the bleak hopelessness of war (or his marriage, according to some people), I don't really interact with poetry on a metaphorical level. That isn't the way my brain works. I take things very literally.

So I… Took the poem very literally, and somehow I ended up with a world where people die and come back as destructive ghosts unless you build a scarecrow for them to inhabit, and a dying transgender woman trying to build gender affirming scarecrows before it's too late.

It's dark, and it touches on the terrifying idea of what happens when you're trans and your unsupportive family is left in charge of your funeral and remains. But I think it's hopeful, too. I hope it is.