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| photo of the author from Wikipedia |
The Red Thread is a science fiction short story by Sofia Samatar. You can read it online here. It begins,
Dear Fox,
Hey. It’s Sahra. I’m tagging you from center M691, Black Hawk, South Dakota. It’s night and the lights are on in the center. It’s run by an old white guy with a hanging lip -he’s talking to my mom at the counter. Mom’s okay. We’ve barely mentioned you since we left the old group in the valley, just a few weeks after you disappeared. She said your name once, when I found one of your old slates covered with equations. “Well,” she said. “That was Fox.”
One time -I don’t think I told you this- we lost some stuff over a bridge. Back in California, before we met you. The wind was so strong that day, we were stupid to cross. We lost a box of my dad’s stuff, mostly books, and Mom said: “Well. There he goes.”
Like I said, the wind was strong. She probably thought I didn’t hear her.
I think she’s looking at me. Hard to tell through the glass, it’s all scratched and smeared with dead bugs. I guess I should go. We’re headed north—yeah, straight into winter. It’s Mom’s idea.
I’ve still got the bracelet you gave me. It’s turning my wrist red.
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Posts
...the Dakotas are not the place to be with Covid-19 raging at the moment.
ReplyDeleteIt's horrifying :(
DeleteYikes
DeleteIf the current administration would stop being maskholes and wear masks and tell people to wear masks, maybe more people would take the pandemic seriously
ReplyDeleteYes, but it's too late for that now. He's made it a political issue. And now more of his people have Covid-19.
DeleteThis is scary sounding, and so are the Dakotas. After all, they are both red states and COVID-19 is supposed to affect ONLY BLUE states according to the miserable orange liar.
ReplyDeleteIt's not scary, though perhaps sad.
DeleteIt's shocking to see what's going on, but we knew it'd be like this.
The story sounds interesting, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you think so :)
DeleteThis is a good start. And yes, I agree with others about the Dakotas...
ReplyDeleteIt's hard out there but a lot harder for some :(
DeleteTry living here amongst the non-mask wearing republicans! Awk! I'm a born and bred democratic Minnesotan. How did I end up here?
ReplyDeleteAnother unexpected silver lining to being housebound, I guess. I stay away from people more than most and am used to it. ;)
I'm in Memphis so a bright blue spot in a very red state. But at least I'm in the blue spot where people just wear the mask without all the drama ;)
Delete