Story Unlikely“The Thousand Mile Track” by Andrew Hughes
“A Problem Shared” by Raymie Martin
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
Two stories with very different moods appear in this issue.
In “The Thousand Mile Track” by Andrew Hughes, three political prisoners walk away from their isolated prison. They are allowed to leave because the only path to freedom requires making their way along the incredibly long railroad track mentioned in the title, which passes over nothing but ocean. They must battle extreme cold, overwhelming fatigue, and the need to cling precariously to the supports of the track whenever a train goes by.
This is a very vividly written and highly suspenseful tale of survival against seemingly impossible odds. The immense length of the track, far longer than any bridge over water in the real world, adds a touch of surrealism to the setting. Readers should be aware that the mood is unrelievedly grim, with a constant sense of impending doom. Some may find the outcome too downbeat, even if it seems inevitable.
“A Problem Shared” by Raymie Martin is a brief, light comedy featuring a woman who answers letters from the lovelorn for a newspaper in a fantasy world full of supernatural beings. The plot involves multiple letters, seemingly contradictory, from a single entity. The punchline to this little joke story is likely to raise a smile.
Victoria Silverwolf notes that the longest bridge over water is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, which is a measly twenty-four miles long.