Beneath Ceaseless Skies #453, March19, 2026

“Mother’s Hearth” by W.A. Hamilton

“The Sea Child” by Justin Wesley Ferguson

Reviewed by Axylus

This issue features two tales of women who initially live alone, longing for children, then meet the uncanny along the way. “Mother’s Hearth” by W.A. Hamilton follows Sigrun, a woman who lives alone in the stubborn remnants of civilization that remain after a cataclysmic Sundering caused by a mysterious race called the heaven-born. In this sparsely populated post-apocalyptic world, she finds companionship with a simple farmer named Kristoff, and dreamed of having a child. Distraught because they are unable to conceive, Sigrun seeks help from a witch. Unsurprisingly, there are costs attached to the witch’s aid. The underlying theme seems to be that every benefit sought in life brings attendant changes, sometimes undesirable ones, but people can adjust.

In “The Sea Child” by Justin Wesley Ferguson, Gerda lives alone by the sea, mourning the loss of her drowned children. Wandering despondently by the shore one day, she finds a half-drowned girl. She raises the girl on her own, but later learns that the girl she calls Cili is not what she seems. This tale is similar to the previous in that adjustment and acceptance eventually follow loss, after a detour through unearthly circumstances.