Flash Fiction Online #40, January 2017
“Vernal Fall” by Edward Ashton
Reviewed by Kat Day
Flash Fiction Online begins 2017 with, perhaps aptly after everything that happened in 2016, a selection of stories themed around regret. The first of these, “Vernal Fall,” is described as literary, although it has definite hints of science fiction. This is followed by two fantasy stories, and another literary piece which is a reprint and thus will not be reviewed here.
Edward Ashton’s “Vernal Fall” begins with a description of a father instinctively jumping into ice cold water to rescue his daughter, only to realize that neither of them can possibly survive. I felt this was an excellent piece of writing which precisely conveyed the emotions a parent would experience in such a situation—I entirely empathized with the father’s actions. But this is not the end. The story then takes a turn, actually more than one turn, which makes us question exactly what has happened and what will happen. There is a suggestion of a science fiction element here, although it’s never explicitly described. I read this story several times, trying to fit a backstory to it that would make sense of the narrative, and I’m not sure I entirely succeeded. Still, it’s a lovely piece of writing; perhaps it’s best to enjoy it purely for what it is.
“A Lumberjack’s Guide to Dryad Spotting” by Charles Payseur is told from the point of view of a man working as a lumberjack to earn extra pay. Two threads run through the story: his explanation of how to catch dryads and how to make money from them, and his developing relationship with another lumberjack. There are things to like in this story; it’s an original idea and the descriptions of the woods and the signs that indicate the presence of dryads are very nicely done. Personally, though, I took a dislike to the main character. We are meant to feel sympathy for him—he’s suffered prejudice and discrimination—but he’s ultimately little more than a poacher who appears to be planning to kill the dryads and sell their hearts, wood, and even tears (one wonders what you would have to do to a creature to collect a “quart” of tears?) to make a profit. To be fair there is an element of ambiguity here—is he actually planning to harm the dryads or does he fail/give up at the last moment?—but nonetheless it left me rather cold.
“Women’s Work” by Amelia Aldred tells the story of a young woman, living in Indiana, whose mother has just died. We learn that her mother had a “gift”—communicating with the dead—which led to huge numbers of people turning up at her house uninvited and demanding that she answer their questions. She always helped them, free of charge, feeling that her gift was an important responsibility. Her daughter, unsurprisingly, sees things a little differently. I enjoyed this story very much. The writing is concise and effective, immersing you deep into a scene with just a few words. I instantly empathized with the protagonist, who has a clearly defined character arc. By the end I was cheering her on. Recommended.
Kat Day writes the award-winning, non-fiction science blog The Chronicle Flask, which you can find at chronicleflask.com. She also has a fiction blog, at thefictionphial.wordpress.com.