"Rapture" by Sally Gwylan

Through the diary entries of Anna, Sally Gwylan immerses the reader in the squalor of 1894 Chicago in "Rapture". In part one, Anna scribbles her journal entries from inside the closet of a tenement overcrowded with labor activists.  Distracted from distributing leaflets for their cause, two of her comrades are swayed by the ministrations of Reverend Owing, a puppet evangelist of the ultra-rich.  Anna investigates her friends' sudden change of allegiance and discovers that the Reverend is dusting his followers with a parasitical micro-organism, inducing rapture and rendering them powerless to resist his message.

Splitting the story into two parts provided time to research Chicago's history.  After learning about the Haymarket Massacre and the Pullman Strike, the emotion of the piece intensified.  In fact, the story's only notable shortcoming is that it relies on the reader's knowledge of history to truly appreciate the subtleties of Anna's environment. Ostracized from her job and comrades, she continues alone in her mission to distract the Reverend's flock.  The ending's twist added depth to this historical fantasy.