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The Forest of New People - Thom Connors
When winter comes to Vakning Forest, nothing changes. The evergreens, packed tightly together, don’t wilt or become bare. Nor does the smell fade. As the winter deepens, the snow covers the canopy like a blanket, and the scent of pine needles and pine cones follows the only path worn out of the darkness.
Outside the forest, where the path begins, is the cottage of Abi and Odo Tremord. It has a red roof, brown walls, and a whitewashed, waist-high fence. In the yard stands a pine tree, a sapling, half as tall as the forest.
While the kitchen looks out over the pine tree, Odo’s wood chopping block looks towards the forest. So it is that Odo is the first to notice any man exiting the forest.
It was always an adult, stumbling along the path on legs with newly formed muscles. The Tremords would take the man in, feed him, clothe him, and set him to bed. Then they’d teach him: wood chopping, speaking, etiquette. And when the season changed next, they’d see the colour on the horizon as the Bastler came trundling along, his wagon painted that garish orange. They would dress up the man in the finest clothes Abi had made, and all three would wait at the path’s end for the Bastler to arrive.
When he did, the Bastler would get off the wagon. He would wave his black cloak around for show, with its purple inner trim and the wolf fur on the cuffs, and he would flash a smile which showed off his pointy canines, stark against the perfection of his other teeth. He would inspect the man.
“The forest made you mighty,” the Bastler would say after checking the man’s teeth with his eyes and a finger. Then he would push the man into the back of his wagon and get back in front of the horses, and prepare to leave. “Does he know when to run and when to walk? I can’t set him to work if he can’t show common sense.”
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The Forest of New People – Thom Connors
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Beautifully written speculative fiction
That's what we offer. Speculative fiction in the tradition of Patricia McKillip, George R. R. Martin, Ursula Le Guin, and many others - well written stories with humor, emotion, and wit. Thanks for coming by. Bookmark us, tweet us, like us, even submit art or stories to us, if you're the creative type. We look forward to seeing it all.
About J. Tynan Burke
J. Tynan Burke is a digital librarian and writer. He lives in San Francisco with his husband and their enormous cat.
www.tynanburke.com, @tynanpants
J. Tynan Burke’s story “The Bagel Shop Owner’s Nephew” will be
published on Friday, 3 August 2018.
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The Forest of New People – Thom Connors
It came from Katherine Perdue
A question for Felicity Drake
Q: Aliens. Are they out there?
A: In a vast universe, surely they are—although maybe in unfamiliar forms, or so far away that we can’t meet them (yet!).
It’s exciting to think that something so consequential is still totally unknown. It’s good to have a little sense of mystery in life.
Felicity Drake’s story “The Dream Diary of Monk Anchin” will be
published on Friday, 20 July 2018.
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About Phong Quan
Phong’s parents are from tropical Vietnam, so after they immigrated to the United States of course he was born in Minnesota on April 1st on the last day of a big snow storm—a great April Fool’s joke for everyone involved. Immediately afterwards, his family moved to sunny California where he was raised. Phong eventually became a corporate lawyer, working in New York, Beijing and now Singapore, where he is currently based.
Phong Quan’s story “It Feels Like Déjà Vu” will be
published on Friday, 27 July 2018.
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