short stories

The Contemporary Foxwife

Clarkesworld July 2014, Depot Station by Albert Urmanov
“Hello! Very pleased to make your acquaintance,” said the no-one-is-present-at-the-door. It looked and sounded remarkably like a gawky teenage boy with tawny skin, black hair falling past his shoulders. Spectacles garnished with little amber-colored crystals framed large, long-lashed eyes. Who on earth needed spectacles anymore? Unless it was a fashion trend elsewhere in the station. His russet dress, or gown, or whatever it was, looked like it had led a former life as a sack, except the sleeves had hems. For all that, the boy smelled sweetly of clover and damp grass and disintegrating pine needles. Plants that were in short supply on the station, although Kanseun was planetborn and recognized the scents.

A music student on a space station befriends a lost foxwife. I may have spilled a lot of hazy memories of Korea all over this one. Thanks to Yune Kyung Lee and Helen Keeble for the beta.