ShortBits has an excellent review up of my Fantasy Magazine short story, A Word Without Ghosts.
Wendy wakes up in an abandoned train station, guarded by a bear who might also be the ghost of her dead brother Peter and maybe also something else. Outside, they’re besieged by a horde of birds. When Wendy is kidnapped by the leader of the birds, who might also be the memory of her mother and maybe also something else, she will have to learn the rules of this strange world she finds herself in.
This is a dark, surreal fairy tale about growing up. It takes its inspiration from multiple sources, I can see some influences from European fairy tales and Native American (or African?) folk tales. Then there’s the fact that the children are called Peter and Wendy, which immediately brings to mind Peter Pan. Fortunately, all these disparate elements come together to form a unique atmosphere while the story’s internal logic remains consistent throughout, making for a great story.
