Art by Tim Stewart
What happens when a twelve year old girl finds a talking gun in an old oak tree? More than you would think...
Jay Lake demonstrates that a story does not have to be stretched out into novel length to be good. In two pages Lake develops the characterization of the girl and the gun, the backdrop of the world, and and some of the history of both characters.
In this dystopian world, a talking gun can be a bad thing. For the girl, it represents every nightmare she has. As the story progresses we learn that even the gun can be scared.
Highly recommended. Go to Daily Science Fiction and read it now. At two pages in length, what have you got to lose?
This story was read as part of the RIP Challenge.
