Many people are in love with Autumn. In New England, where I live, this seems doubly so. I am not one of these people. Where a lover of the Fall season may see beauty in the colorful leaves, comfort in the cooling days, and revel in the traditional Autumn foods; I see the trees readying for their Winter death (and me having to pick up the fallen leaves), the growing darkness, the coming cold, and a glut of guilt inducing fatty, sugary foods.
I do still eat all the food. It helps me cope.
Autumn has always been a dark time for me. I feel unease as the days get shorter and I hide indoors, avoiding the dark, the cold, and the icy rain common in New England this time of year. I’m telling you this so you have an idea where the stories included in the November 2017 issue of Liquid Imagination come from. As I read the submitted stories, I found my selection was influenced by the disquiet of the dying of Summer.
The stories within are not about happy endings. Not for everyone. They’re harder, darker, and—true to the season—a little more real, then most. There is some hope, but where there is, it’s hope for a distant, unseen, unknown future. The authors of these stories have done beautiful work crafting that feeling of unease; drawing a picture of uncertain futures, and displaying the darkness behind the bright rays of hope.
Within these stories, you’ll find reality is unclear, identity flexible, and fleeting; Monster’s hiding where you least expect; and how far someone will look for hope with everything lost.
Summer is over. Autumn is here. Soon the dark, icy grasp of Winter will come. If that doesn’t fill you with unease, perhaps these stories will.
BIO: Shahid Khan has been writing since the 4th grade. A poetry project ending in a staple bound, typewriter- and photocopier-produced volume showed him that he could write a book just like his favorite authors. At the same time, Shah was introduced to the still young field of home computing. Writing and technology have been a part of his life ever since, and it was this combination that drew him to Silver Pen.
Shah received his BS in Management Information Systems from Becker College in Worcester, MA. He is currently working a day job in IT, and writing a Science Fiction novel. Being a member of the Silver Pen community led to Shah’s first two published works. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Silver Pen, Inc.