(SF) Gas leaking from a deep well is slowly asphyxiating everyone in a community, and two boys discuss what they can do about it.
(849 words)
Rating: 4,
Recommended
"Breathe Deep, Breathe Free," by Jennifer Marie Brissett, appeared in the June 2016 issue of Lightspeed Magazine (Issue 73), published June 1, 2016. This story is only available in paid copies of the magazine. It is not available online.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Superficially, the two boys talk about doing something, and then one of them gets up the courage to act. That's enough of a plot for a short-short.
But, obviously, there's a deeper metaphor here about the way black people feel trapped in a system that's killing them. Whether from actual poisoned water (as in Flint) or from police whose unjust brutality poisons people's souls. And the authorities deny there's a problem or else keep promising a quick fix that never comes. Setting things on fire probably won't help--if it worked at all, it would burn everyone together--but at least the boy is trying to do something.
Con: The message is a little heavy-handed.
But, obviously, there's a deeper metaphor here about the way black people feel trapped in a system that's killing them. Whether from actual poisoned water (as in Flint) or from police whose unjust brutality poisons people's souls. And the authorities deny there's a problem or else keep promising a quick fix that never comes. Setting things on fire probably won't help--if it worked at all, it would burn everyone together--but at least the boy is trying to do something.
Con: The message is a little heavy-handed.
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