Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

They All Longed for the Sea...

LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP by Megan Stockton

No spoilers. 4 stars. Six Mile Island was preparing to evacuate its population to the mainland due to an expected storm...

The storm of the century...

A bloated body was found on the beach covered in light-reflecting crystals of sea salt...

Or maybe it was just sand...

Little Fisher hid behind a clump of beach grass to get a better look at the dead man. He was curious...

And curiosity killed the cat...

His dad called to Fisher from the dock where he was sitting. Fisher told dad about the sparkly body on the beach...

Sheriff Lyra Hirsch had enough on her hands with the evacuation and the storm's eminent approach. Now this, the body...

Sheriff Hirsch liked smooth sailing...

Barbora Todd reported that her baby had been stolen from his crib. He was all she had left since her husband went missing at sea...

Barbora was a bit of a nutter...

When the sheriff looked at the open nursery window, she saw a long trail of black slime from the sill to the sand...

Footprints were embedded in the slime...

With the Storm bearing down on the island, little Fisher ran away from mom to the other side of the island to be with dad...

Had the entire population of Six Mile Island gone mad? They all suddenly seemed to long for the sea...

This was an atmospheric story that was, imo, better in the first half than it was in the second half. Midway, the story became somewhat repetitive, and the reveal at the end needed more explanation.

Overall, this was a good story that lacked adequate closure.