Shoreline of Infinity 31, page 12
And we have Regeneration a poem by Amanda Anatasi. This includes a beautiful reading by the poet set to music.
To continue reading, visit Shoreline of Infinity Supplemental. The QR code will also teleport you there.
www.shorelineofinfinity.com/31-supplemental/
Shearing
Brian D. Hinson
It was the first shearing season without Lemuel. Mayumi calmed the alpaca Jesse with soothing whispers as Rojas, the ranch bot, held him firmly in their flexible, padded grips. Mayumi stroked his neck, “You’re a good boy, everything’s all right…” The alpaca’s neck twitched with anxiety as Rojas ran the clippers in perfect rows down his back, clumps of fawn hair gently falling to the tarp on the barn floor.
Shearings were done annually, and this was Jesse’s seventh. Rojas was gentle, as always, and Jesse had never been hurt, but he was afraid nevertheless.
Jesse started his nervous humming. The kicking might come next, along with the screeching.
“Do you have recordings of Lemuel shearing?” Mayumi asked the bot. In the past, skittish Jesse had found Lemuel’s voice more calming.
“I have everything.”
“How about playing something for Jesse before he gets worse?”
Jesse’s neck shuddered.
Lemuel’s recorded alto came from Rojas, clear as it was that day a year past. “That’s a good boy, a good boy, my Jesse… you just keep doing what you’re doing, my boy. Without all this extra fur you’ll be cooler and happier, I promise…”
The audible voice of her dead husband struck emotions in Mayumi – unfelt in months. She thought she had finished with the worst of the grieving, and maybe she had, but now a heavy tear formed without warning, along with a mass in her throat.
Lemuel. It was his idea to take over the alpaca farm when a freak avalanche buried the Mamani family in their sleep. Only a few of the herd were killed or injured. The fashionable taste for alpaca textiles, from hats and scarves to sweaters and jackets, was surging back in those days. The Andean winters were cold and the alpaca fur so downy soft and warm. Lemuel had secured loans and the ranch had been purchased.
Last year the medi-flight arrived too late after Lemuel had collapsed in the barn. It was a sudden cardiac incident. Rojas had helped her with the mummification of Lemuel’s body and entombment in the cylindrical stone funerary tower just beyond the southern edge of the pasture. Their son Arturo could not make it from his home in Lima for the funeral rites of drumming and singing. Afterward she had rebuffed his well-intended overtures to move in and take over Lemuel’s duties.
She had wanted to be alone, but it was hard. The weight of grief slowed the work. The specter of failure was distressing.
Now Jesse kicked and screeched as Mayumi openly wept, negating any calming effect of Lemuel’s voice. “Let him go!” she cried.
Rojas released the alpaca and he bolted from the barn and into the field, barely half shorn and lopsided.
“Give me a minute,” she said, wiping her cheek with a sleeve. Her watch pinged with a call from Arturo. As much as she wanted to talk with her son, the call was dismissed. She didn’t want him stressing over her voice cracking with emotion. The shearing had to be done. Buyers were waiting. Mayumi scanned the pen through tears that blurred the beasts awaiting their turn. “Bring Maria. She’s always easy.”
To continue reading, visit Shoreline of Infinity Supplemental at:
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www.shorelineofinfinity.com/31-supplemental/
myPet
FLASH FICTION COMPETITION FOR SHORELINE OF INFINITY READERS
Bring the pet of your science fictional imagination to life. You have 1,000 words to tell its story. You may begin.
Prizes
£50 for the winning story, plus 1-year digital subscription to Shoreline of Infinity. Two runners-up will each receive a 1-year digital subscription to Shoreline of Infinity.
The top three stories will be published in the December issue Shoreline of Infinity – all three finalists will receive a print copy of this edition.
The detail
Maximum 1,000 words, one story per submitter.
The story must not have been previously published.
Deadline for entries: midnight (UK time)
2nd September 2022.
To enter, visit the website at:
www.shorelineofinfinity.com/2022ffc
There’s no entry fee, but on the submission entry form on the website you will be asked to enter a particular word from this issue of Shoreline of Infinity, so have it ready by your side when you submit.
The Shoreline of Infinity editorial team is growing! Thanks to funding support from Creative Scotland we have been able to take on three very able-bodied recruits.
Our new Fiction Editor is Eris Young. Eris has taken over responsibility for submissions and story selection, bringing with them their writing and editing skills, as well as all important organisational abilities. Eris was the editor of acclaimed online fantasy magazine Æther & Ichor and more recently was guest editor of Shoreline of Infinity 26, our special issue featuring science fiction by trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming writers.
As we we’re dotting the last t’s and crossing the i’s we have a new Publicity & Marketing Editor, Yasmin Kanaan. Yasmin is a final year student at Edinburgh University and is tasked with making sure Shoreline of Infinity is known far and wide.
James T Harding will be taking on the role of Production Editor, and is charged with rejuvenating the look and feel of the magazine and the website. He will be working closely with the editorial team in developing the website as a platform for Shoreline content in all media forms. James was executive story editor for the Amazon Prime TV series Cops and Monsters, and co-founder of Stewed Rhubarb Press.
These three make a great bunch even greater!
—Noel Chidwick
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Shoreline of Infinity is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and began life in 2015.
Shoreline of Infinity Science Fiction Magazine is a print and digital magazine published quarterly in PDF, ePub and Kindle formats. It features new short stories, poetry, art, reviews and articles.
But there’s more – we run regular live science fiction events called Event Horizon, with a whole mix of science fiction related entertainments such as story and poetry readings, author talks, music, drama, short films – we’ve even had sword fighting.
We also publish a range of science fiction related books; take a look at our collection at the Shoreline Shop. You can also pick up back copies of all of our issues. Details on our website...
www.shorelineofinfinity.com
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Ken MacLeod, Shoreline of Infinity 31
