M is for Movement

        (My A to Z Blog Challenge theme this year is Bittersweetness & Light, my new collection of hope-filled, joy-inducing fantasy and sci fi.  Be sure to find lots of other alphabetical blogs to visit at the Master List here.)

        M is for Movement, and here is the beginning of my short story “Learning to Move Against the Current.”

        Many sorts of beings can move from place to place.  I watch them, some skittering on pointy legs, others wafting on the currents with fanning wings, and still others creeping simply by undulating their bodies.  But my kind sees movement as an infantile thing, for tiny larvae who don’t yet have their place or their strength, and who float aimlessly until they mature enough to anchor themselves and take their position in the world.

        When I was ready to mature from a larva to an adult, I anchored myself on the edge of a cliff.  I chose the spot because from the cliff’s edge I could reach out into open space, winnowing the passing flow not only for particles of food but also for the scents of other places.   I could watch the beings on my plateau, moving themselves past on their own journeys, with their legs or their wings or their undulating bodies, and I could look out from my perch into the deep, wide valley where larger beings roam, and where particles of strange shapes, sizes, and smells hint of other places far away.  Each month when I sensed the blue light of the full moon, I released my spores into the currents, knowing they would travel far and wide to be caught by others.  And here, too, I caught other spores on my winnowing fronds and released, in time, larvae to start their own lives in free movement before they matured enough to choose their own homes.

        The narrator of this story is some kind of creature inspired by crinoids, living on some other planet (I assume).  It’s always a fun exercise to try to tell a story from a very different point of view - this is not the only story in the collection told by a non-human narrator! - and when that point of view is as different as this, it becomes a very interesting challenge

indeed.  However, it isn’t just writing that expands points of view.  Studies consistently show that reading fiction increases empathy.  You can read some previous posts that allude to this here and here.  (That’s another reason dictators ban books: because their power is dependent on weakening communities by making people feel fear of the Other instead of empathy and connection with each other.)

        Marketing Moral: Get moving and attend cultural events!  Come to author readings, visit art shows, and meet the people creating the things you enjoy.  (Want a low-barrier way to attend author events?  Try Strong Women-Strange Worlds, a twice-monthly series of free, on-line live readings by women and non-binary authors of speculative fiction.  Find out all about the program here.  Or if you’re near Boston, be sure to come see me at Needham Open Studios on May 3-4.)

        Proper Moral: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

        What’s your trip of a lifetime?  The one place you long to see that you haven’t yet been able to go?

[Picture: Fossils, rubber block print by AEGNydam, 2017 (see originals here), from Bittersweetness & Light, 2025 (NydamPrints.com)]