Refugees From Nulongwe

I mentioned the ED SF Project earlier this month. It’s a collection of appreciations of SF short stories that were published by Ellen Datlow. I’ve been reading the appreciations published by contributors. Many of them make me want to read the original story immediately. Once such came in today – Rhonda S. Garcia’s appreciation of "Refugees from Nulongwe" by M. Shayne Bell. The story does not disappoint. It’s a terrific little story – a perfect example of the "what if" of good SF where it explores humanity and what it means to be human. The footnote to the story gives the clue to how the story came to be written – the situation explored in the story is close to our reality. And the picture of the two strong old women – one human, one not – is striking.