Magic realism lends itself to short stories. The best short stories pinpoint one particular challenge or concept; writers of magical realism use the uncanny to put their topic under a microscope. They add something inexplicable to the real world and then try to understand how it would realistically affect people and society. What if the amount of influence people had determined their size? That would be strange, but, if we’re writing magic realism, we have to assume that it’s not. If that’s how the world worked, would it be even lonelier for the giants at the top? Would the little guys have to band together to get by? Could friendships reach across social classes despite such tangible discrepancies? Magic realism shines when the uncanny is used to unravel real, personal challenges.
What if there were people who weren’t affected by the physical world in the same way we are? That’s what Anomaly is about. Every time I have a window seat near the wing of an airplane, I imagine someone sitting out there. The wind whips around her at hundreds of miles per hour, yet she’s comfortable, happy, even safe. Who is she? I wrote Anomaly to answer that question.
I crafted the first iteration of the story for a contest several years back. It had to be under 1,000 words and came in at 999! Under that restriction, the ending felt rushed, so I updated the story about a year ago, adding in the details that I’d had to leave out of the contest version. Recently, I reread it and changed only a word or two. I love this story. It’s simultaneously lighthearted and mysterious, and it’s always fun to imagine. Check it out here >>
