A Story for My Mother

I’ve been working on a new short story for almost a year now. I know that sounds like a really long time—and it is—but it also feels like never enough time, because it’s in honor of my mother. This story hits close to home (literally and figuratively.) The plot is inspired by a tale my mom told me about her childhood in Hyderabad, India. She witnessed the impact of a dam closing, leaving countless dead fish on one side of the river. As I listened to her story, I found myself wondering what happened to all the fish on the other side of the dam—the ones who survived, whose families disappeared. Last year, my mom died. It has been extremely difficult to keep going, but I have been resolved to expand and continue work on this story in honor and tribute to her. It’s been a long journey. Over the past year, it’s gone through about ten (!) major revisions. The story actually began as a short fable I wrote years ago. That tale was about 500 words, expanded to somewhere around 6,000, and after…