Excellent writing, excellent reading.
It didn't really connect with me though, I think it's just that I didn't relate strongly to the character, perhaps because I've never been to the south, I'm nowhere near the same age, I'm not particularly good with kids, a variety of things.
I wouldn't call this fantasy by my own classifications, but I don't mind that. I like that Podcastle has a very broad definition, it lets me get a taste of a variety of styles. Pseudopod is good that way too with their broad definition of horror. But for my personal tastes I like stronger fantasy elements.