CoW Ep. 530: Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived By Her Mercy

[Languorous Lass]

Cast of Wonders 530: Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived By Her Mercy

• Author: Charlie Jane Anders
• Narrator: Serah Eley
• Host: Katherine Inskip
• Audio Producer: Jeremy Carter

"Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived By Her Mercy" was originally published in Lightspeed Magazine, December 2017.

Click here to listen to Episode 530

Content Warning:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Swearing (including the f-word) and references to drug use.

1. This was sacred, this was stolen

We stood naked on the shore of Bernal and watched the candles float across the bay, swept by a lazy current off to the north, in the direction of Potrero Island. A dozen or so candles stayed afloat and alight after half a league, their tiny flames bobbing up and down, casting long yellow reflections on the dark water alongside the streaks of moonlight. At times I fancied the candlelight could filter down onto streets and buildings, the old automobiles and houses full of children’s toys, all the waterlogged treasures of long-gone people. We held hands, twenty or thirty of us, and watched the little candle-boats we’d made as they floated away. Joconda was humming an old reconstructed song about the wild road, hir beard full of flowers. We all just about held our breath. I felt my bare skin go electric with the intensity of the moment, like this could be the good time we’d all remember in the bad times to come. This was sacred, this was stolen. And then someone—probably Miranda—farted, and then we were all laughing, and the grown-up seriousness was gone. We were all busting up and falling over each other on the rocky ground, in a nude heap, scraping our knees and giggling into each other’s limbs. When we got our breath back and looked up, the candles were all gone.

Tags:  Charlie Jane Anders, communities, ecological fiction, friendship, hope, Jeremy Carter, Katherine Inskip, LGBTQ, love, post-apocalyptic, scavenging, Serah Eley, technology, young adult fiction