Photo by Pete Crockett on Unsplash

I recently had a new short story published in Fictions on Medium, entitled Aftermath. This two-part tale concerns a young woman returning to her mother after leaving a cult, circa early 1978. It follows her attempts to reconnect with those she left behind, as well as rebuilding her life and introducing her young son to the father who doesn’t know he exists.

Part One can be read here. Part Two can be read here.

Aftermath doesn’t neatly fit into any of my usual genres, but it is thematically consistent with some of my earlier work. I’ve written about the effects of cults before, albeit with more of a dystopian sci-fi twist, in my novel Children of the Folded Valley. The story isn’t directly based on any of my own experiences, but those experiences nonetheless informed the telling. I’d add that I’ve written a second short story featuring a different character attempting to move on after emerging from a cult. It’s something of a companion piece and may also turn up on Medium in the future.