19 Comments
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Shane Bzdok's avatar

Wow, this is fantastic writing, Claudia. The wooden shrine, the ceremony of sacrifice, all of it—tragic, and beautiful. I really enjoyed reading this.

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Oh, thank you so much! This made my day 💚

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𝐂𝐁 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧's avatar

As powerful and beautiful as the first time I read this. Thank you for sharing again!

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Thank you for reading again, CB. 💚

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Larry Hogue's avatar

It was great to read the story where it all began! So haunting, and what great world-building!

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Thanks for taking the time, Larry 💚

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Jessica Maison's avatar

This was so original, haunting and captivating. Wonderful bit of fiction.

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Thank you, Jessica. It was based on a dream. I saw the platform with the chosen ones in the dream and knew they were a sacrifice for sharks. A weird, intense dream.

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Nick Winney's avatar

i read this last year Im sure. such a vivid world. really alive with possible futures. i love the sense of relativity it creates. we are all effectuvely meaningless individuals outside of a greater collective existence.

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Claudia Befu's avatar

We matter in many ways and so do all other creatures in this world. Right now we value ourselves higher than anyone else. In the future, scarcity and loss will make us love others more than ourselves.

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Joseph Young's avatar

Rich and suffused with feeling, Claudia. Atmospheric. Thanks for writing and sharing.

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Thanks, Joseph, this story is near to my heart and I worked on it for so long to give it a certain feeling. I’m happy you felt it too.

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Nick Buchheit's avatar

Love the world building in this. Real vision for what our future world could look like. Bravo!

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Thanks, Nick. It was inspired by The Uninhabitable Earth, a book that opened my eyes to what could come.

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Sharon Hom's avatar

Claudia, This was such a powerful story, I was drawn in deeper and deeper, stunned by the unexpected shocks you planted in the relationships marked by such grief and human sacrifice.

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Thank you, Sharon! I am so glad that you enjoyed it. It's a story that I wrote with the human-nature relationship in mind and the grief future generations will feel if we continue destroying our ecosystem, leaving them a desolated planet to inherit.

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Sharon Hom's avatar

Yes ecological grief 😿

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Kate Bown's avatar

This is brilliant Claudia, I held my breath all the way through. I loved the kelp forests and although I was initially horrified at the idea of sacrifices with sharks, I was very moved by the philosophy of your imagined future colonies. You are a super talented writer and very inspiring for us all. I am going to be thinking long and deep about this one.

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Emily Charlotte Powell's avatar

This is a beautiful and poignant story Claudia. What a powerful way to celebrate Earth day 🌱

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