How would an old person use the opportunity to be young again? It's a premise that shows up often enough in sci-fi shows and movies, but I found myself preoccupied with it a few summers ago. Part of it was a story I heard from someone who rented a summer house from an owner in her sixties, only to later visit her and find her looking in her early forties. And part of it was my observation in how we idealize youth as we age; seasons in our lives that might be complex and painful when we live them are later recalled as magical and simple.
That line of thinking fertilized my story "The Girls of Summer" in the new collection ON TIME. A restless teenage girl bored with her small town is befriended by two strange new girls who seem to be both older and younger than their years; inevitably, she discovers there is indeed a deadly menace in town but it's one that teaches her to appreciate the joys of being young.
On Time
The future affects the past. ON TIME features seventy-plus stories that fling us forward, promise progress while dropping destruction, and replay our regrets.
ON TIME is a collection of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy stories all premised on the squirmy, elusive concept that is time. You can check it out here.