Año Nuevo
Novelette 9,402 words Recommended by 4 award/anthology sources
"So, what do you think?” “I think they are the crappiest aliens ever.” The dunes, as well, were nothing like Bo had imagined dunes ought to be. They were just ugly humps of sand with grass, mostly dead, sticking out of them in patches. The vague path wound between them."
Content warnings 1
violence
Quasar links out; the story lives on Asimov's, where the author gets the click.