Love in the Season of New Dance
ShortStory 5,130 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"According to orbital observations, the aliens wouldn’t rise from their hibernation caves today. The three moons weren’t in position yet. Leena dialed a cup of coffee, checked her instruments, and settled down with her knitting. Observing the Amphim’s once-per-seventy-nine-years mating rituals sounded like the front lines of science..."
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
Quasar links out; the story lives on Clarkesworld, where the author gets the click.