To Reach the Gate, She Must Leave Everything Behind
ShortStory 494 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"Death takes much and in return it offers Susan P—- only clarity. She finds herself in a great gray desert and knows her life has ended. Clad in a royal dress, she carries a bow and quiver, and a finely-carved ivory horn dangles from her throat. A tremor of fear shakes her. She’s not possessed such things in many years. Has she returned to His world? But Susan doesn’t recognize this bleak land, this starless black sky."
Content warnings 1
death
Quasar links out; the story lives on Lightspeed, where the author gets the click.