You're Not the Only One
ShortStory 3,770 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"Marcus was meant to be going to the moon today. Years of training, years of anticipation. I can’t imagine the letdown. Instead, he’s in the community garden, as usual, weeding. Marcus hates weeding. He’d rather prune the fruit trees or tie up the bean plants or be in the kitchen, cooking. Anything but weeds."
Content warnings 2
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Quasar links out; the story lives on Clarkesworld, where the author gets the click.