Zhuangzi's Dream
Novelette 9,000 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"Latent summer stirred while spring lay dormant. April had come to the Kingdom of S’ong and brought with it spells of rain. Tadpoles in the pond recently developed hind legs; above, a stray shower had been drumming at the water pit-a-pat. The rain-rinsed sky was tinged a darkening hue from horizon to zenith all the way to the concealed, eternal stars."
Content warnings 2
deathwar
Quasar links out; the story lives on Clarkesworld, where the author gets the click.