Lost by Zoe Nichols
This is a short story, so I had to imagine a lot of things, but there are enough details for me to do that. Eric and Ethan are friends, probably from when they are young: there is a easiness in their relationship, and common memories that allows me to realize that. Ethan has a special power, he is able to "feel" the spark of life of people, and so in the previous years he worked with an special organization devoted to find missing people; but the few times he was not able to find those people alive weighted more than the one times he succeeded, and so he left and now he is trying to loose his mind with alcohol.
When Eric asks him to find his missing mother, Ethan doesn't want to do that, but Eric is one of the few friends he hasn't drawn away, and so he can't refuse. And then there is something in Eric that attracts Ethan more than a friendship bond: he has always avoided to think on it, but now that they are together in this mission, Ethan is no more able to be detached.
As I always said with a short story, there are very few things I can say without giving up the story. So I will focus on the two things that remained more in me after the end. First, this is a multicultural love story, but sincerely this aspect is not very underlighted, and I like it; Ethan is African-American, Eric is white, but this doesn't matter for them; maybe it's since they were friends before, maybe it's since when Ethan sees Eric, or when Eric sees Ethan, they only see someone they love, point, the cultural barrier is not overcome since it doesn't exist since the beginning.
Second point, I like the fatalism of the story, how all it's resolved without Eric or Ethan doing something that maybe they would have regretted in the future. It's not a perfect ending, but it's an end that allows Eric and Ethan to have a chance.
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Amazon Kindle: Lost
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