While I’ve been plotting away at several new novels—YA horror, adult horror, and adult fantasy are all in the works!—I’ve also been writing more short fiction. I’m delighted to share my story “Hibernation Heirloom” published in The Sunday Morning Transport this weekend.

If you’ve ever been so exhausted you just wanted to walk off into the woods, this short story is for you. “Hibernation Heirloom” is a bearskin retelling that finds a postpartum mom transforming to find herself again. Basically, this one is for the mamas, the fabulists, and anyone who could seriously use a break. I got you.

Here’s the opening to get a feel of this free story:

The sun rioted outside the kitchen window, announcing a new day. Cady ignored its demand for attention. Baby Emily was on her hip, happily mouthing the edge of her shirt, cooing in delight. She didn’t need to do the sleep math. Cady did all that for everyone.

Baby had snoozed on Mama and in her crib fourteen hours that day. Cady’s husband, Jack, stumbled into the kitchen, lamenting his fatigue after a solid nine hours of rest in a cozy bed. His offers to help had gone from persistent to nonexistent in the last few weeks. Cady had a collective three hours and fifteen minutes of shut-eye, if she counted the times she nodded off while nursing the babe.

Had Cady’s mother ever fallen asleep like this? The dropped connection clawed at her chest. Her mother had passed years ago, but fresh grief found her in recent weeks. That afternoon, while Baby napped for nearly an hour, Cady sought the scrap of bearskin her mother had left her. The cancer hadn’t been quick. So the placement in the hope chest—the one she insisted Cady take when hospice was imminent—was purposeful. Tucked behind photo albums and under the blanket Great-Aunt Gladys had crocheted was a hide no wider than her forearm. The fur was clean and soft. A small note in her mother’s looping handwriting was taped to the back: When your burden becomes too much, place this on your shoulders and let it bear the weight.

“Hibernation Heirloom” by Chelsea Mueller. Published by The Sunday Morning Transport on June 4, 2023.

“Hibernation Heirloom” is The Sunday Morning Transport’s free story for June. So you do not need to be a subscriber to read the whole thing. Better yet, because y’all know me, I have a special link that will give you a 60-day free subscription. In the event you want to dig into some of the other great stories there. A few of my recent favorites are Kat Howard’s “Unreal City,” Sarah Gailey’s “Such an Honor,” and Laura Anne Gilman’s “Answering the Call.”

The post New Story! Read “Hibernation Heirloom” for free appeared first on Chelsea Mueller, Author.