And The Mountains Melt Like Wax

by Tyler Battaglia

After experiencing something traumatic, a firefighter on leave from his job ventures up a mountain to get away from difficulty memories and the pains of a life interrupted. What he finds on the mountainside is anything but expected.

His heart heavy with grief, Abel must decide how much of the truth he's willing to face.

"And The Mountains Melt Like Wax" is a 4,800 word fantasy short story about grief, trauma, and finding healing in unexpected places.

(Originally published in An Anthology of Angels.)

Genres: Short Stories

21 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2024

About the author

Tyler Battaglia is a queer and disabled author of horror, dark and urban fantasy, and other speculative fiction, who is especially interested in subjects that interrogate the connections between faith, monsters, love, queerness, and disability. Tyler lives in Canada with his partner and a grumpy cat. A full list of publications to date can be found on https://www.tylerbattaglia.com/.

Reviews

[Linn · Rating 5 out of 5]

21 pages of absolute perfection

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the stories of all time

[Sheila Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

“An angel had just devoured an almond butter granola bar. It had contained raisins. It did not feel divine.”

This quote made me chuckle. This one is an odd short story with religious/biblical elements and themes of grief and forgiveness.
It also has a dog (who lives and is unharmed).
This is my second book by this author and Tyler is excellent at crafting character driven narratives. This story does manage to contain an impressive amount of the main character’s inner turmoil and journey toward healing in such few pages.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

"For what could have been eternity, the three sat together alone on a mountain. An angel, fallen. A child of man, wounded. A beast of Eden, blameless."

OH MY GOD THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD BUT SHORT RIDE AND I ABSOLUTELY DEVOURED EVERY SECOND OF IT. THE PORTRAYAL OF THE ANGEL, THE EMOTIONS, AAAAAAAAAA

[Heloísa · Rating 2 out of 5]

?

[Krys (spicy.spine.breaker) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifying & beautiful Eldritch angels beyond comprehension are my favorite thing

[alex sol (hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Was it an angel after all? Was this a mark of a demon? What was the difference, and did it matter?”

[Kienn Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

another sweet story full of love and devotion and guilt- an angel

[Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

I liked this story and the writing, I will definitely try to read more from this author. A unique spin on the tale of Cain and Abel, and I liked the Angel.