We Are Such Stuff

by Sunny Moraine

Reyes is bored. A young man in a bleak future city of endless rain, he finds his entertainment in packed clubs, one-night stands, and the occasional drug. But when the mysterious Ethan catches his eye, he is led on a chase through a nighttime world of dreams and dreamers, a chase that could end in frustration. Or a truly new kind of pleasure.

11 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Sunny Moraine is—among many other things—the author of the novella Your Shadow Half Remains, published by Tor Nightfire. Their debut short fiction collection Singing With All My Skin and Bone was released in 2016 and their short stories have been published in Tor.com, Uncanny, Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and Nightmare. An occasional podcaster/narrator/voice actor, they are the writer, producer, and lead actor of the serial horror drama podcast Gone, which wrapped up its first season in January 2018 and released a second season in 2022. For more info, please see their website at sunnymoraine.com.

Reviews

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

12 pages of WTFery? Wow. This is set in the future where thanks to global warming it rains all the time, no polar ice cap, major cities flooded and abandoned and all kinds of new drugs on the market. Reyes is at the club and has taken something called "sharper" and sees a guy across the room. He eventually kind of drifts over but after touching him goes outside as the drug wears off. The guy follows him and he's got weird changing eyes and is kind of odd and tells Reyes to chase him. They end up at the mall where after hours all these people addicted to "dreaming" another type of drug that has you in a dream-state just wander around like zombies. Reyes' sister is addicted to this stuff. He catches a girl who trips which seems to mystify Ethan who take Reyes home and they have hot smexin' with maybe some other drug, but maybe not, maybe it's a dream and Ethan is talking about leaving because he needs more light and it's all very mystical and what/who is Ethan and is there drugs, is there not. Whoa, trippy. So it was one of the most bizarre things I've ever read. Well, maybe not ever but it was out there. Bad? Not necessarily, but definitely different.

[Serena Yates · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting story. I liked the descriptions, the version of a future world that Sunny Moraine came up with. The playing with colors and sensory impressions is interesting. I would summarize my impression with "psychedelic". If you like those sorts of stories, this is a good one. I personally missed a connection with the characters, I didn't feel involved in their lives and the ending isn't clear or positive. I think that this story could do with a sequel to answer some of those questions, and I would definitely read it.