Originally online (and still there!) at GigaNotoSaurus, so click here to read it before you go any further.
A nominee in the novelette category, this is an excellent look at a near-future US where the economy and ecology have gone to pot, with many humans, flora and fauna paying the price. Josiah has been genmodded with bird DNA and each year he migrates with a small group of colleagues to cycle south, and to perform the ritual dances of the birds that are not longer alive.
It’s a touching story, effectively raising a number of issues and show impacts of changes, without labouring them, and well worth a read.
Only one query : how does ‘tail feathers’ in the original online version because ‘tale feathers’ in the print version??