Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
I can't think of any other stories in the anthology, no memories of the book cover:-
The story is told from an adolescent girl's viewpoint. What appears to be a low tech agricultural society.
She lives with her mother, grandmother, a couple of aunts and some younger sisters. Also some man who is known as the yearfather.
The narrative reveals that every two or three years of her life there has been a yearfather for twelve months or so, always small and quietly spoken young men who are nevertheless bubbly and entertaining. Then one day they are gone.
Due to circumstances, I think a younger sister has a minor accident, the girl protagonist finds herself alone in the house for most of an afternoon with the current yearfather. Nothing much happens, just some casual conversation.
However, when her older female relatives realise she's been with him they get her alone and ask if, at any time, her stinger had felt funny. Obviously, at this point, the reader realises they are not quite humans.
They make an issue of carefully keeping her away from the dayfather for a few weeks and then decide she is now mature enough for the revelation.
As always by this wintertime, the dayfather is acting unwell, her aunts and mother chain him in the root cellar (maybe but I'm not sure!) and she is taken to witness. He starts whimpering and ends up screaming as big grubs burst out of his body, then bore right back in and begin eating him as he dies.
She is told the facts of life, very soon she will want to sting a male, a dayfather will be procured for her and she will want to mate and then implant, then she too will be a mother.
That's it, any ideas? Thanks.
Note; there are similarities but this is NOT 'Bloodchild'
The story is told from an adolescent girl's viewpoint. What appears to be a low tech agricultural society.
She lives with her mother, grandmother, a couple of aunts and some younger sisters. Also some man who is known as the yearfather.
The narrative reveals that every two or three years of her life there has been a yearfather for twelve months or so, always small and quietly spoken young men who are nevertheless bubbly and entertaining. Then one day they are gone.
Due to circumstances, I think a younger sister has a minor accident, the girl protagonist finds herself alone in the house for most of an afternoon with the current yearfather. Nothing much happens, just some casual conversation.
However, when her older female relatives realise she's been with him they get her alone and ask if, at any time, her stinger had felt funny. Obviously, at this point, the reader realises they are not quite humans.
They make an issue of carefully keeping her away from the dayfather for a few weeks and then decide she is now mature enough for the revelation.
As always by this wintertime, the dayfather is acting unwell, her aunts and mother chain him in the root cellar (maybe but I'm not sure!) and she is taken to witness. He starts whimpering and ends up screaming as big grubs burst out of his body, then bore right back in and begin eating him as he dies.
She is told the facts of life, very soon she will want to sting a male, a dayfather will be procured for her and she will want to mate and then implant, then she too will be a mother.
That's it, any ideas? Thanks.
Note; there are similarities but this is NOT 'Bloodchild'
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