Introduction
I wrote this story inspired by my friend at Chapman University, Julie Jones. Julie was born with disabilities similar to the character of Mel in the story. I wanted to take an honest look at what it felt like to be in that chair. I spent about three weeks there. Julie remains my friend. She read the story and said it was truthful before I ever sent it for publication. It was nominated for a Nebula Award in 2002 after appearing in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Only much later did Jim Blaylock point out to me the similarities between this story and “The Ship Who Sang.”
“I could never imagine you doing a story about a crippled girl in space and her cat,” Jim said. Well, of course. In this story, there’s no cat.