The influence of Chekhov-inspired open endings, giving the impression that the characters continue to live on long after the final word, has been fashionable in short fiction for many decades. So, being contrary by disposition, what I like about this story is that its ending feels like an ending – there’s no sense of events playing out after the final word. Everything that matters is contained within the story and then it’s over. Which isn’t to say that it’s trite or lacking emotional depth, far from it. The main character commits a macabre crime for morally good reasons; he’s a decent man who has fallen into desperate straits. It’s original and brilliant – and then it’s finished. Bliss.

First published in Shenandoah, Fall 2008. Collected in Burning Bright, Canongate Books, 2012