This one is a special one because I commissioned it. Over the last few years, I’ve had the privilege of serving as podcasts editor for Literary Hub and while that mostly means managing (and occasionally producing or even hosting) a stable of interview shows, this two-year collaboration with Aesop was a fun experiment in commissioning new writing. The brief was to write short ‘new’ fables a la Aesop’s classics—and while I enjoyed all ten that came out of the project, I think SGJ’s is my favorite. He’s a generous and kind man, beloved in the horror community for all the right reasons, and I was tickled that he not only wanted to do this project but that he delivered such a pitch-perfect fable to boot.

First published as part of Literary Hub and Aesop’s “Future Fables” podcast series, 2023. Listen to it here