Special post alert: Yesterday I had a short story titled THE CASTHEISER ILLUSION published in Green House Literary. I’m drawing attention to it because: 1. It’s very good, 2. It’s about people wilfully ignoring the climate crisis, 3. Europe is burning.
Set in near-future London, Stacks is an out-of-work astrophysicist struggling to find a reason to keep going when the outlook for humanity is so bleak. Then a chance encounter with an old colleague sends him down a rabbit hole of guilt, manipulation and mitigation. Soon only one question matters to Stacks: What - or who - is Castheiser?
‘The prediction models think the next storm will wipe out half of London.’
‘Didn’t the last one do that already?’ Melchior laughed when he saw the look on Stacks’s face. ‘Oh, it’s no joking matter, I know. All those dead. But what else can one do? Better to see the humour in the situation than to fret.’
The Castheiser Illusion is the third story in an extended series set in the Sundown universe. The other two are Pawn’s Promotion and Combers. More to come.
