At the beginning of the year, April seemed so far away, which was good, because April is C2E2 month, which meant I had plenty of time to get together my cosplay. But now April is actually here, and March seemed to fly by in a bit of a blur. I suppose there was a lot going on last month, but now it’s time to focus on new things. And that includes a new Featured Story from last year’s World Unknown Review.
Sarah Gribble‘s “Lullaby Land” is a short and bittersweet about the deep cuts caused by loss. It’s a story that resonated with me on several levels. It was so different from many of the stories I received, which is always a stand-out for a publication that seeks to have a diverse range of stories. But the subject matter was also very personal, as the main character Alina reminded me so strongly of my own mother, who suffered a similar loss before I even came into this world; my mom was very close to my heart the whole time reading it. And, lastly, Sarah has managed to convey so much with so little. The storytelling is simple and sparse and allows for a few words to speak volumes, which is effective for the subject matter and a very impressive writing style to boot.
“Lullaby Land” will be available to read for free on the Featured Story page until the beginning of May, so take the time to check it out. Maybe bring a few tissues, too. And it should be noted that today is actually Sarah’s birthday, too, so you owe it to her to read it for her birthday. And keep an eye out for an interview with the author herself later in the month, where we’ll talk about the story, writing, and other interesting things.
Happy reading!
(And happy birthday, Sarah!)
L.S. Engler 
How timely this post is~ Tomorrow is the anniversary of your big brother Brian’s death </3 Love you much!!! ( and I loved Sarah's story)
Oh, wow, I didn’t even realize that. This story is hitting all the timeliness.
What is funny is after Brian died ~ Old Father Hart from St. Josephs came by that night and insisted we needed to baptize Brian before we buried him or he would be trapped in purgatory. I lost it on him, yelling at him that Brian was not there because there was no such thing and he should leave. Dad was mortified at me but ~~~