Science fiction, 6500 words - http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/moon.htm
This is a love story rather than a romance. I was charmed by the first conversation that the two lovers share upon meeting:
...the two of them ended up in a corner, talking about corners.
"Why do they have to be ninety degrees," Henry asked. He leaned against one wall, trying to appear nonchalant, and felt his drink slosh over his wrist. For the first time, Henry regretted that he was not a man brought up to be comfortable on the insides of buildings.
"They don't," Nell replied. "But there are good reasons they mostly are." For some reason, Nell's face seemed lacking in some way, as if the muscles and tendons were strung out and defined, but weren't really supporting anything of importance. Odd.
"Structural reasons?"
"Why are there laps, when we sit down?"
Henry knew then that he was going to like her, despite her peculiar face.
"So we have something to do with our legs, I suppose," he said.
"And to hold cats and children on, too. Function and beauty." Nell smiled, and suddenly Henry understood the reason her face seemed curious and incomplete. It was a superstructure waiting for that smile.
There isn't an overwhelming sense of the characters, so this is perhaps not the best read for someone who has to feel the passion of the narrator. Henry is a poet and Nell and architect, and the story is accordingly structured, elegant, and emotive with sparing words. It rests mostly on concepts, though:
What if your soul dwells in plants and living things outdoors? What if the woman you love is the leading architect of her generation, and her calling takes her away from you? What would you write, and what would she build?
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