Hi, I'm Lovar Burton and this is Lovar Burton Reads.

In every episode I hand-pick a different piece of short fiction and I read it to you.

The only thing these stories have in common is that I love them and I hope you will too.

Well, today, y'all, we have a story by the speculative fiction writer and editor, Stephanie Cox.

Now, Stephanie often writes about cities and places which feels very natural

given her degree in city and urban planning. She has said that her research and engagement

with urban planning goes hand in hand with her creative brain when she writes fiction and this

story is certainly an example of that. In this piece, Stephanie is writing about a future version

of California, ostensibly a few generations from now when things are literally heating up

and wildfires are becoming an ever-present issue. But the interesting thing about this story

for me is that rather than taking an apocalyptic turn, it places our faith in humanity.

The story is called Firewall and it was published in an anthology entitled Glass

and Gardens Solar Punk Summers from World Weaver Press.

So, if you're ready, let's take a deep breath.

And begin Firewall by Stephanie Cox.

It only took an hour on the trail for Daesha to lose Talia.

Or rather, that's all it took for Talia to give her the slip.

They'd headed out of the city and into the dusty dry hills together,

feet crunching in three separate pairs through the stick-like yellow grass.

But eventually, Daesha realized one set of footsteps was missing.

I am never having kids thought Daesha.

I'm supposed to be doing a job not running an internship program.

...