Kimberly Ann Dufray Is Not Afraid, by Leah Bobet

by audreyhoman

#29: “Kimberly Ann Dufray Is Not Afraid” by Leah Bobet

Synopsis: Elective surgery takes a radical turn.

The protestors were already there when I pulled into the pay parking lot across the street from the office. The clinic rose through a thicket of signs, cardboard and duct tape bending in the stiff lake breeze. Sun glittered off broken glass. Everything reeked of smoke.

The pro-choicers were on my side of the building, the rest of them on the other—under a whole smorgasbord of names like Spectrum Heritage, Diversity Alliance, Save Black Culture. The wind fluttered police lines, paper, hair. I ducked and twisted through the crowd to the front.

Thought-provoking set up, with the best ending I’ve ever read.

“Kimberly Ann Dufray” is free online at Strange Horizons.