"Science Fiction" means—to us—everything found in the science fiction section of a bookstore, or at a science fiction convention, or amongst the winners of the Hugo awards given by the World Science Fiction Society. This includes the genres of science fiction (or sci-fi), fantasy, slipstream, alternative history, and even stories with lighter speculative elements. We hope you enjoy the broad range that SF has to offer.
Siri Paulson loves nothing more than mixing up genres to see what will happen. She also wears the hats of non-fiction editor by day and chief editor of Turtleduck Press by night. Her other passion is contra (folk) dancing. Thankfully, her long-suffering husband is good at keeping himself occupied. After growing up in Alberta, Canada, she moved to Toronto and achieved her lifelong dream of buying an old house, dubbed the TARDIS because it's bigger on the inside. Other lifelong dreams include publishing novels (one and counting), traveling the world (so far, so good), and becoming an astronaut (still waiting on that one).
Siri's debut fantasy novel, City of Hope and Ruin, co-written with Kit Campbell, was published in 2016 and is available at City of Hope and Ruin.
This is Siri's second appearance on Daily Science Fiction. Her short SF&F fiction has been published in the 2017 "A Holiday to Remember" collection from Mischief Corner Books (https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/a-new-year-on-vega-iii.html), in Queer Sci Fi's flash fiction anthologies Migration (https://otherworldsink.com/book/migration/) and Renewal (https://queerscifi.com/announcement-renewal-qsfs-flash-fiction-anthology/), and the anthology Timeshift (https://www.amazon.com/Timeshift-Tales-Eric-S-Fomley-ebook/dp/B07F2M7YZ2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=). More short fiction and the anthologies she has edited can be found on her Turtleduck Press bio, at http://turtleduckpress.com/wordpress/2010/11/30/who-is-siri-paulson/.
She can be found dabbling in photography at http://www.instagram.com/siripaulson/ and blogging at https://siripaulson.wordpress.com/.
Have you ever heard of an aquatic shapeshifter? Traditionally, we have preyed on divers, waiting in the guise of a clownfish or a piece of coral reef until they and their black clicking boxes come too close. Have you wondered how sharks can appear at swimming beaches out of nowhere, or why experienced divers sometimes fail to surface?
Our talents go beyond shifting from one finned creature to another. We are the sudden riptide that draws you under and never lets you go, the rogue wave that sweeps you off the seawall or flips your boat. We follow lone yachters bent on circumnavigation, unwisely testing their will against the sea. We know why the Mary Celeste was empty and how Amelia Earhart screamed when she died. The monster shark you have only dreamed of, the creature of the deeps that will not come near the bathyscaphe's light--those were us.
Once in a while, we venture beyond the sea. The long-necked monster in the Scottish lake, the deadly current in the river, the splash in the lake that you can't explain, the boater who capsized and was never found--those are us, too.
But now we have found a new creature to emulate, a game that will open to us a whole new hunting ground.
You call it: goldfish.
The End
This story was first published on Friday, May 29th, 2020
Become a Member!
We hope you're enjoying The Hunting Ground by Siri Paulson.
Please support Daily Science Fiction by becoming a member.
Daily Science Fiction does not have a paywall, but we do have expenses—more than 95% of which are direct payments to authors for their stories. With your $15 membership, less than 6 cents per story, we can continue to provide genre fiction every weekday by email and on the website to thousands of readers for many years to come. You may also choose to support us via patreon.
Rate This Story
Please click to rate this story from 1(ho-hum) to 7(excellent!):
