To Rest

By

Brigit M. Morgan

You know how sometimes you do something you hate, just because you realize, reluctantly as it may be, that you're doing something good for yourself? You know, like eating brussel sprouts, or getting up for work in the morning or stopping yourself from stabbing your boss with a pencil?

Reading this story's nothing like that. Okay, well, ... I still *do* hate, abhor really, reading post-FiN stories. They're dredging up bad memories, they're depressing as all hell and even if they have a miraculous happy-ending it just doesn't ring true. Which is why I didn't want to read "To Rest".

It's depressing. It doesn't have a miraculous happy ending. It doesn't have even a smidgen of sex, which would make - in my opinion - most stories worth reading.

Nothing. Nada.

That is, nothing except for the fact that it's written by B.M. Morgan (who will from now on be known as The Wench Who Makes Me Read Sad Stories, or WWMMRSS), so I had to read it. Had to. It'd be like someone telling me that Vivian Darkbloom or Mary Morgan or Frost wrote another story, but it's kinda upsetting so I should skip it. Or, to put it in more of layman's (pun very intended) terms - it'd be like telling me that I'd have one night with Lucy Lawless to do as I please, but that I should probably skip it since, like, I'd only be getting a taste of the desert without being able to indulge in it daily.

Pfft!

So, yeah. The story. God, is it depressing. But, god, is it worth the read. The language... The language, my dears, is worth the lump in your throat. It's moving, it's evocative, it's almost frightening to read because it pulls you right into the story. Which is, in the nutshell, about Gabrielle's departure from Amphipolis after she places Xena's ashes in the family tomb. That is it. Short story. Simple premise. Brilliant execution.

Enjoy it, and be sure to drop Brigit a note, the WWMMRSS!