Varieties of The Fantastic in Fiction

“Salt Slow” is set in a post-apocalyptic future where incessant storms have inundated the land. A man and a woman are aboard a ship, and the lady is expecting a child. She reflects on their connection prior to the disaster and sees how the world has transformed, but rather how much her companion has changed. Also she has transformed, as she is now extending her hands and feet into the webbing between them. When she gives birth, the child is a half-human, half-sea monster combination. The man thumps it with a paddle and then tosses it into the sea. It reappears a few days later, having grown monstrously huge. The mom reaches out just to hold her kid as the father walks away. Since the girl has recognized her kid’s differences, her spouse abuses the infant and throws it into the sea out of dread. This depicts the heroine’s transformation from a childless person to someone who accepts having children. This makes the character feel out of place inside her own flesh, as well as in her relationship with a man. All of this tends to function together to underline women’s obligations to please all elements of themselves as individuals and lovers. In this submerged environment abounding with strange and mutant ocean wildlife gives everything to an uncensored and, at times, a terrifying glimpse at the difficulty of becoming impregnated, the grief of a miscarriage, and the agony of delivering a baby.