A
novella in four parts, by
Watts Martin.
The story focuses on a cat named Mika, who runs across a
vampire bat while out on a walk in the
shady side of town. Now, in the story's setting, vampire bats are essentially
outcasts of society, forced to live on the
fringes of civilization because of their unique
physiology. And Mika, who is a
starving artist and rapidly tiring of his relationship with a rich, aristocratic
ditz, has been looking for a broader view of
life - which the bat, Revar, provides. The characters are rich and believable, and
likeable to boot. Despite the relative
brevity of the story, there is an incredible amount of
character development, the likes of which frequently isn't seen in full-length
novels. The story is just as rich and involving. When I read it, it was
late at night when I first ran across it... And I couldn't stop reading it until I had
finished it, several hours later. Usually I have a hard time reading long things on a
computer screen, but for some reason, this was different. It was one of the best works of
fiction I have ever read, and easily the best
short story/novella I have ever read.
It can be found in the belfry archives at www.belfry.com.