This particular short story fought me. I started the idea as a whim, and didn’t really know where to cut if off for the moment. I look at one of the oldest fantasy tropes and play with it a little bit. More than anything, this story has become a look at a character dealing with shock and absurdity. And maybe literal medical shock.
Another reason for the delay is that getting my larger story published in Clarkesworld didn’t work out. I’m going to keep looking, but I won’t let it get in the way of resuming more normal updates. Expect a continuation of this story in a few updates.