Hannah Stevens, "In Their Absence"

Hannah Stevens is a writer from the UK. She writes short stories, flash fiction and creative non-fiction and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Leicester. She has stories featured in The Fairlight Book of Short Stories Volume 1, High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories and Unthology 10: Fight or Flight. She's also published by Archer Magazine, Loose Lips, Litro Magazine, Idle Ink, Losslit, Necessary Fiction, TSS Publishing and others. She is a director of Wind & Bones, an organisation dedicated to Writing, Creativity and Social Change. Her short story collection, In Their Absence, is published by Roman Books, as part of their Stretto Fiction Series, in 2021. You can read more about the collection below. Hannah's website is here. 

 

About In Their Absence 

In their Absence is a powerful dissection of what it means to go missing. This compelling debut explores the human complexities behind the headlines and statistics to reveal unsettling truths about what it is to live in the shadow of absence. These stories lay bare the agony of unknowing for those left behind. And they show us just how easily a human life can disappear. 

 

From In Their Absence 

Drought  

I’ve been missing for months: here, nobody knows who I am.  

We’re in the middle of a drought: everything is drying up and burning down.  

At the party I catch a man’s green eyes and eat from his paper plate. He has black hair and doesn’t remind me of home. I follow him outside and we kiss on the step.  

Later, the last bits of light fade away and, in the tangle of sheets, I try to show him what it means to touch me. I love his weight on my bones, his breath on my neck. I wonder how long he will stay for.  

In the morning he asks for water. He takes the glass and drinks to the bottom.  

I follow him to the door and he doesn’t look back as he leaves.