Angels' Shoes, and Other Stories

Set against the bruised river delta where jungle‑fed waters clash with the open sea, a weather‑worn barquentine drifts into a moment of uneasy calm. The crew, led by the pragmatic Grier, discovers a battered laborer and a mysterious young woman clinging to each other on a drifting dugout. Their rescue reveals a strange brass ring, a torn shirt bearing a parson’s collar, and an old medic whose quiet indignation hints at deeper cultural tensions.

Through terse, lyrical prose the story sketches a world of relentless flood, fragile hope, and the ambiguous morality of frontier trade. Listeners are drawn into the sensory clash of mud‑brown currents and sapphire tides, feeling the weight of bruised feet and the fragile beauty of the girl’s care. The tale sets the stage for further encounters, leaving the river’s secret currents and the characters’ hidden motives to unfold in the stories that follow.