EMPIRE: THE ANNALS OF EELIN-OK

It starts with the idea - there are faeries called Twilmish who only become corporeal when they discover a sand castle to their liking. Their lives then last only as long as the sand castle remains, so they must choose wisely.

Next comes the specific - a small journal was discovered and its author was one of the Twilmish, named Eelin-Ok. The rest of the story consists of the entirety of his journal.

The payoff comes in the beautiful writing and the life that Eelin-Ok lives. He comes into being at sunset and passes away while the moon is still in the sky but time seems to behave differently for him. He explores, fights off a rat, decorates the castle, acquires a sand flea companion, meets and fall in love with a faerie woman of a different species (and her son), rides on a bird, repels a full scale assult from more rats, and so much more. The story too plays with time - it seems like you've read a much longer tale. Eelin-ok writes "'What does it all mean?' I have always asked. 'It means you've lived a life...'"

A beautiful story and a strong start to the collection.