After almost two months, I finally managed to rewrite that story. Feels great. It's off to my beta readers, and hopefully it'll be in the mail to JJA at F&SF within a week or so.

This story is a lot better than what I submitted last time around, roughly half a decade ago. Will it be good enough to crack the slush pile? We'll see. But I enjoyed writing it, and that's what counts. Even if I never get published--or, if published, never make more than pocket change--writing is a cheap hobby. I'll keep at it for as long as it's still fun.