Crab Apple

"I saw her first the day I found Dad on the kitchen floor. The new girl. The wild girl..."

When Josh’s dad falls ill with lung cancer and a strange new girl appears at his school, Josh has to face up to two frightening threats. They may be more closely linked than he realizes.

This is a YA fantasy short story.

Crab Apple was first published in , and was reprinted in .

Reviews:

"Samphire handles a child's reactions to the serious illness of his only remaining parent with extraordinary finesse."

- Bluejack, Internet Review of Science Fiction.

"A nice, subtle faerie tale about hope and embracing the wildness inside us."

- James Palmer, Tangent Online.

"Patrick Samphire effectively mixes thoroughly contemporary conflicts with traditional fairy fantasy."

- Science Fiction Romance.

"'Crab Apple' by Patrick Samphire is a deep, subtle story. At the same time that the narrator's father is battling cancer, he meets a wild girl who claims to live in a tree. It is a story of helplessness and hope.

- Pauline Morgan, SF Crowsnest.