"For the Killing of the Happiest Man" by Max Harbal in @Cifiscape Vol. 1: The Twin Cities

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"For the Killing of the Happiest Man" by Max Harbal is a story after my own heart - one that I wish I would have written. One of my favorite subjects, anyone who knows me can attest, to discuss at length is poop - both animal and human. By the time my Environmental Science students have taken the final, they are sick, disgusted, and tired of me talking about poop and the nutrient cycle. I mean, the subject is exciting and important for a sustainable future - just check out The Miracle Toilet video posted by the New York Times.

Okay, I have to calm down.

Harbal's "For the Killing of the Happiest Man" is about the a sanitation worker, Piper Hines, who goes to work everyday beneath the Twin Cities. Far bellow the surface of "Shitters," as Piper refers to people, there is a lagoon of raw sewage, a vast lake of human excrement, that is being recycled into fertilizer to later be applied to fields for growing food. Today, as Piper goes about his patrol of the sewage systems inner workings, he comes across a body gumming up one of the recyclers. Who is it? Why is the body in the system? How did the body get stuck in the recycler? These questions better left to the police, but Piper sees that there's note sticking out the body's pocket...

I have to say that I loved this story, loved it!

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Special Note: Yes, I have a story in Cifiscape Vol. 1: The Twin Cities - "What's For Dinner" - so I have a vested interest in the anthology selling. However, all the authors in the anthology are local Twin Cities' authors, and the stories are excellent, so I'm going to review them all over the next few days. Cheers!