Aphelion

A lot of nastiness here, a lot of misery and loss and heartache, the results of the desperate being taken advantage of by the greedy. And yet, the humanity of these people outshines the treasure they're sent out to retrieve at the risk of death. There is indeed triumph here.

Well done, Mr. Webb.

I simply fell in love with this story, I truly did. I loved the human touches, the lighting the candle, the care in raising the deformed son, and the room they didn't go into--the one with the body bags in it. They didn't jettison the dead, they kept them together as a family.

That's why I picked this story as last month's lead tale.