The Dark Under the Skin

Mundaway was there on the roof, waiting, just as he had been all the other times, somehow knowing Jordan was on his way. His face creased into a brief smile, but, as always, it did not remain. His dark skin glistened as the last rays of light fanned their way across the barren landscape, a landscape that always appeared to Jordan to have been somehow beaten into submission by forces he did not understand.

“Welcome, my old friend,” said Mundaway. His voice always sounded strange at first. The language of the shore people was not his language, and it sounded alien coming from his lips. Jordan had never heard him speak in the Kooree tongue, but its sounds and rhythms seemed to be embedded in everything Mundaway said.

“Mundaway, it's good to see you again. The time between our meetings is always too long.”

Mundaway grabbed him by the arm, a gesture which Jordan usually found comforting, but for some reason this time it chilled him, like the morning's first touch of water.

“I want you to sandshape with me this time,” said
the Kooree, his dark pupils suddenly shot through with
sunlight.

Praise for "The Dark under the Skin"

"The Dark Under the Skin" by Dirk Strasser is a sensitive and superb tale laced with Aboriginal mythos, the longing for spiritual understanding, and the use of art to yoke disparate people and communities.
SF Site

This story is just fantastic.
Suz’s Space

Honorable Mention in Year's Best Science Fiction 15th Annual Collection (edited by Gardner Dozois).

Publication History

“The Dark under the Skin” has been published several times, including in the German anthology Die Strasse nach Canderei as "Das Dunkle unter der Haut. Read my thoughts on “The Dark under the Skin” and Australian landscapes.