The Past Will Eat You Alive_. Hearn's most recent novel is _The Grave of the Beasts_. His first novel, _The Listeners_ , was made into a movie in 2009. Hearn is the sole writer for the Valente mystery series. The first volume was called _The House of Shattered Wings_. Hearn has also written a dozen volumes of poetry, including the collection _The Kingdom of Nimph_. He lives with his wife and daughter in Portland, Oregon. **Tad Williams** has been a writer since long before he could write. His first book, _The Dragonbone Chair_ , was published when he was fourteen, and received the Endeavour Award as well as thecoveted distinction of being selected by Locus (the leading trade journal of the science fiction field) as a finalist for the 1986 Nebula Award, for Best Novel. This was followed by _Memory, Sorrow and Thorn_ , the award-winning series consisting of _The Dragonbone Chair_ , _Stone of Farewell_ , _To Green Angel Tower_ and _Beyond the High Hall_. _King of the Dead_ won the 1998 Mythopoeic Award for Adult Fantasy Literature. Together with Robin Hobb, Williams has written the book and script for the first two-hour Doctor Who episode to feature the Daleks. The DVD version of the episode, "Dalek," was published in hardcover by Tor Books in July 2005. He is also the author of many short stories, which have been collected in _Treasure in the Sand_ , _Patterns of the Past_ , _The Dragons of Babel_ , and _A Tale of the Allergon_. His most recent novel is _Tales of the Great Turtle_. He lives in western Oregon, where he and his wife, Melanie, operate Story Circle Bookstore in Ashland and host the annual Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing Workshop for Teen Writers. # ## **I. Introduction by Peter S. Beagle** _Rogue Moon_ is a delightful piece of work. What really got me—I say this in all seriousness—was the fact that it was set in my favorite world in fantasy, not for some technical reason, but because it was just good writing. As for the story: it's about two lovers who find that all of their world is about to vanish. What they do is important, and not just because it's an adventure, though it is that, too, because when you're young, you're young, and that's what you love to read about. You might find other kinds of relationships more interesting than theirs, but you'll be lying if you say you don't feel their fear, the dread of the thing that's about to happen, the realization that you aren't important, that you're only a speck in a universe that doesn't need you—and then what are you, then? What's beautiful to me is the way this story of loss, and the realization that life is finite, yet life is all we have, is handled with such skill, such care and tenderness. Some people are shy in their use of language. There's a story by a writer I admire greatly, A. S. Byatt, called "Falling in Love Again." It's a story about falling in love, and Byatt puts the word "thigh" in it. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? That's a lot of words for that one little thing. But what does it mean to you? Well, you see that thigh is what a boy remembers. It can be very beautiful, or scarred, or scarred beautiful. But it can also mean what keeps you from falling when you're in a high place. Or it can be your greatest joy, or your greatest terror. You see, if we looked at things that way, we'd never waste a word on those things that don't matter very much. But by calling your attention to them, and describing them well, you can make them seem important to you. In this same way, I once heard a writer on a radio show say he loved the smell of salt. He had never written that before in any of his books, but there it was, and I was enchanted by it. In the way that a writer can turn a word on its head, he showed how the smell of salt is one of the senses that gives us some of our most vivid memories, and the ability to smell it gives us that memory; not just the smell of the thing itself, but the smells of things you once smelled together, or walked into a home where that smell has been preserved. That's what gives rise to stories. So I'm not surprised that people are moved by this: they take it in, and I take it in, and it's the same, not just in the moment, but when you think of it later, and reread it, and remember the memory of the experience. And there's something else I love about it. These are not ordinary people. These are two ordinary people who are given a task. It's not like there are superbeings who can move worlds, who can move them into a different realm of existence. The universe can have its own power—it has its own power—to change the lives of people in a way they don't expect. And what they don't know is the importance of their actions, that they can change the destiny of worlds. All they do is a garden. That's what's going on here, so far. A young couple on a small planet sees the moon about to vanish and they make the only choice left to them. But they make it not because they are heroes. They just do the right thing at the right time because they love each other and are people. When we do the right thing at the right time, that's what makes us heroes. That's what it's all about. And that's one of the things I love about this story. That's one reason why I think you'll love it. It's a special pleasure to me to introduce a new story by Peter S. Beagle, who is as much of a master of language and story as he is of style and grace. —Peter S. Beagle ## **TWO SISTERS** A man dreamed that he heard a voice whisper: _—You._ In the room where I slept, a man dreamed that he heard the voice of an angel, whispering: _—You have been chosen._ Who was dreaming? Both were. Both dreamed the same dream. Each was asleep, in his bed, on the sleeping platform at the center of a small stone cottage. His ceiling consisted of stone blocks chinked with mud and straw. A fire pit lay just outside his door. A long stone bench took up half of the large room. He could hear his fellow villagers breathing in slumber, hear the night wind whispering outside. But only the man—for the angel was already with him—hears the voice of the unseen speaker. _—Only you._ The man's eyes were closed. He felt the light pressure of that same hand on his cheek, the same caressing voice whispering: _—Only you._ He answered: "But where would I go?" The voice answered: _—With me._ "Where is that?" The voice said: _—Come._ "How would I get there?" The voice said: _—With me._ "It is far. I have a wife and children, and a hard job. I'm not so young. My village is safe and peaceful, and I love my wife and children. We have not known war. How can I leave my family?" The voice said: _—With me._ "What is there for me there?" The voice said: _—Wonderful things._ "Oh, really, I don't believe you! What wonders would be better than my life here?" The voice said: _—How beautiful you will be._ "What a strange thing to say!" The voice said: _—We live on the other side._ "Is it another planet? Have you looked at stars with other beings? Are we from another world?" The voice said: _—No._ "Then what is there?" The voice said: _—I am an angel. I live on the other side, where you cannot see me. I can see into your heart and soul. I love you. I am telling you: Only you are important. You are the one chosen. You are the one the angel has chosen._ "But you must have many brothers and sisters. If this angel were like a brother to me, he would speak to me as brothers do. Why am I alone with him? What is the matter with him? He is only a lowly angel." The voice said: _—You are the one I want._ "Oh, why? I have no good looks, no great wisdom. I am just a farmer, a man of few accomplishments. I am no leader, no wise one. Why do you want me for what you must be offering? And why do you want me so badly that you are willing to take me, but not my fellow man? Will you take him, if I agree