Jennifer Hudak

The Tide Folk

Lightspeed Magazine Issue 190 (March 2026)

In summer, when the ocean ebbs at dusk, when the sand turns to glass and it becomes impossible to discern the difference between reflection and sky, the Tide Folk emerge from their pools. You might think, if you clamber on the cliffs searching for those tiny ecosystems the sea leaves behind twice a day, that you can see all there is to see—that you could, if you tried, touch the bottom of the pockets of water with your fingertip. And perhaps you’d be right. But something stops you from disturbing the shimmering surface, every time.