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Elaine is a salt marsh harvest mouse, and her life is bound by the ocean tide, the architecture of the high pickleweed, and the proud history of her colony. But when extreme weather coincides with a king tide to sweep away her home, her pups, and her entire world, Elaine is cast onto the feral earth.
Elaine, and The Long Salt Marsh is a short story about environmental resilience. It’s climate fiction about a world that is changing, told through the smallest eyes. It’s a story about the dignity of the natural world.
This is a standalone short story of approximately 6,000 words.
It takes place along the Hayward Shoreline and the abandoned Skywest Golf Course in the San Francisco Bay Area, home to the salt marsh harvest mouse. The only place in the world they can call home. But with 90% of their habitat gone and sea levels rising, and man-made ecosystems crumbling around it, the future of this mouse is uncertain.
Jesse Lee Gunn
Jesse is a public school teacher in Hayward, California. He also serves as a Community Services Commissioner for the city and volunteers for many local community organizations. His life's work is informed by a passion for understanding and building bridges, whether in the classroom or through civic engagement.
He is married, a father of two adult children, and is autistic. A truth that has profoundly shaped both the challenges and unique insights in his life.
His debut novel, The Fabric of Oblivion, explores these very intersections: the lines between subjective reality and external expectations of a neurotypical world, the courage of reclaiming identity, and the enduring power of choosing one's own narrative.