"I'll Never Fall in Love Again," by Chris Curran, in What the World Needs Now: Mystery Stories Inspired by the Music of Burt Bacharach, edited by Martin Edwards, Level Best Books, 2026.
We talk a lot about twist endings, but twists don't have to come at the end of a story. Sometime the alteration that turns everything on its head happens much earlier.
Sarah ran out of the house one night and was hit by a car. Now she's in a coma and may or may not survive. Her husband, Harry, refuses to leave her bedside.
"What do I do if I go home? Pace the floor , phone you every half hour? I can't work, can't even think. At least when I'm here, I can see what's happening, or not happening. Couldn't bear to be away if she wakes up or..."
But then comes the twist, barely a third of the way through the story, and everything changes. That's all I dare tell you about this well-written tale.
