Apex, February 2026
Set on the back of a living jackalope — a giant mythical creature whose fur serves as the ground an entire community calls home — “Unsettled Nature” follows Beau, an aging, transgender former veterinarian navigating suspicion, isolation, and a dangerous truth in a world both literally and figuratively unstable.
The story opens with the discovery of a mangled body on Beau’s property, found just after the jackalope has stopped its restless running. Beau, the settlement’s unofficial medical expert, is immediately suspected by Arlen, a volatile and violence-prone member of the community’s mulchers — scavengers who repurpose the dead as fertilizer. Arlen’s accusations are loud and persistent, and they find a ready audience among the jackalope’s tight-knit, suspicious population.
Doc — Beau’s ex-wife, the settlement’s actual doctor, and a near-perpetual drunk on “sporeshine” — arrives to examine the body. Despite knowing Beau is innocent, she warns that Arlen’s accusations carry dangerous weight. The two share a complicated, tender-sharp dynamic: once deeply in love, their marriage dissolved after Beau came out as a man. Their history lingers in every exchange, a mixture of resentment, residual care, and mutual respect neither will fully acknowledge.
When a second body turns up in identical condition, and then a third, Beau quietly begins gathering evidence for a theory no one wants to hear: the jackalope herself is sick. Her nightmares have grown more violent, her breathing erratic, her behavior increasingly erratic. As a man who once tended to sick animals, Beau recognizes the signs, even as the community prefers a human villain over an inconvenient ecological truth. Beau leaves detailed notes about the jackalope’s deteriorating condition at Doc’s bedside — a final record in case things go wrong.
Armed with Doc’s rifle and hat, Beau sets out alone at night to confirm the theory, deliberately making themselves visible so the community will at least be able to identify their body. The gambit nearly proves fatal: Arlen ambushes Beau in the dark, intent on silencing them before the truth about the jackalope can spark a panic. In the confrontation, the story’s central tension crystallizes — Arlen isn’t simply cruel, but afraid. They know Beau is right and dread the consequences of the community learning the ground beneath their feet is dying.
The standoff is resolved not by Beau or Arlen, but by the jackalope herself. A gunshot startles her into bolting, throwing both figures from her back. Arlen is mortally wounded; the creature’s foot, Beau realizes, was responsible for all three deaths all along — not murder, but the thrashing of a sick and suffering animal. Beau grants Arlen a mercy killing, and then faces the jackalope alone: starving, enormous, and pleading. Rather than using the last rifle shot, Beau and the beast scream together into the night until she walks away.
The story closes with Beau standing alone on the open ground, one bullet left and no clear path forward — but still alive, still stubborn, and still certain the world isn’t done with them yet.
Jordan Kurella is a trans and disabled author who has lived all over the world (including Moscow and Manhattan). In his past lives, he was a photographer, radio DJ, and social worker. He can be found on Twitter @kurellian, or at JordanKurella.com. His work has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Sturgeon Award, and the L.A. Times Book Prize. It’s also appeared on the Locus Recommended List and the Hugo Award Longlist.
Jordan’s debut novella I NEVER LIKED YOU ANYWAY (Lethe Press) was a Nebula Finalist and was longlisted for the BSFA award. It has been called “beautifully queer” by Publisher’s Weekly. Sarah Gailey called it, “an irresistible read.” SB Divya said it was “an absolute delight.” novella, I Never Liked You Anyway, is due out in the fall from Vernacular Books.