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Written in Water is a 4000-word short story by Tanith Lee, about the last woman on Earth. It was first published in the 1982 original anthology Perpetual Light, published by Warner Books and edited by Alan Ryan.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

Jaina, age 35, is the last woman on Earth following a devastating plague. Now a spaceship lands near her house, and a man gets out. She tends to him, feeds him, tries to talk to him. He seems human, but he does not talk, and his origin is a mystery. She eventually decides that he was created by a race of aliens, who took pity on Jaina and created a companion (“an helpmeet”) for her. But she resents being controlled and manipulated by outside forces, so she shoots and kills him. But as she’s burying the body, she sees another ship coming down from the sky.

Reprints

This story is reprinted in Donald A. Wollheim's The 1983 Annual World's Best SF.

External Links

• Written in Water at ISFDB.org

To see specific information, such as anthologies including this story, please click the Written in Water category link at the bottom of this article. To see other articles that reference Written in Water, please click the What Links Here tool in the toolbox at the bottom of this page.