Stitched to Skin Like Family Is
Nghi Vo
Nghi Vo's Stitched to Skin Like Family Is, which you can find here (see also the interview), is a finalist for the 2025 Best Short Story Hugo, and is my top-ranked choice for that prize. It demonstrates Vo's talent for pulling magic out of the most ordinary parts of everyday life, like folding paper or, as in this story, sewing.
There's a name for this: "Magic Realism." Now, I realize that Magic Realism was over twenty years ago. We've all moved on since then. We're just So Over Magic Realism!
I am not. I still love Magic Realism. I love the feeling of magic being an intimate part of everyone's life, partly because I think it really is, properly understood. It is a sorrow to me that no one is making any more Magic Realism. Or, at least, if they are, they're not allowed to call it that.
The story takes place in some desolate location in the Western USA in 1931, where a young Chinese (possibly) woman comes looking for her brother. Trouble and magic ensue.
I also enjoyed this bit from the interview
Nghi Vo: Mostly writing fight scenes is like writing sex scenes: if you can remember where all the limbs are, you’re halfway there!
Aha! So THAT's the trick.