Lucas Southworth

Short story published in Alaska Quarterly Review

"In Ignorance, In Peace" is a short story that follows a Spanish missionary who tries to help a group of men avoid a forest fire in the 1750s Carolinas. Father Sanchez, who has taught himself the language of the birds, believes God has been using them to speak to him and to point him and the men to safety. After the disappearance of one of their companions, the death of another, and many other ominous signs, the priest realizes the birds are not vessels of God, and he sees them for what they really are.