So, by now we all know that the end of the world was barely averted recently when an asteroid just missed the planet.

Shortly thereafter, I found it peculiar to read a story whose central metaphor for the loss of a child is asteroidal impact and variations thereof.

The story was posted online February 23. The actual events took place in mid-Jaunary, and resulted in a conference on developing a procedure for alerting the authorities.

Therefore it’s possible, maybe even probable, that the story was selected in awareness of the conference and possibly the catalyst for the story’s publication date.