Jump by Cadwell Turnbull

Card Drawn:

There's no place like home...there's no place like home.

This has been my most anticipated category for the Deal Me in Challenge and I finally pulled a spades card!

LeVar Burton is a national treasure. Indeed, he was great as a young Kunta Kinte in Roots and as Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, like many kids growing up in the 90's, Reading Rainbow is the show that I associate him with the most. It was a staple of my childhood and played an influential role in developing my love for books at a very young age. For those who might not already know, Mr. Burton now has a podcast called LeVar Burton Reads where he selects a piece of short-fiction and well, reads it. He has a knack for being an excellent speaker with a smooth and comforting voice that lends itself fully to so many great stories. This podcast is also been a great resource for discovering new authors and stories, one of them being Jump by Cadwell Turnbull.

I am always excited to come across a black author writing science-fiction/speculative fiction, mainly because there is severe lack of racialized representation. Over the last few decades or so, there has certainly been a steady increase in emerging contemporary black authors making an impact on the genre (Nalo Hopkinson, N.K. Jemisin and Nnedi Okorafor come to mind) but so many others have yet to be recognized for their contributions or even acknowledged for their talents. Let's face it, black writers have always struggled to have their voices heard due to systematic racism. This injustice becomes even more apparent with those trying to break through racial barriers imposed by gatekeepers of a genre that promotes whiteness. I applaud many young black writers like Cadwell Turnbull who have turned to online magazines or independent publishers to get their name out there. 

This story presents a refreshing approach to a popular genre plot device: teleportation. Mike and Jessie have been dating for a few years and decide to take an evening stroll together in the park. Since it is getting late and they are far from home, Mike makes a humorous suggestion that they should try teleporting to save time and Jessie reluctantly decides to play along. Shockingly, in a miraculous and incomprehensible turn of events, the couple successfully teleports back home. This is not a spoiler since it happens right at the beginning and the focus shifts towards examining the negative impact of this fateful night on the couple's relationship. Mike becomes obsessed with trying to teleport again while Jessie wants to put this all behind them and move on with their lives. It becomes this immovable wedge in the relationship and the more obsessed Mike gets with recreating the moment, the further it drives Jessie away. By centering the story around the psychological and emotional facets of both characters instead of taking on a more scientific approach is an interesting creative choice although it does leave the story feeling a bit lackluster and slightly underwhelming by the end. 

Cadwell Turnbull showcases tremendous potential as a writer of speculative fiction and I am curious to see what else he can do.

You can read this story HERE.