Light, Like a Candle Flame; by Iona Sharma

[mllelaurel]

This is a short story published by Strange Horizons, and can be found here.

On an isolated space colony, Sara Lobo, newly elected to the local government, contends with squabbles over sewage maintenance, her Nana Julia's failing health, and worry over Light, her partner, who also happens to be the embodied A.I. of the generation ship Sara and the other colonists had arrived on.

The writing is wonderful, moving and unobtrusively lyrical. The characters feel real and affecting. The story is ultimately quite bittersweet, but there's enough hope and love in it, I wouldn't consider it to go over the depressing line.