Donuts in Space by Jerica Taylor

GASHER Journal and Press, 2021 | Donuts in Space — GASHER

“Donuts in Space,” a linked flash collection by Jerica Taylor, brings readers aboard a spaceship called The Sapphire Wren, a research vessel on a mission to catalog artifacts from extinct civilizations across the galaxy. When the going gets tough, one member of the crew starts baking to relieve stress. The collection is told in five parts or acts, structured to propel the plot like pot-boilers or classic Star Trek episodes. But there is more going on here than in the science fiction you know; “Donuts in Space” is a story of queer community and comaraderie.

Only one character, our initially unnamed pastry baker and narrator, Nickel, is a human from Earth. They identify themself as “what [others] call a space orphan [...] A crash killed everyone on my ship from earth, and space program Adamanthea only sent out missions once every two years, so orphans like me usually started a new life" (4). Their other shipmates, who come from extraterrestrial civilizations, do not identify with any gender as earthlings would define it. “Captain Caia is lizard-like,” we learn, and “Esha-Rookson is three feet tall and slightly luminescent” (7). This crew is innately queer, and provide exactly the place where our narrator can feel safe and explore their own identity. Our narrator’s closest confidant, and the character with the best name, is known only as the Drunken Raven.

After remaining unnamed for almost all of part one, "A Coin or an Element" reveals that our protagonist is named Annika, but prefers the nickname "Nickel." In an exchange that reveals the power of naming, Nickel says "It would be easier if someone ––The Drunken Raven, especially ––would call me Nickel, just pick it up on their own, decide and give me that nickname. But we both know they won't. If I want it, I have to rename myself" (12). Nickel experiences a renaming and figurative rebirth throughout the course of the collection, and this interaction with The Drunken Raven inspires a breakthrough about name and identity.

As a space orphan, Nickel is haunted by nightmares and traumatic memories of the crash of their old ship. The crew of the Sapphire Wren is kind, and stays up playing cards with this human whenever they wake from a nightmare, screaming. "'We need to leave things behind to survive,' the Drunken Raven tells them. 'The bigger the wreck we need to live through, the bigger the piece of ourselves we have to carve out'" (34). 

As Nickel works through their trauma, The Drunken Raven remains a steadfast friend amidst a supportive group of crewmates. With the help of their crew and their baking practice, Nickel begins to heal. Donuts in Space opens with “The Story as a Donut Hole,” which describes the process of stress-baking to cope with a bumpy journey through an asteroid belt. It evokes the practice of stress-baking during a pandemic, and comforts with descriptions of powdered sugar sticking to space suits, or yeast rising surprisingly well in zero gravity. Another time, Nickel bakes scones for their crewmates, though some come from planets without the concepts of "snacks" or "dessert." Instead of scones, they offer one another "triangle foods," making Nickel proud. 

Food, comfort, and chosen family color scenes featuring Nickel and their shipmates. But Nickel’s past also comes back to haunt them, and everyone inside the Sapphire Wren. In "All Hands," the crew braces to be boarded by what is assumed to be pirates. This, too, Nickel navigates through food: they guide us through this process by describing the soup they have set up in the crock pot to cook during this possible pirate encounter.

During "Break and Fast," the crew continues to wait for the unknown vessel to make contact; Nickel tries to make scrap metal into a muffin tin. Old pipe fitters? Repurposed silicone? Nickel doesn't get the engineering quite right but diffuses nervous tension by accepting help from their crewmates on the project. From here, Nickel is faced with the revelation that it is an escape pod from Nickel’s former ship coming to make contact with The Sapphire Wren. This impossible information sends Nickel straight back into stress-baking. They rifle through ingredients, wondering, "What kind of zest would be a surprise. Lemon or habanero, ripe plum or arugula?" (37).

Part 5, "Proofing Time," offers a resolution to “Donuts in Space” that does not require a violent battle or series of explosions. During this particular adventure, Nickel accepts ambivalence and ambiguity as parts of life, or at least begins the path toward acceptance. The past isn't an easy mystery to solve, “Donuts in Space,” teaches us, but warm kitchens or shared meals make the present worth living.