I think when we engage in language we are engaging in something that is specifically and primally human.

The big issue was cutting. I finally cut as much as I could, about a fourth of the story, and actually liked it.

Well, as a short-story writer, I don't think there are any weaknesses to the genre itself. I guess I would say that the difficulty of the form is that one must create an entire world in five to 30 pages, as opposed to 300. There is very little room for fat - you must be economical. And you must begin as close to the end as you possibly can.