Darkness. Not a peep in the void. Then shapes, sounds, blurred and distorted, but growing into something more tangible. I feel my feet on the floor and my arms by my sides. My mouth is dry, and my breath comes to me in short gasps. Tasteful piano music soothes my aching brain, though I see no piano. I blink the haziness away and take in my surroundings, realising with moderate shock that I’m in my household ballroom. I look down at myself. I’m wearing my finest, most expensive garments: a three-piece navy suit with silver cufflinks. My hands run back along my scalp to find my hair groomed into a stylish wave. I see others dressed in similarly graceful attire,…

Three years. It has been three years since that incident. Three years since I put myself out there and got into the dating field. Despite it being years since I met her, I hear her voice any time I’m alone, and I often felt her touch on my skin whenever I laid restless in bed. Not a day would go by without me reflecting on the past which I agree is unhealthy, but it was a force of habit. I feel that I owe you all an explanation. I used to work for a fast-food joint as a cashier. It was a thankless job with many an irritable customer you could imagine. Or I would sometimes get tasked with cleaning…

I didn’t remember how I got there. One moment, I was somewhere ordinary—a grocery store, maybe my car—and the next, I was standing in the polished hallway of a sprawling mansion. The floors gleamed like polished obsidian under chandeliers that glittered coldly overhead. The place was immaculate, almost painfully so, but something about it felt wrong. It wasn’t the silence—no, the silence was welcome. It was the way the air pressed down on me, thick and humid, as though the house had lungs, and I was breathing what it exhaled. I wasn’t alone. My brothers were with me, talking quietly near the massive oak doors we’d apparently come through. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their presence was…

This story is about a young guy named Finn who lived and survived in a dark thick forest where snow fell often and anything that could move was still and frozen. Finn was ice fishing with his regular gear, near a hut he had found which was made from tree bark and vines growing over a structure formed from ice. He smiled as he reeled in a large catch, and he began to dance. However he slipped on the ice and hit his head on a rock. Looking around for any witnesses of his embarrassment, he saw nobody. He sighed relief, looking at his fish once again, holding it and wishing there was someone around, to witness his catch. He…

A magician came to our town one dreary day after a large thunderstorm. He carried a briefcase that he claimed was filled with people’s hopes and dreams. The briefcase was large and wrapped in an exotic coating. Many witnesses described seeing it move under the magician’s grasp. The magician was a tall man wearing bizarre, yet exquisite clothes. People found themselves mesmerized by the stranger for reasons they didn’t understand at the time. He charmed the crowds with his many otherworldly tricks such as conjuring daisies out of thin air. He set up a shop in the town afterward. He had claimed that he had entertained the likes of olden kings and queens in their courts. “Come one and all…

I didn’t remember how I got there. One moment, I was somewhere ordinary—a grocery store, maybe my car—and the next, I was standing in the polished hallway of a sprawling mansion. The floors gleamed like polished obsidian under chandeliers that glittered coldly overhead. The place was immaculate, almost painfully so, but something about it felt wrong. It wasn’t the silence—no, the silence was welcome. It was the way the air pressed down on me, thick and humid, as though the house had lungs, and I was breathing what it exhaled. I wasn’t alone. My brothers were with me, talking quietly near the massive oak doors we’d apparently come through. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their presence was…

Three years. It has been three years since that incident. Three years since I put myself out there and got into the dating field. Despite it being years since I met her, I hear her voice any time I’m alone, and I often felt her touch on my skin whenever I laid restless in bed. Not a day would go by without me reflecting on the past which I agree is unhealthy, but it was a force of habit. I feel that I owe you all an explanation. I used to work for a fast-food joint as a cashier. It was a thankless job with many an irritable customer you could imagine. Or I would sometimes get tasked with cleaning…

Darkness. Not a peep in the void. Then shapes, sounds, blurred and distorted, but growing into something more tangible. I feel my feet on the floor and my arms by my sides. My mouth is dry, and my breath comes to me in short gasps. Tasteful piano music soothes my aching brain, though I see no piano. I blink the haziness away and take in my surroundings, realising with moderate shock that I’m in my household ballroom. I look down at myself. I’m wearing my finest, most expensive garments: a three-piece navy suit with silver cufflinks. My hands run back along my scalp to find my hair groomed into a stylish wave. I see others dressed in similarly graceful attire,…

This story is about a young guy named Finn who lived and survived in a dark thick forest where snow fell often and anything that could move was still and frozen. Finn was ice fishing with his regular gear, near a hut he had found which was made from tree bark and vines growing over a structure formed from ice. He smiled as he reeled in a large catch, and he began to dance. However he slipped on the ice and hit his head on a rock. Looking around for any witnesses of his embarrassment, he saw nobody. He sighed relief, looking at his fish once again, holding it and wishing there was someone around, to witness his catch. He…

A magician came to our town one dreary day after a large thunderstorm. He carried a briefcase that he claimed was filled with people’s hopes and dreams. The briefcase was large and wrapped in an exotic coating. Many witnesses described seeing it move under the magician’s grasp. The magician was a tall man wearing bizarre, yet exquisite clothes. People found themselves mesmerized by the stranger for reasons they didn’t understand at the time. He charmed the crowds with his many otherworldly tricks such as conjuring daisies out of thin air. He set up a shop in the town afterward. He had claimed that he had entertained the likes of olden kings and queens in their courts. “Come one and all…

I didn’t remember how I got there. One moment, I was somewhere ordinary—a grocery store, maybe my car—and the next, I was standing in the polished hallway of a sprawling mansion. The floors gleamed like polished obsidian under chandeliers that glittered coldly overhead. The place was immaculate, almost painfully so, but something about it felt wrong. It wasn’t the silence—no, the silence was welcome. It was the way the air pressed down on me, thick and humid, as though the house had lungs, and I was breathing what it exhaled. I wasn’t alone. My brothers were with me, talking quietly near the massive oak doors we’d apparently come through. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their presence was…

A magician came to our town one dreary day after a large thunderstorm. He carried a briefcase that he claimed was filled with people’s hopes and dreams. The briefcase was large and wrapped in an exotic coating. Many witnesses described seeing it move under the magician’s grasp. The magician was a tall man wearing bizarre, yet exquisite clothes. People found themselves mesmerized by the stranger for reasons they didn’t understand at the time. He charmed the crowds with his many otherworldly tricks such as conjuring daisies out of thin air. He set up a shop in the town afterward. He had claimed that he had entertained the likes of olden kings and queens in their courts. “Come one and all…

Three years. It has been three years since that incident. Three years since I put myself out there and got into the dating field. Despite it being years since I met her, I hear her voice any time I’m alone, and I often felt her touch on my skin whenever I laid restless in bed. Not a day would go by without me reflecting on the past which I agree is unhealthy, but it was a force of habit. I feel that I owe you all an explanation. I used to work for a fast-food joint as a cashier. It was a thankless job with many an irritable customer you could imagine. Or I would sometimes get tasked with cleaning…

This story is about a young guy named Finn who lived and survived in a dark thick forest where snow fell often and anything that could move was still and frozen. Finn was ice fishing with his regular gear, near a hut he had found which was made from tree bark and vines growing over a structure formed from ice. He smiled as he reeled in a large catch, and he began to dance. However he slipped on the ice and hit his head on a rock. Looking around for any witnesses of his embarrassment, he saw nobody. He sighed relief, looking at his fish once again, holding it and wishing there was someone around, to witness his catch. He…

Darkness. Not a peep in the void. Then shapes, sounds, blurred and distorted, but growing into something more tangible. I feel my feet on the floor and my arms by my sides. My mouth is dry, and my breath comes to me in short gasps. Tasteful piano music soothes my aching brain, though I see no piano. I blink the haziness away and take in my surroundings, realising with moderate shock that I’m in my household ballroom. I look down at myself. I’m wearing my finest, most expensive garments: a three-piece navy suit with silver cufflinks. My hands run back along my scalp to find my hair groomed into a stylish wave. I see others dressed in similarly graceful attire,…