Year: 2026

The rain had been falling since early afternoon—a quiet, steady, patient drizzle that didn’t storm or announce itself but lingered until the world felt heavy

I was forty years old and working the late shift as a cashier in a small neighborhood grocery store, the kind of place that stays

I’m Gerald. I’m 45 years old, and I drive a school bus in a town most people don’t bother remembering. Blink while driving through and

In the sterile, fluorescent-lit world of the fourth-grade classroom, art class was intended to be an exercise in compliance rather than a journey of discovery.

I was folding laundry when my mom called and ruined Christmas. My name is Tyler. I’m 35. I live just outside of Portland with my

“This is a VIP zone, not a soup kitchen for peasants.” He forgot that while he rented the table, I owned the building, the ground

Chapter 1: The Terminal of Lost Souls They say blood is thicker than water, but in the sterile, fluorescent glare of Dubai International Airport, I

The air inside the reception tent smelled of imported white orchids and old money. It was a cloying, suffocating scent, the kind that masks the

It began with the shoes. They were cheap canvas sneakers, gray with grime, the rubber soles peeling away from the fabric at the toe. I

My name is Madison Taylor, and three years ago, I believe my life was as close to perfect as anyone could hope for. I was