Full disclosure---I was second place out of three people. Beatrix, a fourth-year Applied Folktale Logic grad student at the Budapest University of Supernatural Study, skimmed her notes for the Apple Theory reading group. It was her turn to present. Her classmate Tamás was alright, but if she missed a small detail, Lajos would pick up … Continue reading The Applied Apple Approach
Author: Dolly Llama
Existential torment specialist. Has always been a woman who arranges things,
like furniture and paperclips and LIVES.
Is this Loss?
Missing persons Willow Creek Missing persons hotline Willow Creek Dr. Jeong-Espinosa news News missing persons Missing persons search party organization Missing spouse help No matter how she permuted it, each of Jo's search terms took her back to the same horrifically dry government website, http://www.wcpd.sim/missing-persons, on it a curated set of names and pictures, captioned … Continue reading Is this Loss?
No Place for a Heroine
"Kendra. What's that fucking thing in the middle of your living room?" Kendra was in the kitchen with her back to Wyatt. But from context, he was likely referring to the seven-fingered poledancing tentacle in the middle of her living room. "I don't know," she said. "Someone dumped it outside the trailer park, and I … Continue reading No Place for a Heroine
Love Day, Actually
"The first thing one notices about this piece is the juxtaposition of the smooth curves of the truncated spheroid with the hard lines of its central Platonic solid." Chantel put both hands on the table to interrogate the candle at eye level. Diametrically opposite, her boyfriend was making the same face he made when they … Continue reading Love Day, Actually
Option 3
(TW: depression and suicidal ideation) Enlightenment as described in the yoga sutras isn't a state of eternal bliss, it's the ability to decouple the self from all external influence, and, as a result, feel nothing. You're aiming for no karma, not good karma. Only then can the cycle of reincarnation be broken. If that idea … Continue reading Option 3
Eyebleach with the Shallot-Lius
San Myshuno's favorite necrophiliac is here to step in before things get too real. The Small Onion & Destroy family A week before Jasper found his nemesis in a multi-thousand-year-old snow demon, Xiyuan and his husband forego preparing for Winterfest in favor of a monomaniacal adherence to routine that rivals Groundhog Day---but here with the … Continue reading Eyebleach with the Shallot-Lius
The Grey Wedding
"I can't believe this," Aileen said, to her son and to her own wedding invitation, propped up with a twine-wrapped baby food jar, sporting a mockingly pastoral Seven-Brides-for-Seven-Brothers scene even as the droplets splattering her window at 220 bpm threatened an ambience closer to that Alanis Morissette song. Aileen, having enough writing skill points to … Continue reading The Grey Wedding
Guide Me, North Star
(Synopsis: We go hard on a holiday special centered around Jasper's first Winterfest. Shu antagonizes Jo by crashing the J.-E. festivities. Charlie talks about BPD and ants. Set some time aside for this one; I promise it's worth the read.) "Jasper! Look over here!" The youngest Jeong-Espinosa had already made plans to taste the arm … Continue reading Guide Me, North Star
The Jeong-Espinosa Family Replaces Charlie with a Dog
And graduates from hanging out in the bathroom to acting out a teenager's worst nightmare---that is, if the teenager were capable of understanding the implications of two or more simultaneous events. My entire family is here. I'm in my room. Hm. If we envision moving our p.o.v. along the positive z-axis (yeah, oriented so it's … Continue reading The Jeong-Espinosa Family Replaces Charlie with a Dog
The Lucas/Liu/Haskins Conglomerate: To Being an ‘Us’ for Once
The smell of lobster cooked on a cheap stove and the sound of technical drills performed at a steadily increasing tempo clash for sensory dominance directly outside the 12th story window of an Arts District apartment. Their progenitor pauses to admire the acoustics of his living room; the partially tiled floor had a wonderful effect … Continue reading The Lucas/Liu/Haskins Conglomerate: To Being an ‘Us’ for Once
