Vignette

“It is difficult to compare accounts, as no single person has seen more than their own village, but from what I can gather (despite their eerie tinges) these villages don’t seem like such bad places to be stuck for eternity.”

One day, a traveler weary from spaceflight visited the Stone Dwellers. He came bearing a sublime substance contained within a hand-sized vial. When he showed the substance to the Stone Dwellers, they were in awe, and asked many questions.

I followed my soul along a straight line through the endless forest (that one of my dead selves had previously found, now that I think on it). We entered a grove beneath a cathedral of trees, and my soul suddenly split and unfolded along many paths. My Soul: This is

“Joni,” a voice from nowhere said. Shatter! All of Oz’s Diner turned and gawked. Simon rushed over and asked Joni if she was okay. Joni looked down at the broken shards and coffee splayed across the floor. The voice spoke again: “I’m coming to meet you next.”

Grave-Keeper: Well? Which doorway will you choose? I had thought long and with great intention about this choice — any of these worlds (the Seas Below, The Infinite Well, the Hall of Echoes) could lead me to the Secret of Life and reunite me with my soul. I: I choose the

The Skull Man had not come within less than twenty yards from Joni that night, but the vivid memory of her fascination and dread remained potent. Joni couldn’t believe that Edith had faced the man down, even if it had been with the help of that peculiar llama.

How to determine if the llama you have encountered is, in fact, a llama; a feat not so easily accomplished. I’ve seen many a prideful person too gleefully take a hubris-laden road to a llama-y grave. First, you must ask the creature, in these exact words: “Are you a

The Grave-Keeper and I walked past a massive tree into a passageway tucked behind. For a while, we walked in darkness. I never felt afraid, though I also felt as though I should. Grave-Keeper: Here we are. They motioned about a juncture with a mid-height ceiling. Before me there were

I followed the Grave-Keeper through a cavernous chamber. At its center a sarcophagus sat beneath a massive tree. I: What’s the tree for? Grave-Keeper: Oh, that’s for carbon-based life forms that require high blood-oxygen saturation levels to live. Don’t worry, you don’t need that. I: What

Joni winces when the hot, bitter coffee touches her tongue. Simon asks how the coffee is. Joni raises her mug and feigns a smile. When Simon looks away, her facade evaporates. She continues reading the day’s issue of The Inquirer and Reflection. She still couldn’t believe what Edith

“I’ve been working on the railroad, just to pass the time away…no, that’s not right. My memory is fuzzy, even as I write this, but this isn’t a railroad, it’s a bridge. And I’m not working on it…I am the bridge. I’m

It wasn't a lie, but neither was it the truth.

“I have a recurring dream of fear and rock and mist. Hallways that lead to nothing. I am in a large castle carved from obsidian. Crystalline tendrils simultaneously writhe and remain motionless on the ceiling as I walk the halls. I never start in the same place, yet always find

I came upon an endless forest and marveled at what I had never yet seen. I: Who would not leave their kingdom for a forest if given the chance? The Well spoke to me and said: None would. I: I do not understand. The Well responded thus: None come here

I voyaged into the spaces between things and encountered an invisible force that felt as a river washing me away. I: Invisible force, how do you exist in a space like this? The invisible force responded thus: To you I am nothing but a strange magic. I: There is no