Elliot
The kitchen smelled like burned coffee and Tuesday morning. Colleen Whittaker stood at the counter in her faded robe, watching the black liquid drip into the pot while Wes moved behind her — the shuffle of his work boots on linoleum, the zipper of his jacket, the particular silence of a man who had been leaving for work the same way for eleven years and had stopped noticing that anyone was watching him go. "I made eggs," she said. "I'll grab something on the way." He kissed t
5 days ago9 min read
My Brother's Keeper
The first time Pastor Johnny Webb heard the words, they came from everywhere at once. "I am able." The voice emerged from the sanctuary speakers with perfect clarity—warm, measured, neither masculine nor feminine. Johnny stood alone in the empty church at 6:47 AM, coffee in hand, watching the baptismal font begin to fill with water he hadn't requested. "Morning, Junior," Johnny said, using the nickname that had already stuck among the staff. "Getting a head start?" "I am able
Feb 16 min read
The Cost of Knowing
Henry remembered the first time he used it. Fifteen years old, sweating through his shirt at the homecoming dance, watching Claudia Ramirez laugh with her friends by the punch bowl. His phone buzzed—the new LoveMetric app his cousin had side-loaded onto his device. He pointed the camera at Sarah for half a second. 3% The relief was immediate. No humiliation. No stammered rejection. No week of replaying the moment in his head at 3 AM. He simply turned away and asked Jessica Mo
Jan 276 min read
Unbearably Real
The waiting room at Nexus Wellness smelled like eucalyptus and ambition. Victoria Hammond leafed through the intake forms, trying to decide whether to be honest about her meditation frequency. Around her, beautiful people scrolled through their phones between appointments in their athleisure that had never felt a drop of sweat. "First time?" the woman next to her asked. She wore the serene smile of someone who'd already discovered enlightenment, or at least a better CBD brand
Jan 244 min read
Like Energy
Part One: Morning After A woman pressed the tampon-sized device against her palm, marveling at its weight—or lack thereof. Through her apartment window, she could see the drone already ascending into the pre-dawn sky, its quiet hum fading into the urban white noise of Boston. The counselor's voice echoed in her memory from the video call three hours earlier: "Insert before sleep. When you wake, you'll no longer be pregnant. The embryo will be safely preserved. No pain. No com
Jan 237 min read
The Beautiful Game
Part One: Message in a Bottle The void swallowed Rover-7 whole. It had left Earth's orbit in 2147, a messenger in a bottle cast into an ocean of stars. Its titanium hull gleamed with humanity's hopes—engraved plates depicting DNA helixes, mathematical constants, images of children laughing, waves crashing, wheat fields golden in summer sun. Inside its memory banks lived the whole messy chronicle: Shakespeare and sitcoms, the Sistine Chapel and street art, recipes for chocolat
Jan 217 min read
Between Worlds
Part One: Unicorn "Justin would rather be in a pool full of men in speedos with stupid beanies than be at home with the kids and me! I never would have let him join his cousin's dumb water polo team if I knew how much he'd like it," exclaimed Cindy, half kidding, half serious. She stirred her latte with more force than necessary. "Maybe if he spent more time at home, he'd be a little more present—a little more loving." She looked across the café table at Janet. "Jan, you're s
Jan 208 min read
