October 31, 2021
“The center is a perpetual storm field barricaded by a curtain made of clouds,” Guide said. “The physical laws are so loose that it’s pretty much a perpetual storm, and not many folks are able to make it through.”
“Will we?”
“That’s my job,” Guide said. “If you make it to the center, you might be able to get your wish.”
October 30, 2021
A field of gravity-shifted stones before them
The physical laws of old need not apply
Each sense in its time goes deadened, numb
As they desperately attempt not to die
October 29, 2021
“Geode catacombs,” said Guide. “Do you know what this means?”
“Not a clue.”
“People make caves all the time, but they hate boring rocks. Shiny crystals are much more exciting. So they fashion these geode tunnels for themselves, and they stay behind once the original maker gets bored, wanders off, or dies.”
“Sounds fine to me.”
“Until you realize how unstable they are, and how little stands between them and total collapse. Disturb the order, and this might all dissolve into sand.”
October 28, 2021
I grew a perfect world in miniature, a bonsai planet of stamens and petals. Botanical plate tectonics built up tiny mountains, while seas of sap ran deep. But it was not until I saw what I was doing, and looked up for the hand growing my world and I, that I realized the magnitude of what I had done.
October 27, 2021
“So you’re saying this fortuneteller knows everything?” Nori said, struggling through the muck.
“Everything,” replied Yasu. “The past, the future, all of it.”
“Well, at least she’ll be expecting us,” Nori said, leaning against a nearby boulder for a moment.
“I asked her once about that,” said Yasu. “She said ‘If I looked into the future and saw that I was not expecting you, would that mean that I would or would not have the teakettle on?”
“Typical.” Nori let out a deep breath. “At least there’s plenty of boulders to rest against.”
“Oh, ah, that’s not a boulder.”
Nori looked up, startled, as the ‘rock’ began to move. It was an enormous toad that let out a sullen croak before lumbering deeper into the mire.
“Fortuneteller’s grove, toad boulders…can today get any weirder?”
Yasu pointed at something in the distance. “I think it’s about to.”
October 26, 2021
“Shh,” said X!’tua. “An outpost of accordion trees. Up ahead.”
Gr;6if parted the fronds of newspaper-and-avocado bushes quietly, observing the deadly bellows hanging limply from the boughs of several palms, like polka coconuts. “Think we can sneak around them?”
X!’tua did not like the look of the pile of bones beneath them; he saw the skeletons of a human, a soda pop can, and a participle lying there, bones bleached. “We have to try. The Reality Tsunami isn’t going to undo itself.”
October 25, 2021
“So you say you caught these ‘aliens’ in the middle of cutting a crop circle into your barley field,” the detective inspector said.
“Yup.” said the farmer.
“And your response to this intergalactic invasion was not to contact the proper authorities,” said his detective sergeant, “but to invite these extraterrestrials to tea.”
“Yup,” said the farmer.
“Tell me, how did you even know they would understand you, or know what tea was?” the detective inspector added.
“Well now, don’t know that I rightly did, but I says to myself: Nigel, if these ‘ere aliens has solved the massive problems of energy, mass, an’ relativity inherent in travelin’ twixt the stars, well, they ought to be able to understand the King’s own an’ know when they’s asked in for a cuppa, eh? Translating’s the easy part, guv, it’s the crossin’ o’ millions o’ miles that’s hard.”
“And that, in your own words, is why you now have a farm field covered with tiny triangular cups of tea?” said the detective sergeant.
“Yup,” said the farmer. “An’ I’m stickin’ to that.”
October 24, 2021
“Fallen horizon.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“That’s what we call them. Planets that used to support a thick atmosphere and life, but have had that atmosphere stripped away, leaving nothing but a tomb world.”
“It’s not really accurate, is it?”
“No, but it’s poetic.”
“Is poetry really the correct response, looking across such a world?”
“I can think of none better.”
October 23, 2021
“Hmph.”
Mark looked up, the mushrooms for his salad still in hand. “Something funny about my salad?”
“Cannibal,” said Eggers.
Mark sighed. “You gonna unpack that for me, Eggers, or can I finish my lunch in peace?”
“The fungal kingdom is more closely related to you, sitting there right now, than it is to plants. So, therefore: cannibal. Even if vegetarian; cannibal.” Eggers seemed to find this utterly hilarious, as he struggled to contain a crooked grin.”
“And I’m sure you eat nothing but dewdrops and the energy of the universe,” Mark said. “At least fungi can make something useful of a wothless-ass perp like you, Eggers.”
October 22, 2021
Excerpts From Nonexistent Books 