The Dream World

Lesley entered the dream world for the first time the night after the accident. She fell asleep in her hospital room with the aid of painkillers and woke up to find she could walk again.

It is common for people to have their first experience of the dream world after an unexpected trauma. The sudden vulnerability allows them to touch aspects of reality our minds try to keep hidden.

Our greatest heroes are usually those who navigate the dangers of the dream world and become something greater than they were.

Lesley was not one of those. She died almost immediately.

Some Things Will Always Remain A Mystery

When Bob achieved omniscience in heaven, pretty much all the crazy shit that had never made sense now became clear. But as he sat on a cloud with Baby Jesus, there was still one mystery that confused him.

"You forgive everyone, right?"

"That's right," Baby Jesus said.

"Even those religious fundamentalists who preach intolerance?"

"Yes, even them."

"I guess they're lucky you're a forgiving God."

Baby Jesus giggled. "To tell you the truth, I don't get why they worshiped me in the first place. Why not go in for one of the more vengeful religions that better suited their temperament?"

Final Contact

First contact with an alien life form came in 2015 when the pods landed. They entered the Earth's atmosphere across the planet. They landed in empty fields and busy streets. They filled the oceans and eventually washed up on shore.

The creatures that emerged were soft, benign-looking, and responded well to cuddling. It wasn't long before every child on the planet wanted one for their very own. Supplies were limited at first, but the pods kept coming, and eventually the fad became outdated.

The creatures took three years to mature. Once they started breeding, the enslavement of the human race began.

The League Of Ruin

The test for entry into the League of Ruin is simple yet fearsome. Initiates are given two vials and asked to choose. One contains a power-granting elixir, the other a deadly poison. Anyone who wishes to join the league must overcome the test through a combination of bravery, deduction, and perception.

The truth, known only to the members of the League of Ruin, is there really is no choice. Each petitioner either has two vials of elixir or two of poison. The decision has already been made long before the actual trial, based upon the initiate's popularity, deviousness, and attractiveness.

Complacency

When the alarm sounded, most of us were in the break room. We didn't need to check the bulletin board to know we were to exit through the rear stairwell. Even so, we took our time evacuating.

The post office had been receiving bomb threats for years. When I was first hired, I was constantly nervous, but over time I'd realized we weren't in any real danger. No more than everyone else, anyway.

Today was different. Today there really was a bomb. Perhaps if we'd hurried, the death toll wouldn't have been so high. Perhaps I'd still have my legs.

Single Sin Manifest

There had been a theory, more of a folk tale really, that hummingbirds were angels come down to Earth. They flitted about madly and we were attracted to their beauty and awed by their delicate nature.

The angels actually turned out to be the elephants and rhinoceroses, which makes sense when you think about it. They were heavy and profound and their words carry weight. Unfortunately, we hunted them to extinction and now we're down here on our own.

The hummingbirds are still among us. Each one is a single sin manifest and they are growing more numerous every day.

New York City Runaway

Crystal hid from the crowds of people by darting from shadow to shadow. Luckily, everyone was too busy to notice. The tall, hairy strangers in suits and uniforms were frightening, yet nothing scared her more than the thought of returning home.

She secretly flitted about the streets of the city, searching for a doorway to slip through. But not jut any doorway. Crystal had a long list of requirements that needed to be fulfilled before she picked a location. She hadn't run away in order to settle just anywhere.

After all, once a fairy enters someone's home, it never leaves.

Crisis Averted, Please Carry On

The service officers of the Shuminelectra Corporation were taught an abundance of protocols designed to prevent a crisis. They practiced the politest forms of speech, ran through dozens of foreseeable threats to public order, and were authorized to neutralize all potential disruptions. Shuminelectra Corp. provided the most efficient quality control platform in the entire new territories.

So it was that long after the planet had been abandoned, a group of officers were still operating at full efficiency. They truly were a marvel of engineering. Their decision to banish humanity had ensured that service would run smoothly for centuries to come.

The Agony Of Farmland

Ellie drove while I fiddled with the radio. Neither of us spoke. It had been that way for an hour now. I wasn't angry like before and I was hoping she'd apologize so I could say it was okay. But then she'd sigh in that petulant way and my anger would resurface. There was no way I'd be the first to give in again.

The silence stretched on as the highway grew flatter and the forests were replaced by farmland. She'd better apologize before we reached my parents'. They'd probably side with her like they've done with all my exes.

Communal Sin

The fever spread through the village so quickly, everyone was sick before the first child died. The wise one said they'd been forsaken by the gods. No one listened. They were too busy dying.

In an earlier age, the epidemic, though tragic, would have passed quietly. The village would have been swallowed by the forest and forgotten. But these days, the village sat next to a gold mine, and many of the workers had come to the village for sex, then carried the fever back to the city. Soon the entire world was infected. Sin can no longer be contained.