Chapter 2: Building a Bubbleverse. To understand the science behind bubbleverses, we must travel back in time to the year 2178. I can think of no better introduction than Schmidt’s article. An excerpt from that paper appears below. Frederick Smith, born Feb 28, 2117, died Sep 28, 2158. Smith’s main theory asserted that blood sacrifices unleashed… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 7
Category: fiction
The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 6
–:–:– — / 0:28:10 BVST I grabbed Tommy by the sleeve and pulled him from the crowd. We made our way to the control room. I need to know. A desperate itch had landed, and I needed to see her. Tina had been in the ballroom before. I distinctly remembered it. Still, I wanted proof.… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 6
The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 5
–:–:– — / 0:24:57 BVST Maguire hurried toward the door. I jumped out and followed him out into the ballroom. A crowd had gathered by table 12. With the engineer gone, I felt I was the one in charge. Whatever that meant. “Coming through,” I said, injecting as much authority in my voice as I could… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 5
The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 4
–:–:– — / 0:03:19 BVST I put my head on the table and cried. The screams from the back were a wave of background music accompanying me. “Scott, have you seen the engineer?” Maguire’s voice jerked me back into the room. I rubbed my eyes and mentally replayed his question, demanding it to make sense.… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 4
The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 3
–:–:– — / 0:02:13 BVST I wanted to run out of the place, but then I remembered that alarming lack of anything at all beyond the windows. There’s nowhere to run! Frantic for some distraction, I picked up the envelope, ripped it open, and read. By that point, I’d put two and two together and… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 3
The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 2
11:52:58 PST / 0:00:00 BVST I forced my eyes from the stage. They landed on the place setting before me. I saw the envelope propped against my wineglass. She’d written just one word on it: my name. She always had the most beautiful cursive. My nausea doubled. Why would Tina write me a letter? I… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 2
The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 1
The shift happened sooner than we’d planned. I was sitting in the ballroom, and I’d just found the envelope, and that was when it happened. I wished I could unsee the letter. The love I’d had for Tina dissolved. In its wake, I was learning how to hate her. So, I closed my eyes and… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 1
The Mother of all Misaligned SI Joints
POP! What the hell was that? The older I got, the more I realized the importance of discipline. The son of lazy people, I grew up to be a lazy, undisciplined man. Are you surprised? Yeah, me neither. Three months before I began practicing discipline. In all areas of my life, I began rituals and… Continue reading The Mother of all Misaligned SI Joints
The Quiet Place
When at last, the manservant left me in my drab quarters, I sat on the one chair in the cabin and thought long. There was something peculiarly amiss about this place. It was more than the leaden skies overhead through which I was convinced the sun never shone on the estate my master wished me… Continue reading The Quiet Place
The Conductor
The bus jerks me awake. Or that is what I tell myself. I harbor a tendril of hope that I am still sleeping, that this is only a dream. Awake. Asleep. Is there a difference? Or some method for knowing which is which? This bus is a train. Or is this train a bus? The… Continue reading The Conductor
Ezekiel’s Tea
My morning routine is to double-check all the equipment. The lantern is rotating, shooting its penetrating light through the morning fog. Most of my work takes place at night, but on overcast days, I like to be extra diligent. I stoop and exit through the tiny door and walk the balcony around, checking for breakages… Continue reading Ezekiel’s Tea
Ezekiel’s Stairs
I look down for brother’s blue and white ceramic teakettle, but it’s no longer in my hands. Then I think something that’s not quite a memory; it’s something more akin to an echo of a memory. I dropped the thing hours ago. Maybe it was only minutes past. Surely climbing the stairs to Ezekiel’s lofty… Continue reading Ezekiel’s Stairs
Penguins in the Penumbra
The heat from the parabolic space heater feels good on my bare legs. I’m wearing shorts while I meditate. The only problem is my mind is wandering. Are you surprised? Yeah, me neither. It happens. And what am I doing instead of following my breath? I’m thinking about the penguins on the far side of… Continue reading Penguins in the Penumbra
Slapped
The first time your dad slaps you in public (and hard enough that you fall to the ground), you stand up fast because you know that is what he wants. Your face burns hot with shame. You glance around to see who saw. You’re not ashamed because your father slapped you—in those times, and especially… Continue reading Slapped
A Different Way Home
I had finished my shift at work when I got the text from Jane’s daughter, Mathilda. I had started my car to let it warm up and to knock off some of the winter chill. I figured the text must be concerning Jane. I’d not heard from either of them in years. Fleeting memories of… Continue reading A Different Way Home
Under their Bed
It was Timmy’s cries, not Tommy’s screams, that woke Maddy. The three of them had anticipated a typical Saturday morning in the Balkman household: hugs, pancakes, chores, a little TV, some more hugs, and then a hike in the park near their house. No, no, no, no! Her heart was in her heels as she… Continue reading Under their Bed
The Problem with Harry
Now. “Seven…seven…seven,” Jason said. He was unsure he was doing as Midge instructed. She had given him a three-minute crash course and stood over his right shoulder, whispering words of encouragement. Just go through the digits one-by-one; repeat them over and over in your head and see if any of them stick. Try to see… Continue reading The Problem with Harry
Louisa’s Story
I was worried about Stuart. Everyone says twins are supposed to be alike, but we were fraternal twins; while we were alike in many ways, we were also different. Stuart had been the sensitive one. I was worried about him. When I walked through the door, I had hoped to find Misses Clendenin talking to… Continue reading Louisa’s Story
Classroom
“I tell you, it’s today.” “You say that every day, Stuart,” Julia says. He does think a lot of days are the anniversary; maybe he feels guilty about Louisa. She was his twin. Perhaps he wishes he had gone with her. I study the light in the room. Stuart might be right. The room grows… Continue reading Classroom
A Good Day to Die
We all must die sometime. This area seems like a fine enough place to do it. The trail here is narrow and curves sharply to the right. The drop-offs here are significant. The land below is a dotted landscape of extremes. The winters here are harsh, and the trees are all stunted, short-limbed things that… Continue reading A Good Day to Die
Stories by Shawn 