Paz Waz

Tracie+L Mauriello

Sunny Anomaly

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Physics of Gaming

C. S. Lytal

Sean King

Lynsie Lucas

Emma Mazzucco

Sam Becker

Alice was in trouble. She was floundering. She was sinking. The worst possibilities her friends had suggested were no longer abstract potentials. They were concrete and absolute. Waves of probability had collapsed and now formed the violent landscape she had failed to navigate.

Her TikTok views were in the toilet. She should have paid attention to the algorithms. It was clear to Alice that viewers hadn’t subscribed to watch her makeup tutorials but to see Mr. Fuzzy Bottom upstage her. He was the real social influencer, not her. She ruined it all by

making that video where she talked smack about Mr. Fuzzy Bottom while simultaneously showing off how to do a perfect batwing eyeliner. No one cared about her stupid makeup, she realized. She was being canceled for her remarks about her TikTok nemesis. Why did no one understand?

There was only one thing for it, she would have to frame Mr Fuzzy Bottom. Drag his name through the dirt for all Tik Tokkers to see, then the tables would be turned. All she needed to do was hack into his Tik Tok and

English

Delete the source code, it was fullproof. Only one problem, Elmo The Mob Boss was in town and might be fustrated if I take out Mr Fuzzy Bottom.I'd need someone to take him out before I frame Mr Fuzzy bottom...

"Sir, this is a Wendy's," fluted the voice of the purple-furred, lemon-nosed cashier. "Do you... want fries with that?" I glared at her, just some dumb college muppet clearly unable to appreciate the genius of my grand plans. "You'll see. Papa Elmo's days are numbered, and then I

will be the new boss in this town,” I said in a hushed voice to the pencil-thin muppet with the orange shock of hair tied up on my floorboard. “No fries, kid.” “You don’t want anything do ya?” I asked my former lab assistant. A muffled, “meep,” was all he could muster.

"I know things got kind of smelly on this one, Beaker, and I'm sorry." He just blinked. "I tried to run a better lab than your former boss, but it's not easy. I guess I failed. You are I are the only ones who know what happened here, and that's one too many." A sad "meep" escaped

his thin lips and for a moment, I considered that what I was about to do might not be necessary. Did he really have to die? He might be able to keep a secret. And even if he spoke the truth, how many people could tell a truthful "meep" from a lie?

I was wrong everyone found out. But how? I asked him but he ignored me. Why would he do this to me?

TikTok tactics

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Kara S

Dawn Rasmussen

Milo Pittman

Banana Bob

Hi, guys, my account is temporarily suspended can someone email byline cuz I can not and tell them to let me write again plz

I read the message over and over. How she was able to post with a suspended account was a strange mystery. I’d have to call the other members of the mystery squad to solve this one. I started with Deductive Dawn. Her powers of observation were invaluable.

"Dawn? It's me. I've got a mystery for you. You up for it?"
"No," Dawn chuckled, "But I'm totally *down* for it."

Emma’s calling for help, Dawn is down to clown.

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Neo Funk

Rietje Becker

Juan Sebastián Escobar

The homeless man signed heavily as he settled himself into the bench, relieved that there was no one nearby to hassle him, at least for a while. He began to unscrew the lid from his thermos, recently filled with hot coffee by a friendly waitress he knew,

All of a sudden the coffee spilled all over him and he was so sad. But a nice man came by and gave him a cup of coffee

And helped get him cleaned up, and yet he was curious about this mans name but soon didn’t want to bother for it.

Two towels and half a bar of soap later the mystery man was tidied up. He gratefully offered a piece of advice, and a small wrapped present. “Open this the next time the moon is high, and your feelings low.” He put his hat back on, tipped it in my direction and went on his way.

I was in good spirits for the next two weeks, then I woke up feeling low. I waited until nighttime when the full moon was high. Then I took the stranger’s gift out of the cupboard and tried to open it. Surprisingly.

It wouldn't budge! I turned the gift around in my hand looking for clues. Suddenly, the carved recesses began to glow blue and the box opened like a flower. I slowly spoke my wish into the bloom. Then, in an instant, I was back in first glade, wearing my crown, famous once more.

Life full of mysteries

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Leyre Garcia

Once upon a time, in the fruit-filled jungles of Twibby-Dibby, there lived a giant snail known as...

The hypo snail was large and had big slimy trails. It was like a giant. It was bigger than a giant. All of a sudden it started chasing me then...

I realized, giant or not, it was still a snail. I slowed to a brisk walk, whistling as I took in the scenery. Within a minute, the giant snail was already far behind me, and I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for running from it.

Still, I couldn’t help wondering what other enormous creatures might be nearby. After all, not all little things would be quite so harmless to me should they become giants. I heard a cracking sound coming from a bank of trees near the river.

I approached to see what it was, while I was going there a hand touched my shoulder, I heard a voice in my ear that said:

"Know what that is?" the voice asked. "No," I said, staring hypnotically at the green worms writhing on the ground. "Touch them," the voice said. "They will heal you." I inserted my wounded arm into the mesh. I felt calm and safe. Soon my entire body was engulfed. I was home.

Vermes

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Hey everyone I'm sorry that we are doing a change of plans so today we will be doing the 24 hours handcuffed to my BFF piper. Piper looked happy she said nicely.

And Piper was happy. She reflected on her life up until that moment and realized how lucky she was to be a BFF, and she would do everything necessary to repair her friendship. Consequently, Piper spent the rest of the day on YouTube sowing the seeds of her friend's success.

"YOU IMBECILE, I was going to become the famous blooper clip person", said Emma. "And you idiotic Piper decided to turn the camera on early and mess it up, and for that we are no longer peeps. Sayonara". As she left Piper started to cry, "I'm sorry!"

Megamanisgod

"I met a Youtuber Mom!!!":  Part 3

"I met a Youtuber Mom!!!": Part 4

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Once upon a time 
I started a byline
It rhymed so well
So with the story
I was a girl who was doing alright
Then I became a princess overnight
My life changed
I thought I was caged

The wise queen of the wisps was dying. This in itself is nothing surprising. Wisp queens only live 1 year start to finish. When a queen nears the end of her year she seeks out a new princess to take her place and learn all of her thoughts in the final day. Now the princess is me.

Songs

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Christine D

Mel S

was the book on Natalie’s coffee table when the police arrived. I told them about the man knocking on our sliding glass door. The shattered glass told the rest of the story. I yelled at him to leave and thought he had. I shouldn’t have showered. Natalie’s body lay lifeless by

the gaping hole where the windowed door used to be. Bits of glass glittered in her hair, her lifeless eyes gazing unseeing at the ceiling. “This is Natalie,” I told the police, choking back tears as I did. “Or... this *was* her. Now it’s just her... her empty shell.” Tears slid

down my face, I could not contain the sadness that I had, those wounds that Natalie had from the pieces shattered glass

“Natalie!” I screamed at the top of my lungs and reached into the closet to grab a broom and start sweeping up the bloody glass on the floor.

bridesmaids relax, lewd
incarnations capture, ghouls
laughing slow lean drum I wrote a haiku i said

Monkey pressed the key with a single dot on it. It had used this one regularly over the last few weeks. But now it didn't feel like typing. Monkey looked up. In every direction, as far as it could see, there were others - all with the same keyboard. Suddenly, a siren sounded and

The others faced their keyboards and began typing furiously. All except Monkey. Some would hunt and peck with one finger, others repeatedly pressed ten fingers down in unison, some hammered the keys with fists. Screeches and clacks filled the room. Monkey typed just one line.

Epp qexxiv mw qivipc irivkc gsrhirwih xs e wpsa zmfvexmsr. Ai evi epp sri gsrwgmsywriww ibtivmirgmrk mxwipj wyfnigxmzipc. Xlivi mw rs wygl xlmrk ew hiexl, pmji mw srpc e hvieq erh ai'vi xli mqekmrexmsr sj syvwipziw. -- he would be a free monkey if they managed to decode it...

Hours later, the scientist looked skeptically up from the deciphered note. "'All matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death...' Who's been giving this monkey acid???"

And why the need to encrypt an already cryptic message? Something strange was going on, and the scientist knew that this monkey knew more than it was letting on. “I know you can’t speak,” she said, “but here is a pencil and a notepad. If you can, please draw or write anything you

think to help me understand.” Solemn brown eyes lifted from the pencil to examine her face. The scientist smiled encouragingly. Small wrinkled fingers reached out and the monkey began to draw. Holding her breath, she leaned forward to see what was taking shape on the page. It was

an incredibly lifelike portrait of Allison Janney. "This is amazing", she said, "this monkey has only seen one season of The West Wing, yet look! He's drawing her from memory, better than any mall caricaturist possibly could." One thing was wrong, though:

The portrait made it seem like she was of average height; in reality, she was a glorious 6 feet tall.

She ripped her portrait off the wall with both hands and screamed “I am not that short!” as she punted it out a window.

She started to cry as she stoped off madly. And she turned around and said to them, ... I hate you so much

You’re Only As Good As Your Last Mistake

If I’d actually believed it was possible, I never would have done it.

How could I have done that? I feel like the worst person there is, now how will I solve this big problem that I did, she will not forgive me in life

I knew I would have to redeem myself so I decided that I would buy the most lavish and expensive gift I could think of.

I'd realized that giving expensive gifts fixes everything and that if I do this then I will redeem all of my past actions, "Besides, I see people give gifts to random people all the time when they screw up and nobody ever gets mad at them Im sure that this plan will have no rep-

I was wrong all along... There was a reputation. But how? I must have been so dumb to think no rep at all

After a few days of eating nothing but potato and drinking nothing but oj m, she gave in and told me what was wrong with her. She said, "I've got a disorder.“ “When I have no idea what a story is about…well, I just try things. Sometimes it’s ok, but sometimes— ” 

I nodded.

The Gift That Didn't Give Much

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Tony Rodriguez

Robert Hiltunen

Robin Devereaux

Rochael Soper Adranly

Rory Clark

Ross Weijer

Roxanne Garofalo

Pablo Smeriglio

Tereza Podholová

"Hey, guys welcome back to my channel" "today we have piper rockell and we are pulling an all-nighter." All of a sudden when emma was making another video piper meanly said...

"That was not to start the video!" He scream out loud. Emma was scared she taked the camera and turn it off, she told Piper.

I gently patted his furry forehead and slowly crept out of the room. Ratboy would not be joining me on this last adventure. As I searched my pocket for car keys I thought about all we’d been through. With tears in my eyes, I got in the rodentmobile and drove toward danger.

"I met a Youtuber Mom!!!": Part II wait for part 3

emily wahl

I finally got on dance moms but Abby lee miller kept screaming"...

"You're not prepared for that show! You have no idea what it takes to win Dance Moms," Abby cried. I thought for a second. Was she right? Had all my training been for naught? No, I decided, and booked my ticket to Reno.

Once I'd hit "confirm," the reality of what I'd just done didn't hit me right away. At first, I was filled with more excitement than anything else—maybe even relief, because I'd made a decision. Now, what filled me with anxiety, was the realization that I had to follow through.

I think that having made that decision has done me worse than I imagined, the worst thing I did in my life

Do I even come back from this? Probably not. I made my bed. Now I have to lay in it. I could’ve done more to get the kid back home and I didn’t. What kind of person does that make me? I don’t think it makes me a person...

It makes me a monster. Knowing this decision would haunt me the rest of my life, I began to recluse myself, not wanting to ruin anyone else’s life. Maybe in another 50 years, I could emerge again. Or maybe I would just be the crazy shut-in for the rest of my life.

Abby stop screaming

"What if we're both dead? Let's explore the limits of our new ethereal existence. Can we only stay on the upper realms? Can we visit places on Earth we never got to see? What sort of places are there to visit in the upper realms?" The possibility were, hopefully, endless.

Hand in hand, we floated to an active volcano. This was something we never would have been able to visit while alive. “Wanna take a dip?” She asked. I giggled, imagining the volcano as a giant hot tub. “Sure,” I said. “Let’s do it!” Laughing, we floated down closer and closer to

her, I got nervous, I didn't know how to act in front of her, I think I felt something for her, something inexplicable.

Sort of like when you're looking at something and you realize that you want it, but you never would have known that you wanted it if you hadn't seen it!

Like a video of somebody eating moldy cheese, you think it sounds disgusting but is actually very satisfying. So I make a video of myself eating moldy cheese.

Just then, before she could finish, the deity vanished, revealing her long lost sister. “Hazel, can that be you?” Hazel, partly in this world, partly in the next, stepped through the fog of time and gripped her sister. Neither dared to look up until they were sure this was real.

One Wish

One Wish: Part II

After 10 years we talked again and we became famous and I live at her house but that night something happed it was a...

Disaster, the worst day of my life, she left home without saying anything, she left me, I thought that was something for her, but no

Through blurry, tear-filled eyes, I wrote back to Mr. Musk and told him the plan was canceled. He...

...probably would not respond, and I'm not sure I even wanted him to. The only thing worse than facing my failure would be seeing the look of disappointment in his little rat eyes.

I hated to disappoint the ratboy but I figured if I bought him a hunk of cheese later he’d forgive me.

Fortunately, I had a better plan in mind. We wrote a letter to Elon Musk and asked for his help to become the first girl singing/dancing troupe to perform on Mars. He agreed!

"I met a Youtuber Mom!!!"

Aslan M

Russian

Она вытащила свой меч из его плеча. Он со стоном упал ниц. Она вытерла меч о его плащ и сказала: "Туто квантуто утруто".

He groaned even louder and with more self pity. "Wait, wait I wasn't ready." Lifting his head. he watched as the toe of her leather boot began to tap. "Well?" she asked impatiently. The wound in his shoulder had already begun to knit itself together so he stood and struck a pose.

“I call this pose... the thinker”, he said. The he shifted slightly “the Gritty!” He cycled through his best poses. “Shake n Bake! Gym class! CSI! Tapioca pants!” Slightly winded, he looked at her imploringly. “So, what do you say?”

"Well," she squinted, "'The Thinker' pose looks like you have constipation, 'The Gritty' looks like the opposite of that, 'Shake n Bake' is more like 'I have a head injury', 'Gym Class' I almost puked up, 'CSI' is a take on 'The Teabag', so we'll have to go with 'Tapioca Pants'".

“Good idea - always a crowd pleaser!” With no hesitation he began to roll up a trouser leg and applied the ceremonial balm. It burned a little, as usual, but then all pain stopped and it he felt invigorated.

He died and went to heaven. It was a dream he said. I love it here now. Wait for this I been here before

The Trial of Tuto Quantuto

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Rick Grant

Kala Zenella

We decided to go to McDonald's and when we got there...

we were surprised to find the place packed. A crowd was visible through the windows that overflowed out the doors into the parking lot. "What do you think is going on?" I asked Carol.

"Beats me," I shrugged. But my curiosity got the best of me and I pushed and shoved my way to the nearest window, cupped my hands against the glass, and peered in.
My first thought at seeing the bronze-skinned alien holding his Quarter Pounder above the crowd was, "April Fool's!"

But as it would turn out, this was no joke, for the alien with the burger had not resolved into a human wearing a costume. As it would turn out, aliens have no concept of April Fools, nor fast food. As I watched through the restaurant window the alien held up the burger and

shoved the entire plate it was on in its mouth. He spit up just the burger. “It’s missing pickles!”

The entire staff groaned as their boss began shouting orders left and right. “AND DON’T FORGET THE PICKLES THIS TIME!” he bellowed. Would the customer ever be satisfied? Would the staff ever get to take their hard earned break? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!!!

space food

"I saw piper rockell the YouTuber mom". She did not believe me. So I went to her house and said...

“My height, brown hair, heavy eye makeup but it was eleven A.M.? Seriously! It was Piper Rockell.” Hayley wasn’t buying it. Our lives had changed over the past 10 years since Piper was a YouTube star. Kids today would laugh if they heard “YouTube” like we laughed about mom’s CDs.

And now, Piper was back. I had to get Hayley to understand that this changed everything. If we continued with our plan, knowing what I now knew, it would surely end in disaster.

to the coast of Coramandel, where the early pumpkins blow, and there in the middle of the woods lived the Yonghi-Bonghy-Bo

who had eaten Nadia’s husband just one year ago. She recalled Dardan had taken her to the rocky shore looking for pumpkins along the sand. Nadia bundled them into the wagon as he brought armfuls. The Yonghi-Bonghy-Bo appeared from the woods and dragged Dardan into the darkness.

Nadia never cried about Dardan's kidnapping by the Yonghi-Bonghy-Bo of that forest. She had only married him so she could use the couple's discount at an amazing Afghan restaurant near her home. Dardan had been a good person, though; he was kind to her despite her indifference.

Then one day she got a letter from Dardan. The Yonghi-Bonghy-Bo had accepted him as one of their own, and he had fallen in love with one of their widowed women. Divorce papers would be coming shortly under separate cover.

Freedom. Sweet freedom at long last. All of the pretending fell away from her like dried leaves on a stiff wind. She sank to her knees and wept with joy.

Heaven

“This is a stupid argument and it has gone on for far too long,” he said. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance. But now I get to watch you suffer by asking you this one simple question: what is two plus two?”

“Counterpoint,” snarled the zombie, writhing against the clot of muddy and bedraggled riverbank roots that I had tricked it into stumbling through and which its now degraded motor skill prevented it from extricating itself from, “let. Me. Eat. Your. Brains!” I frowned, frustrated

Zombie argument

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the fountain of infinite mirror. It was astounding to behold. However, she knew that staring for too long was dangerous, as she might never find her way out again. She turned her gaze up to the moon instead.

The moonlight felt warm against her skin in the night air. Its light glittered in her periphery as the fountain of infinite mirror refracted the light about the garden. The light began to spin and dance, as if the mirrors were moving. She dared not look away from the moon.

The refracted light coalesced into rainbows all around her, and she felt herself rising, felt her heels, then her toes leave the floor. "Royal rainbow," said the moon, and suddenly, instead of the moon, she was looking directly into the eyes of the King of the Cosmos.

“You’ve come a long way, mortal,” he said, and the infinite gentleness in his voice brought tears to her eyes. She nodded, not trusting her voice to remain steady. “What is it that you wish?” he asked. Swallowing, she squared her shoulders. “I wish...”

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Zak Osmnact

Lauryn Zimmerman

Czech

-yet that wasn't wholly true. Someone DID care. High up above, sat in a magic cloud was Hermione McVibrate III, an immortal pan-dimensional entity who, unbeknownst to everyone so far included, was controlling every aspect of the goings-on, including this very text you are reading

as we speak. Hermione McVibrate III was, is, and always will be the decider of fates. An omnipotent being of pure energy that many would call “god,” although she never did care for the term. Even though she knew it was a little silly, she really preferred to be called

“The Wizardess.” I know, it’s super corny but it’s what she prefers. The term “god”, just sounded too fancy for her. She was more of a causal type of deity and that’s why her worshipers love her so much.

The One Who Cared

Josh Crawford

KW Taylor

Never leave a container of mint balls next to a witch's cauldron. But the trick to this is, what exactly is a witch? When I first came across this warning, I avoided every kitchen of every woman senior citizen that I came across. I even avoided my grandma. But a witch is nothing

if not surprising. Whatever you think a witch might be, she is probably not. Whatever you think she couldn’t be, she almost certainly is. And she either hates to love mints, or loves to hate them.

However, even a witch is not immune to the disgusting flavor of orange juice after toothpaste. In fact, it’s been speculated that witches are even more sensitive to this taste than your average person. This is how I hatched my plan to take down the witch on the hill.

Still in lockdown mode, I had acquired copious amounts of both items, grabbed as much and started mixing. Problem was how would I get the witch to take it....

After the crude potion had time to seal itself to the sleep cycle, it was ready to be applied. The

lockdown would end, and I would be the one to do it. I pulled out my spellbook and began the incantation.

I read the lines like it was second nature, almost absentmindedly. “Diabolus autem minimum…” 

The uninitiated would be surprised to learn the words aren’t magical. 

“…reditus infernis vestris…” 

It’s the intention that works wonders.

I put down the spell book and waited. Nothing happened. Maybe my intention wasn’t strong enough. Maybe I didn’t want it badly enough. Maybe I didn’t use enough tiger whiskers. I dropped one more into the potion and the cauldron bubbled.

I stared into the vile broth with glee, it was working! The shapeshifting scum floating on the top took the form of various catlike beasts as the shadows in the room drew closer. A sound above caused me to glance at the ceiling, a cat peered down at me through a small square hole

but then disappeared. Now the scum writhed again and more feline shapes emerged, all but one showing a cat about to pounce. And then, with a growing sense of unease I saw, in the middle, a crude human form. I slowly looked up to where I had seen the cat moments before and gasped

"You've been defenestrated!" The sound of maniacal laughter covered the soft footsteps coming up from behind. Alas, no more applied spellcraft for this one!

Witches and Toothpaste and Cats, Oh My!

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Once, I had read how the mushrooms we see in the forest are not individual organisms, but part of a much larger whole that exists underground. But as best as I can tell, moving mushrooms don’t exist.

I’ve spent my life studying hundreds of thousands of various types of mushroom species, and in all those years, I’ve never seen one move. Today, however, is the day that my life has been forever changed. This morning, as I was checking my specimens, I noticed one of the smaller

fungi inch a milimeter to the left before freezing. Was it just my imagination? I pretended to turn away, appearing to be busy with the other mushrooms, when I immediately snapped my head back. Sure enough the little mushroom sneaked to the left, realizing too late that I was

watching. I wielded my dessert fork and caught it by surprise. No mushroom would be prepared for the this of all utensils. But this was no ordinary mushroom. It slid left again, then right. I grazed it with a tine but couldn’t catch it. This was one slippery fella.

Suddenly from out of nowhere came an enormous sledgehammer, it's huge iron head the size of an alternator crashing down unstoppably at thundering speed obliterating the mushroom the plate and the table, lodging firmly in the floor. Splinters and particles rained down as I blinked

in confusion, shielding my eyes with my hand & squinting up at the hole in the roof. I looked back down at the hammer, & realization slowly dawned as I made out the runes & Norse interlace on the surfaces of the head. Quickly I salvaged what I could of the mushroom & hid them in

the teapot. God today was turning out weird. Or ‘gods’ as the case may be. I lifted my hand holding the hammer. I said experimentally, “Away?” Nothing. Alright so we’re hoofing it. I scuttle out through the door, glancing guiltily back over my shoulder at the chaos I left behind.

Putting the Mush in Mushroom

Sade Andre

“I’ll have you know ‘goblins,’ as you unenlightened savages call us, have been allowed to be employed and mingle in daylight hours in this country since the Greater Opportunity Bylaws of ‘78, and I intend to sit right here until I get an application,” I said, quite perturbed.

"I'm afraid you don't understand, ma'am. 'Goblins' do not exist in this dimension. Nor does any distinction between race. What you see before you is merely an illusion to help you in the Office of Fate. Here, applications are earned." The human office worker before me flickered

in and out of existence briefly, and I thought surely if she can do it, so too can goblins. “I STILL BELIEVE IN GOBLINS!” I sang at the top of my lungs. “THEY STILL BELIEVE IN ME!” The human office worker winced at my terrible singing and rolled her eyes, flipping through pages

and studiously ignoring the flickering images of goblins around us. Slowly, as I continued singing, the images became more steady and solidified, until I no longer had to sing to keep them there. "Hi, guys," I grinned. "I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you here."

They all looked reluctant to what was happening as I said calmly "I realize this is my fault its always been my fault but.. but I can fix this like I always do. I grabbed the knife and held it to my chest.

Fait Accompli Nonchalantly

There was a girl and she was home alone and she heard a bang and she went upstairs to the attic and found...

her supposedly dead father rummaging through boxes. “Dad...?” Her eyes filled with tears as she stepped closer. He spun around to face her, his eyes wide and frantic. “Well,” he said, “This is... awkward.” But she didn’t care. Before she could stop herself, she ran into his arms.

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