Arc 4 · Starting a New Save

Leah came into the bedroom looking worried. Not Leah worried, where she’d already solved the problem and was informing me what I needed to do about it. Actually worried. “Can you get dressed?” I was in bed, scrolling on my…

I woke to an empty bed, but I could hear the shower running. When I wandered out to brush my teeth, breakfast was already on the table. Nice. The bathroom was so full of steam it felt more like a…

I woke up in my old bed with Leah beside me and realized you can’t sleep in the same bed twice. My neck hurt. I felt stiff. I used to be very comfortable in this bed. I rolled out of…

I woke up to birds chirping. It was early, but I had to pee, so I got up. A little light was seeping around the curtains, and I wondered what birds were making all that noise. I peeked outside. The…

Lucky for me, breakfast opened at seven, and I got my pancakes before the car showed up. Leah was already on her laptop. Rina had been busy, and Leah was deep in work mode. I decided to stay out of…

Mia’s on her way home after packing with Dan. Leah checks in — then the subject changes.

My days started falling into a somewhat stable rhythm. I got up at seven for breakfast with the crew, showered, then went into the desk room. I looked for jobs, sent applications, filled in whatever extra information companies asked for,…

When the thirty-first arrived, the apartment was packed again. Everyone was in costume, walking around, sitting down, bending things and generally trying to discover what was going to break before they left. Beth, Ellen and Magnus moved between them doing…

I woke up late. It had been a week since Halloween. Rina had gone back to LA, the downstairs had been cleaned up, and Leah and I had returned to something resembling normal domestic life. I’d had two in-person interviews…

I walked over to Ground Central Coffee Company on Tuesday. I had agreed to meet Dan there at nine thirty, half an hour before meeting Anna and Mark, so I could update him on the situation and what we were…

There was movement in the yellow house behind us. There was some shouting, and crying, but I could not make out what was being said. “That could have gone better,” I said. “It was not that bad,” Leah retorted, looking…

It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and we had discovered that Lulu Attack should not be mixed with alcohol. Apparently, the warning wasn’t just for drunkards. My brother had canceled his subscription to Leah’s Patreon, but Leah had made me…

I answered the phone. “Hey, Lin? What's up? You OK?” There was a sound on the other end, then silence. I heard her swallow before she tried again. “Can I see you?” “Sure. Right now?” I tried to sound hopeful.…