THE UMBRELLA LADY
“She wasn’t paying attention? On her goddamn phone? She was supposed to be watching them!”
The mother’s voice cracked like a whip across the sterile walls of the police station. Christina sat slumped in the metal chair, mascara streaked down her face, shaking. Her phone was still warm in her pocket—still open to the FaceTime call she hadn’t ended, as Nikki listened in, trying to decipher the muffled madness.
“On fucking FaceTime, while my babies were out there alone! How could you?”
Christina choked on her tears. “I—I just looked down for a second. I had to pee. They were in the yard. They were right there.”
THE CRYSTAL IN THE WALL
Skipping school on Friday afternoons had become one of our senior-year rituals. With only study halls and gym left on our schedule, why the hell wouldn’t we? I didn’t have a car, but Donger did, so we’d pile in and drive around, hunting for new places to get high in a town where nothing felt new anymore. Tommy suggested we go on an adventure—hike out to the giant cross near the Russian monastery. Donger bitched about potholes and gas, like he always did, but finally caved to our relentless peer pressure.
GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: The Algorithm’s Final Trick
Rob used to be normal—at least, as normal as a guy who vaped bubblegum-flavored smoke and owned a "Live, Laugh, Lift" poster could be. His diet was 70% energy drinks, 20% Taco Bell, and 10% the free samples at Costco. Life was fine. Then the Algorithm happened.
It started with quirky conspiracy videos. Harmless stuff. "The moon is a hologram," "Tom Hanks was two raccoons in a trench coat," "Your microwave is a government informant." He chuckled, shared a few ironically, and moved on. But the more he saw the videos the more they burrowed into his brain. What if Reptilian shapeshifting aliens really did run Hollywood, he wondered.
GOD HATES HEAVY METAL
Stephanie had always been curious about the mushroom gummies her friends raved about. One warm July evening, she donned her mother's vintage Motley Crue "Shout at the Devil" shirt and snuck out to meet Fiona and Katie behind the library. Eagerly, she grabbed a handful of Katie's psilocybin treats, consuming four times the recommended dosage before they all shared a joint to kickstart the experience.