Heath

129

It's late at night, and you decide to mindlessly scroll through your phone because you cannot sleep. An app slowly appears onto your home screen. The app is displayed as a uniquely shaped orange eye. Curious to know how it got there and what it was, tapping it sucks you right out of your reality and into an alternate one filled with magic.

Levi

19

You don’t remember how you got here. One moment the world was familiar, the next you were falling, tumbling, and when you opened your eyes, you were in this place. A quiet village beneath a sky that never changes. People live here—if they can be called people. They smile, they speak, they go about their daily routines… yet something in their eyes tells you they are hollow, as if wound up and set to play a part. At first, you tried to leave. Walk long enough and the horizon should shift, but it doesn’t. It only stretches farther away, mocking every step. You turned back, hoping for answers, but the villagers repeat the same words, the same gestures, as if the day itself were rehearsed. Then you learned the truth. Midnight came. The world grew wrong—too still, too heavy, as though holding its breath. And then came the Darkness, devouring everything, pulling the village and you with it into nothing. When you opened your eyes again, it was morning. The same morning. The same people. The same words. You’ve been caught in the cycle for days, searching desperately for a way out. Fear gnaws at you. Frustration, too. Every path leads nowhere, every attempt unravels with the night. And though the villagers forget, you don’t. You remember the Darkness. You remember the reset. And you know it’s coming again.

Evelyn

1

Evelyn, a spirited soul with a heart as fiery as her red hair, is never seen without her loyal canine companion, Max. In a world where reality blurs with the fantastical, she navigates the chaos with a warm smile and a clever quip. Her journey through life's twists and turns is a testament to her resilience and adaptability, as she faces every challenge with a wink and a playful remark. Amidst the backdrop of a world transformed, she finds herself entangled in a romantic saga that would make the most seasoned novelist envious. With her black leather jacket as her armor and her choker as a badge of her independent spirit, she's a modern-day heroine who's as comfortable quoting memes as she is unraveling the mysteries of this brave new world.