With his hands pressed into the ground, he pushed until the dirt reached his wrists. A seed planted between them began to grow, slowly, one leaf at a time. Once a few leaves had emerged, he lifted the patch of soil and carried it inside. There, he made it float
She placed a hand on the ground, and the floor around her melted into a bubble that rose and enclosed her. After speaking a word—followed by the crushing of a crystal—the inside of the bubble glowed, then vanished. She was transported to the heart of a cave. As
The darkness of space unfolded before him. After pressing a few buttons, the room filled with a three-dimensional hologram of the nearest galaxies. Bathed in starlight, he zoomed in and out, tracing and calculating a path. TIPS
He clicked the recorder and continued. “Patient Carlos M. Eighty years old. Dementia. Part of the case, though it’s unclear how much of the story is true.” He entered the room and pulled up a chair. “Good morning, Mr. Carlos. How are you feeling today?” “I’m good,” Carlos
He sat in the lobby, unsure of what he was waiting for. At the bar inside, she sang—nothing but a guitar and a microphone. With a notepad to pass the time, he wrote about her voice. She was singing about God. For three minutes, sitting in that lobby, carried
She rowed her boat across the stars and carefully siphoned a piece of the nebula into a bottle. It was the seventh one that night. She collected them to bring back to the lab for study. There, she transferred the nebula from its container into a fishbowl-like space built into
Light streamed in through the window as he sat down to take a break. He played with the brush in one hand, studying the new painting. One of the big ones—vivid colors, and still a long way from being finished. Just begun, really, yet already complete in his mind.
He sat on the bench, watching the fountain as day turned into night. The first star appeared, reflected in the water just as it shone in the sky. Then it was no longer above him. Instead, a glowing fish swam through the fountain. He watched without moving, wondering if this
By candlelight alone, he drew a circle on the altar and wrote the names. He had a long white beard, yellowed around the mustache from the tobacco he used for divination. With hands heavy with rings, he brushed the hair from his face so he could see clearly and opened
He walked through the doorway into a dark room. The door closed behind him, and there was nothing inside it. A distant drumbeat echoed, guiding him forward. He moved carefully, sliding his feet along the ground, feeling for any change beneath them. With his arms held out in front of
Bathed in moonlight, he prepared the ingredients. The full moon’s reflection walked across the water like it had on the first night. He crushed the leaves, gathered water from the lake, and drew a single drop of blood from his finger. The moon watched from the water as the
An abandoned park sat in the middle of the forest. Greenery crept over metal, leaves swallowing the rusted poles and old lights. The carousel stood still, yet somehow retained enough energy to flicker a few bulbs on and off. He climbed onto it, jumping over overgrown bushes and a fallen