I stared at the adult person, or adult person-shaped thing, standing there. They didn’t do anything at first. I risked glancing back to make sure that there wasn’t a second ghost person in the mirrored corner. There wasn’t. That didn’t make me feel better.
The open door of The Phobia Box filled my vision. The idea that I could fall into the damn thing occurred to me, and I stepped back from it.
The seasons are changing. It will only get colder. Autumn, and all it brings, is here to stay. And, as we cross that threshold, a pair of mystical beings has a routine. It must happen each and every year.
Timothy has one chance to make a wish. But is this “magic bird” even real, or just some robot playing a prank?
Last week, Timothy met a strange bird. But now we’ll get to find out what the bird wants from him.
We said this story would be whimsical, and let it never be said we don’t deliver on whimsey. Unlike last week’s tale of magic and a lost cellphone, this story will take a few parts to tell.
This is a silly one, folks. We’ve done many serious, intense, or frightening stories, but this is resolutely not one of them. This is a low fantasy, low-stakes comedy. Because even in a world with a unique form of magic, there are still very human, day-to-day problems. Problems I’m sure a lot of us have had.
I screamed for longer than I thought I ever could. I screamed until I was sure I was about to die from suffocation if the bugs didn’t take me out.
Ever stared outside your window, thinking about all manner of things? What if that sky could invite you to stay for a while?
When I walked back into the room, I understood—in one horrible moment—what the bug symbol on The Phobia Box meant. Even almost a decade later, I still kick myself for not realizing it sooner.
Today, a very different story than we’ve had in a while. There are no monsters, no horrible revelations. And certainly nothing creeping out of the night. This is a story of two people on a date, one leading the other.
The next day, when I stepped outside my apartment to get my mail, a large box was sitting off to the side of my door. I stared at it for maybe an entire minute.
