Chapter 16 – The list

At the cursory glance which was all I had the opportunity to make I could see that there were no marks upon the dead woman’s face or arms and no sign of a struggle anywhere. She looked as peaceful as if she had indeed died naturally in her sleep, but there was no way anyone could be sure.

“How sad!” I exclaimed, and I meant it. In the brief interview I’d had with Flora her forthright personality had made a strong impression upon me. We would never continue that conversation now.

Chapter 1

Before I get into telling you my story, I really need to tell you a little bit about my ancestors. It does have a bit of a bearing on what happened later, as some revolves around my given name. Many years back, my grandfather was born in Scotland. When he was a toddler, his parents moved to London, where my great-grandfather had a new job to go to. It was working for an import / export business, with the main business importing butter from New Zealand.

In the morning I did the regular routine, light makeup, jogging outfit, cap and stretching. This time Ted was washing off his car while he watched me. His conscious efforts to keep observing me again boosted my confidence but there was still that nagging doubt in the back of my head that I was going to be outed. As I stretched, I noticed a definite camel toe outline in my spandex shorts. This appeared not to have gone unnoticed by Ted.

Authors Note: This chapter contains harsh language, and insensitive young people. It also has drug use, D&D, and a form of sexual abuse I suppose, though imaginary. Just be warned. I'll put more thoughts at the end.

Chapter 4 D&D
Garrett

Chapter Nine — The Morning

The Dead Pixel Society

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

“This isn’t enough to make up for me not screaming when I walked in on you in the girls’ bathroom. That was a ‘lol meet cute’ BS Disney moment. This is real. This is you seeing the Madison that hasn’t freaking existed since I was a freshman, and used to pray to God nobody heard me crying in the east wing stairwell, where the acoustics made my sobs sound like a tragic French opera..."

Chapter 13 – Horse country

I walked across to where my two-seater was parked and turned to wave goodbye, but the ex-agent had already disappeared inside the office.

Thursday, New Year’s Day, was a holiday in Portugal. I had almost expected that they would all just go back to work given the paucity of their Christmas arrangements. Maybe it is wise that it is a day off as the party went on well into the night. As was getting to be a bit of a habit, we got up late, exercised, breakfasted and wandered out around midday into a city that was still buzzing with a variety of acts performing in every square that we passed. Now I knew why they don’t do Christmas well; they keep all the fun for New Year.

For Saturday, August 5, I brought Aries back with a specific idea in mind. After breakfast, and after asking Aries to put on one of her bikinis, I called my parents and set up another video call.

As soon as Aries came into the frame, before I even had a chance to introduce her to my parents, Mom exclaimed, “What the hell is that!”

“I can explain, Mom,” I said.

But Dad interrupted with, “Told you so.”

“Told me what?” I asked.

Chapter 13

We had dinner with Connie and Isabella in a small restaurant where they were known and talked about the likely campaign. They had a lot of experience and had already mapped out the likely destinations of our travels, following the European, and then the world-wide advertising.

What surprised us was when Connie looked around and lowered her voice.

Every year on Reassignment Night, the world changes and reality itself skips a beat. Every year, some people are transformed in ways that the cannot control or predict. These are some of their tales.

This is a collection of short vignettes taking place in the same universe as my story Reassignment Night.

Chapter Six: Signal

Morning in Hinokuni didn't rush—it unfolded.