After a man is stabbed in the back and dies, he wakes up in the Labyrinth with a new body, new power, and another chance.

This story takes place in the same universe as my story Invoker.

"Desert Valley's different," she said.

The Dead Pixel Society

© 2026 Zoë Taylor

“Sure, as long as it’s not about my eye,” she shot back playfully. He turned to look at her. She smirked back at him. “It was a joke. What’s your question?”

Monday, July 17, my bed-mate was just the doll again. I spent the day back out at well 2 again, but we resolved the problem that day and so they had me take Tuesday off. Since I felt like I had been neglecting her, I focused on dreaming about Victoria that night. Being Victoria had been awkward when I was working, and I’d had other priorities the last two weekends, so this was the first day that was convenient to bring her back since I’d figured out I had some control.

Patrice, Gender Change Gurl

We had just been assigned a new supervisor at work, her name is Kelly Walker, transferred here from the main office. Our old supervisor had retired, having recently achieved twenty five years with the company.

We all wondered what Ms. Walker was like, an inquiry to a few employees we dealt with at the main office yielded very little information on her. They did tell us she was in her late twenties, and had progressed up from a new hire to supervisor level in less than eight months.

I sit in the Target parking lot for four minutes before I go in.

The calculation happens here, in the car, engine off. I'm going to walk into the store and go to the women's section and stand in front of a wall of sports bras and buy one. More than one, ideally. I know what I'm looking for in general terms. I don't know my chest measurement. I know I take a large men's shirt. I don't know if that translates to anything in the women's activewear section of a Target.

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Chapter 60: Truths at the Table

The shift from the backyard to the house felt surreal. The evening air still clung to their skin, carrying the faint scent of smoke and grass as they left the chaos of the yard behind. Every step through the threshold felt like crossing a border between worlds—outside, the rawness of magic and fear; inside, the muted hush of ordinary life, untouched, waiting for them.

Torn from his own world and stuffed into the body of a villainess, facing the end of a doomed route he himself wrote, "Amelia" must navigate a world she really should know - too bad she was never great at worldbuilding.

Stuck in a world she (maybe) created, Amelia quickly finds that reality has filled in the details she failed to describe. The characters who were so flat when she wrote them now have nuance, and motives. The kingdom she wrote into existence is experiencing internal strife she never even thought about. And let's not even get into the complexities of the magic system, or the demon that forced her into this situation to begin with...

Oh, and then there's the fact that she's about to be arrested and executed... but surely she can come up with a way to write herself out of that, right?

...Right?

Gloria, What To Do With My Purse

I was setting in the front lobby of my wife’s beauty salon. The Turnabout Gurl Salon recently changed hands, now a prestigious salon that oozes femininity. A typical late Friday afternoon occurrence with me, now something I look forward to since they have changed hands.

NEIL
There was no sign of Anth at breakfast, just the kitchen staff to serve me, and it appeared that I had either missed all the other guests or there were none. Apple juice. Tea. More tea. Cereal. Tea. Then the fry-up, which got easier to eat with each mouthful. Then…

One of the kitchen girls brought me more tissues as I sat looking at the crumpets I had just toasted.

“It’s okay, Neil. Nobody else here, aye? Anth telt us what you’re up for, today, like, so no shame. We all remember her, and we all saw the news. For what it’s worth… no point to cards or flowers, we thought, but will you take a hug for her? For Maddy?”

It may sound strange but I recommend you not to read parts 3 and 4 of this story.
Part 3 is only half decent while part 4 is way too confusing for readers. I had great fun writing these parts though. A classic example of self-indulgence.
I did consider pulling these parts but decided to let them stay as a reminder that I should stick to short stories.
So once again. Unless you actually like to be confused, don’t read parts 3 and 4.