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Attractions in Development
Some teasers were handed out here in a few editions regarding the Backstage Pass, Volume II. I don’t want to give away too much, but I am excited about the preparations for the next set of Backstage Pass editions, and am at great pains to not disclose some of the more exciting details with regard to them. I will, however, say this: each issue will be delivered with more content. More stories. It will be a level up! Tell your friends.
Also, I do require your assistance with regard to each of the sections in this newsletter, as I am interested in how much weight I should be giving everything here. Is each chapter of the Groundskeeper long enough? Do you desire more per issue, or this just the perfect amount of reading? Have you other thoughts with regard to other things you’d like to see included? I would very much love to hear all about it. I eagerly await your reply with notepad and pen in hand.
Now, without further ado, let us dive back in to …
The Groundskeeper, Part XIX
First time tuning in? Start here.
When last we saw our protagonist, they had plummeted to their certain doom in a wayward and hungry elevator. Except the fall did not result in their doom, but rather in their discovery of where the shotgun is kept. You can read Part XVIII here. The labyrinth they then found themselves has proven tricky to navigate. Let us see how they fare in the confusing halls.
Round and round we go, down one corridor, turn right, down another turn right, down another. The halls seem unending. What's even more strange than the color shift is that there are no branching corridors and no random doors. I might be in a completely different part of the basement. I have no way of knowing for sure though. I wish I had started this journey with a roll of twine, or at least thought to look for some in the rooms I found earlier. Now I'm just moving in circles and I have no idea if I'm getting closer to the elevator or just getting more lost.
Being lost isn't the worst part though. It's so damn quiet. Too quiet. The carpeting seems to absorb sound pretty well; so well, in fact, that I don't even hear my own footsteps. I tried yelling a few times, but my voice just falls flat. No reverb, no echo. This didn't bother me when I first started, but it's been weighing on me since I turned back to find the elevator. If there's anything else down here, I wouldn't hear it coming. The only solace I have to counter that thought is it wouldn't hear me coming either.
It's cold, I'm lost, and the eerie silence is getting to me. Forget about being eaten by some monster or lost in some alternate dimension, I may just end up going mad. Blue corridors turning red, a green mist packed full of monsters, a darkness dimension that subverts your spatial reasoning, and fucking zombies? Hell, I might be mad already. Any moment now, I'm going to wake up and find myself lying in a padded room, tightly strapped in a heavy canvas jacket, screaming just to see if I can hear myself scream.
Oh my god, what if no one can hear me scream down here? I'm about to open my mouth and start screaming just to find out how far it might carry. But I stop myself. I'm not mad yet. At least I don't think so.
I make another right and come to a complete stop in front of a closed door. The door is metal, painted white, with a vertical rectangular window to one side and one of those push-to-open bars across the center. I try peering through the window but it's too dark to see anything on the other side. I'm a little wary about just waltzing on in, but I don't really have much of a choice; turning around means winding my way back to that other dead end and then what? I push the door open.
Bright fluorescents snap on overhead, row by row, as I enter the room. This carries on for some seconds, and the full room is lit up. It's enormous. The ceiling is no higher than that of the corridors, but the room is very wide and very long. I look around and forget all about how cold and quiet it is down here. In fact, I am giddy with excitement.
I found the storage room.
Success! Indomitable success! Or, is this, perhaps, too good to be true for our wandering protagonist? Is this an illusion? Is the basement level they traverse a completely separate dimension? And will they ever find their way out?! Only one way to find out! Read Part XX here! And tell your friends.
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Are you enjoying the story so far? Please consider sharing this with someone you think will enjoy it as well! After all, things tend to be much more enjoyable when you can experience them with acquaintances, coworkers, friends, and loved ones.
What’s Published and Where You Can Find It
Tales From the Odds ‘n’ Endings Boutique
The Proprietor—a timeless individual of many faces, few scruples, and a whole lot of character—runs the Odds ‘n’ Endings Boutique, dealing in artifacts containing peculiar traits. These are the tales of the Boutique’s patrons.
Calypso
Calypso is the reimagining of Immortality, the first story ever written in the Odds ‘n’ Endings universe, and the third to be published in it. Come and brave the journey with the narrator as they realize too late the cost for an otherwise interesting acquisition. Now available:
Showdown at Sunrise
A merchant finds himself in a bind when he manages to survive a duel. A chance encounter in an odd shoppe may just be the luck he needs. The question is, will this luck hold out?
A western with a little bit of magic and a whole lotta gumption.
Vegas Rift
A woman searches for her long lost husband. This is currently the most popular Mad Alex short story.
Other Stories
The Artist’s Spell cover
Final Encounter Cover
Final Encounter
A parent searches frantically for their daughter who has disappeared in their house.
Postscript
We are making progress through the Groundskeeper, and many of you have expressed how much fun you are having reading the story. Bravo! It is much to my great pleasure to learn of it. With a number of stories in the works, I have considered simply live-writing the rough drafts, making this a much more backstage phenomenon. Does this pique your interest? Reply and say so, please. I cannot read minds, though I may be loathe to do so know you enjoy such savage content as this. Ha! Also, if you are on the butterfly app, come follow me! You can find me on Bluesky here.
Acknowledgements
Overall design by L V N A C Y
“The Groundskeeper” background image by Chris Anderson on Unsplash