The Understudy
Nell Achebe is second cover for Lady Macbeth at the decaying Gallowgate repertory, a theatre permanently three weeks from closure. She knows the role better than anyone except Delphine Marr, sixty-two, magnificent, and a…
Stories wey set for work
About dis collection
Procedurals, for di plain meaning: people wey dey do dia job, with di pressure wey dey come from rosters, paperwork, chain of command, and di thing wey go wrong for three o'clock for morning. Hospitals, ports, platforms, courtrooms. Di stakes na wetin di job cost di person wey dey do am.
The Last Live Hour
Tonight is the final broadcast of WVAL, the Appalachian valley’s beloved community radio station. In the cramped studio, four people face the microphone for the last time: Marian Pike, the station manager who made the ca…
The Night Signal
For eleven years, someone has been a regular voice on WBWD-AM, the community radio station that serves as the heartbeat of Bitterwood Valley. When the station’s licence renewal is unexpectedly challenged, the volunteers …
The Gradient
In the summer of 1937, an engineer named Tomás Arismendi arrives in Larija to survey the branch line for closure. He is methodical, solitary, and certain that the railway is a financial drain that must be terminated. His…
The Fever Line
You command a medical convoy from collapsing Baltimore to Atlanta's last functioning emergency hub as linked Ebola clusters tear through the eastern corridor. The disease obeys real rules. The route's identity system doe…
Shared Power
A record heat wave and a three-day blackout turn Midvale's food-truck rally into the neighborhood's only functioning kitchen. Rival owners Maya and Leo have one generator, incompatible menus, and years of resentment betw…
Six Bells Before Dawn
At 04:40, chief river engineer Ruth Bell must release East Weir to save Calder General and the centre of the city. The diverted flood will destroy Saint Agnes Hospice, and the woman who raised Ruth is still being evacuat…
Adventures of Beava
Beava Cedarbank can fix a door before breakfast. Getting her family through a summer of drought, fire and flood is another matter. When Papa is swept out of sight, Beava brings Nana and their four kits to Vancouver. They…