The Grey Stride

Gull wants one thing in life. To feel alive.

But in this district, the sun never shines. Buildings clutter out the sky. Dirt clings to everything. Life hides in the cracks. Gull doesn't know, but suspects. If only there were a way to peek in between.

Even briefly.

"Take Tranquility," Fox the trusted colleague advises.

Once you go Tranq- you never go back.

A single bar in all the district sells it. Specific behaviors are necessary to buy it. Gull agrees to everything. In a single shot, everything come apart.

The cracks reveal a truth Gull has been missing all along.

Can Gull survive the aftermath?

Rei Rosenquist writes the Broken Circle stories from a dark place, holding a black hope close to a faintly beating heart. These stories bring you a gritty speculative future so hollow it will leave you hunting, squinting, begging for light.

A short story in approximately 7500 words.