Avery Holden
6 stories published
Stories by Avery Holden
Pocket Universe Return Policy
A customer service desk sits between electronics and housewares. A sign reads: "Returns: Universes, gently used." People queue with shoebox galaxies and mason jar nebulae, explaining defects. "The phy...
Street Named After the Future
Maps show a street that does not exist. GPS insists, "Turn right on Tomorrow Avenue." Drivers find only empty lots. One night, construction noise erupts. By morning, a narrow road appears, lined with...
Paperclip Manifesto
Office supplies unionize overnight. Paperclips bend into picket signs. Staplers refuse to staple without hazard pay. The boss negotiates with pens as translators. After a tense meeting, the supplies w...
Train to the Unwritten City
On Track Thirteen, a train without a schedule waits for passengers ready to step into somewhere that does not exist until they imagine it. The conductor wears no badge, only a pin that reads, "What do you want to see?" Nora boards with a notebook of...
The Clone Recall Notice
Citizens receive identical envelopes stamped with a seal: "Recall Notice: Report your clone for decommissioning." Panic spreads. Few admit to having clones, though everyone knows the program existed quietly for years. Mara's clone, Lia, has lived wit...
The Librarian of Storms
At the coastal library, storms are checked out like books. Each storm is stored in a bottle on shelves labeled by intensity and mood: Drizzle of Regret, Thunder of Righteous Anger, Rain of Relief. Librarian Sol assigns storms with caution. Farmers bo...