A story that didn't make it into the book

Not every story makes it into the book.

Some get written in a rush of late-night certainty, revised, fussed over, loved a little too much, and then, when the shape of the bigger thing becomes clear, they simply don’t fit. It isn’t a failure. It’s more like a signal that arrived on the wrong frequency: still real, still worth hearing, just meant for a different receiver.

The Apotheosis of Mankind is one of those.

It starts on a muggy night in South Brisbane, on a high-rise balcony, with a woman who is tired of the news and wishes, half-joking, that she could change the future herself. Then an old man with electric blue eyes turns up hanging from her railing, and the wish stops being a joke.

It’s playful and strange, and it has a lot of fun with the people in it. I didn’t want it sitting in a drawer forever, so I’ve catalogued it here, where stray transmissions go.

Read LOG 015: The Apotheosis of Mankind →

If you’ve ever wished you could press a button and rewrite the world, this one’s for you. Be careful what you’d change.