Long before reaching our final destination, the Himalayas start to blanket the horizon. It's a bird's eye view of what will become the backdrop of our lives for the week to come. Smoothly, our plane glides between the peaks and aligns itself with the lone runway of Leh, nested in the valley below. At an altitude of 3,500m, Leh is the economic and political center of the region of Lahakh and host to its only civilian airport. Spilling out on the tarmac with us are about a hundred other tourists. … [Read more...]

Update: This story is also available as audio version. Dying was not cool. Like, it totally hurt. A lot. I knew we shouldn't have gotten on that dodgy looking roller coaster. But there was no way I was going to stay on the ground while Madison clung to Aidan, pretending to be all scared. She likes to play the innocent one. Like when Aidan's big brother had gotten us that box of sangria. She was like, “Look how drunk I am. Look how I can't control myself.” And Aidan totally fell for it. … [Read more...]

Fan death is a misconception, common in Korean culture, that running an electric fan in a closed room can lead to death. - Wikipedia To say the plan was elaborate was a colossal understatement. With practically no access to technology, limited financial means and non-existent ground support, it all had to go perfectly. How do you kill someone and make it look...well, not like an accident. Because if there's one thing that's more suspicious than a murder, it's a murder that was made to look … [Read more...]

This story starts where most stories end. The protagonist (that would be me) is dead. Abdul shuffled by me. That's one of the upsides if you die in car crash with your best buddies: you're not alone in purgatory. He seemed to avoid looking me in the eyes, and I didn't blame him. After all, I was the drunk guy who drove us into a tree. Maybe things would have turned out differently if he had actually gotten his driving license. Being a good Muslim and all that, he might have embraced his … [Read more...]

Immortality isn't easy. Especially if you're still in the closet about it. You might find love, but at least once a century you have to fake your own death to escape being found out. That is, until the day you discover you might not be the only one... "Ron, listen. It's not you, it's me." A scream like thousands of gray brain cells suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. 611 years on the planet, and Julie still hasn't been able to come up with a better line. "Please … [Read more...]