Toxin City & Other Stories

By Shayna Kay

Experience a collection of thought-provoking stories and characters, each one imparting valuable lessons in life. Follow Tanda and Immy to a magical place where they reawaken childhood dreams in search of success. Faith and her cat Young revisit an enchanting land that reawakens lost passions. In the midst of stardom, Jane and Joel are spirited away to a bizarre world where they face the race of a lifetime. Ellie and her friend Rachel must flee from the comfort of their home only to get lost in time. A boy from the slums gains new perspectives by finding a friend to share his unique powers with. Warring nations employ mystical beasts to battle each other for a chance at love. Gidget and Finch escape their sheltered life in search of a greater truth. Aurum investigates a mansion driven by rumors of magic and murder in search of mystery. A family moves into a new home only to find that it's already been invaded by unknown horrors. Two childhood friends are saved from hoards of the dead by their grandfather's unique invention. Rickiss unveils the secrets of his experimental origins through dreams of the past. In Toxin City & Other Stories, Shayna Kay reveals that our dreams can impart wisdom to us in the most mysterious ways.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781667898483

Book preview

Text Description automatically generated with medium confidenceText, application Description automatically generated

Copyright © 2023 Shayna Kay Gianas

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews and other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests: [e-mail]

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America on SFI Certified paper.

First Edition

Cover art by Jared Lipscomb. Jared Lipscomb is a Californiabased illustrator and concept artist who specializes in speculative fiction. His art can be found at jaredlipscomb.artstation.com

ISBN: 978-1-66-789848-3

CONTENTS

Dragonduck

Green Hill

The Painting

Drawing Time

The Stranger

Lotus Lion

Planet Cold

Shadow House

Family Fungus

Jump & Fly

Toxin City

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dragonduck

The moment I was born, I knew what death felt like. I came out of my mother flatlined, and the doctors had to use defibrillators on my feet to bring me back to life. I felt content and warm where I was, was it a dream? I think a lot about that time. The room was large and filled with a bright light. It was empty and had shiny white floors and white walls. An open door near a corner led outside. I could see flowing trees in the wind and the warm sun trying its best to get inside. The light from it filled the room partly with golden hues before the white fluorescents took over. I was in a large crib, one much too big for babies. Besides me was my mother, I knew it was her. She had brown flowing hair and vibrant hazel eyes. Her cheeks were high and chubby but with a small and pointy chin. I immediately loved her, she was beautiful. We lay together in silence hearing the birds chirping outside and feeling the warmth. The warmth and light in the room had a sound to them, an indescribable humming. It filled me with a feeling of peace. There we were together, me and mother dearest at the beginning of life, so close to death.

I remembered my dreams as a baby which in a way told me what that time was like. I know that I hated veggies because of them. There were vegetable cans that we’d buy from the store, they had a green man printed on them who wore leaves as shorts. In a dream I had, I was in my backyard looking out at our canyon. It sloped down allowing a clear view that went on for miles. There was a sound, it began with a slow repetitive thud resembling a heartbeat. It was soft and quiet at first but grew louder and heavier. In the distance, I saw a figure coming into view that came closer and closer. It was the green man from the pea cans, and he was enormous. I realized that the heartbeat sounds I was hearing were coming from his footsteps, I was terrified. I don’t remember ever seeing those cans in the house again, mother dearest taking care of me.

I loved my mother so much and it showed in my dreams.

One made me a superhero protecting her from a giant monster.

The monster was the size of a building, gooey and brown, holding my mother captive. These were the dreams of a child, this one told me that I desired to protect those I loved from the bad things in this world. Although I saved my mother in my dream, I could not save her in the waking world and she died right before my ninth birthday. Not long after, I saw her several times but in my dreams.

I remember at the top of the stairs in my old house, a tall ceiling in the hallway held a glass chandelier hanging at its center. In my dream, I tip-toed from my bedroom to that hallway. The ceiling would be made of pink clouds with a misty haze leading to an endless sky. I would float toward the clouds and a door in them appeared. As I levitated I could feel butterflies in my tummy. Once I reached the door it opened with a white light peering through the cracks. Inside, I found myself back in my room except that the walls, carpet, and furniture all were made of pink clouds. An old woman sat on my bed looking at me patiently waiting for my arrival. She was withered and wrinkled, but I instantly knew this old woman was my mother. I’d walk over and sit with her on the bed. I would tell her how much I missed her, begged and pleaded to stay there but she always refused. Mother insisted that I go back so that I could keep on living. After that, the room would fill with light and I’d wake up. All three times I had this dream they were the same. I had numerous dreams after that, but I never saw her again.

All this dreaming made me want to become an Oneironaut when I grew up. Someone who can consciously travel through their dreams and the dreams of others. I imagined labs and rooms where it was done, a whole study dedicated to the subject. There were suits we would wear and jokes about showing up in each other’s dreams to ruin them if we didn’t make the coffee right or failed to work their cleaning shifts. I remembered all of my dreams like movies I’d watch on repeat. Eventually, I stopped having them and with every year that went by I slowly lost the memories. A great revelation was much needed, but I wasn’t sure where to find it.

I was older now and could never find that fantasy job. I was full of regrets and living wherever I could with my friend Immy. It was a cool autumn night in the city and the stars tried their best to poke through the smog and haze. I was leaving a restaurant with Immy as we trudged our way through the litterfilled streets. A flickering lamppost illuminated a park bench that called to us. We slumped our bodies down heavily as if we’d been walking for miles.

You have to stop getting us kicked out of places Immy, soon there won’t be any left that’ll serve us, I said annoyed.

It won’t be like that Tanda, they’ll all forget us soon. People never remember me, I have one of those faces… Immy pushed their lips through the cracks in the bench seat.

I seriously doubt that but we can hope, we need to find new jobs before our savings run out. What are you doing? I glanced around the park to see if anyone else was around.

Yeah I know quit reminding me, Immy replied.

Done arguing, I continued searching the area and noticed a lit-up restaurant across the street. It was a lonely one-story building with a large sign and had the most unusual name.

"Hey Immy, you ever heard of a place called

Dragonduck?"

Huh? I don’t know what that is, a chimera? Immy swung their head around almost falling off the bench.

Look over there. It’s a new place, I turned my body to point at it.

"That’s strange, I don’t remember a building being there.

Cool, let’s go check it out!" Immy shouted excitedly.

Hopefully they are hiring if they just opened.

We straightened our backs and chugged the last of the water bottle we had with us. I felt nervous like my instincts were trying to warn me. Should we be asking for jobs in the middle of the night? As we stepped closer to the front of the building I stared at it in wonder. The letters were carved from wood in such a way as to resemble mysterious creatures. The colors were natural yet rich and warm. I studied the building like a strange beast mystified by it. I kept walking and let the doors of the Dragonduck take me into its belly.

Welcome!

We were hailed by an older man behind a drink bar to our left. To our right were a bunch of low circular tables surrounded by scattered chairs, and a few couches were here and there. Before heading to the bartender, we took off our jackets and hung them on hooks along the wall by the door. It was warm and musty inside, a stark contrast to the cold outside. Restaurants always needed help, or so I hoped.

Hello there, what can I do ya for? The man had white shoulder-length hair and most of his face was covered by short bristles of it and an eyepatch across his left eye. He wore a dirty white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a brown leather apron that dropped stiffly at his knees.

I’ll have water please! Immy gleefully exclaimed forgetting why we came.

We were hoping you were hiring, my name is Tanda and this is Immy, I crossed my fingers for the best and waited for a reply.

The man was fixing two big cups of water for us, Well now that’s a first, you can call me Clay. I always have a hard time finding workers yet here you are asking for it. I do need help around here, for the both of ya?

Yes, that would be great! What’s the position? When can we start? I was so excited I didn’t notice the water he served us was sweating in front of me. Immy was already halfway done with theirs.

I have a cook so you’d be mostly cleaning and taking orders, no one runs the bar but me. I make the drinks so I like to do things my way back here. That brings me to your third responsibility, taste testing. You’ll have to test all my new recipes. I’d make ya tea, juices, and coffee. And uh well, you can start now if you’d like.

Taste testing? Immy spat as they spoke.

That is a strange responsibility, I was suspicious.

Consider it a benefit of the position. That being said, I can only pay you minimum wage, Clay replied.

I’m definitely in, Immy was done with the water, I could tell they were excited and I was too. Hopefully, this job would last.

Yeah okay me too, what can we start with? I agreed.

Wonderful! I’ll have you start by straightening up in here, it wasn’t a busy day so there shouldn’t be too much to do. After that come to see me for your first tasting, Clay disappeared behind the bar.

Immy jumped up and began pushing in chairs. I finished my water and joined them. A rag and spray bottle was tucked away in the corner. I grabbed them both and wiped the tables. Clay was right, it wasn’t a huge mess but the place was crowded with tables so the work took longer than we thought it would. Once we finished, we headed back over to the bar where we expected to find Clay. Instead, we found two giant cups of steaming tea and a half-wet note.

Had to head home, something came up! Here are your first drinks to test, make sure to have good feedback for me tomorrow morning. Feel free to stay the night, don’t forget to lock the doors, We could almost hear Clay’s voice as we read the note.

Is this real Tanda? Spend the night? I feel like we’re being scammed, Immy was always the paranoid type but this was

all too easy.

"It does seem