Kidding. Well. Sortof.

I’m usually inspired by certain images that stick out in my mind – a rainsoaked window inside a dark apartment, lit by the light of a cloudy day, for instance. For this, it was contrails in an orange, tropical sunset.

The initial question asked what a modern-day Aztec-type sacrificial civilization would look like. The very first draft/version of the story is almost entirely different – different character, plot, twist/climax, everything. 90% of the “themes” one might find in this weren’t in the original, either – in a very real sense, the story evolved with time, and this is just the current generation.

I’ve thought about expanding it into something longer, but haven’t yet stumbled on that story.

Thanks for reading!