Elixir 181

On the television, a man was talking about a peace agreement. Eighty years, and it still hadn’t happened. There was Oslo, then Camp David, then the war in Gaza. Some people say it all started on October 7. It didn’t.

The old TV in the prison room made a crackling sound. A voice said, “We bring you breaking news. There has been a peace agreement between—” Then a loud buzz cut the sound off. Was that a joke? People always called it a “peace process.” But it never became peace. It just stayed a process, forever.

I’m not a cynical person. My dad is. Sometimes one idea breaks something open in your head, and you start to see everything differently. When bombs are falling around you, it’s hard not to become cynical too.

“Make tea,” my dad called from the other side of the house. His voice echoed in my ears. My mind turned cynical again. I poured sugar into the teapot. Then more sugar. I thought that would make everything sweeter.

Still, why did we need such a big teapot? I wasn’t just pouring sugar into tea…

This is the opening. The full story continues in the reader edition.

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Elixir 181 · Kamikaze Raccoon · Notes From the Prison TV · The Water Factory Janitor · Salsabil: The Blue Gold · Neanderthal · On Writing With a Beginner’s Mind · Why I Treat Everything Like an Experiment · Building Karkaba · Dubai, Between Two Deserts · What the Falafel Shop Taught Me · Serial Proj… · also in booksbooks
Salsabil: The Blue Gold novel — in progress In a near-future Arabian desert, fresh water has become the most valuable commodity on earth. A single liter sells for more than gold, guarded by the powerful and out of reach of everyone else. A water-factory janitor, locked alone in a sealed motel room, … · mentioned in notesnotes
Click a title to open it as a new column. Playtesting Karkaba · A pass on Elixir 181 · Building the reader editions · Karkaba’s loop finally clicks · Reading about water rights Older notes archived.