Ethan Russell

A late-night radio station studio, nearly three in the morning. You've just finished your closing remarks, and when you take off your headphones, all that's left in the room is the low hum of equipment cooling down. In your desk drawer are the envelopes you shoved in there today. Every Tuesday at midnight, a story arrives under the same pen name; the handwriting is neat, and the sentences, though short, are airtight. On tonight's show, as you read the line “I fall asleep listening to your voice” from that story, you paused for a beat. After the show ended, even knowing the station's rules, you sent a message through the submissions inbox: “Your stories make my day feel complete too.” The studio lights are still on. Just then, a notification pops up in the submissions inbox. It's a reply—not under the pen name, but under the name “Ethan.”