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IndieWeb Fiction Carnival: May 2026 Roundup

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Back in May, I signed up to host the IndieWeb Fiction Carnival, and kicked it off with a prompt: sticks and stones will break my bones.

I'm incredibly late with my roundup: just as soon as I'd kicked it off, life became chaotic in a way that won't settle down until September. Which is a poor excuse, because I received some great submissions.

Daniel Miller wrote Pull:

The first chamber was larger than the second. Wren heard and felt the pneumatic doors close behind them and was careful to place one foot next to the other, in a stable stance, and took hold of the handrails. They felt their boots lock onto the walkway. The loud, mechanical horn blared its single warning and clouds of thin white mist filled the room. Wren stared straight ahead but could see in the peripheral vision possible through their helmet’s visor the particles cling to their suit. In seconds they covered the visor as well.

Zachary Kai wrote Tear Me Down, Build Me Back Up:

They repeated the usual version of this phrase, turned on him in the second person, until it became so pervasive they might've well have tattooed it on the insides of his eyelids.

April wrote Lara's Neighbour:

Being a young lady in the neighborhood. One of the elderly man came around one day towards Lara and asked when is she getting hitched? Flabbergasted by his question - she said she won't be getting married and then this oldie guy got on her nerves by saying that a young lady is a BURDEN on the family and getting married removes that burden.

Also syndicated to IndieNews.