Orion Vale
11 stories published
Stories by Orion Vale
Meteorite Pen Pal
Children write letters and tie them to helium balloons. One note lands on a meteorite in a museum courtyard. Weeks later, a reply arrives, written in unfamiliar handwriting: "Space is quiet. How are y...
Moonlighting Sun
For one week, the sun covers night shifts. Midnight becomes softly golden. Owls squint; plants stay awake. People host brunch at 2 a.m., confused about sunscreen. The moon takes a vacation, sending po...
The Complaint Comet
A comet passes overhead, rumored to absorb complaints. People shout grievances into the night. Traffic disappears. Rent stabilizes. Phone batteries last longer. The comet glows brighter with each grip...
Elevator to the Basement Stars
In a city skyscraper, a hidden elevator goes down, past parking levels and pipes, to a subterranean sky. Stars shimmer on concrete ceilings. People ride down to lie on warm tile constellations. The el...
Weather Custodians
The Barros family business is not in any phone book. They maintain the weather. Each dawn, they polish rainbows with microfiber cloths, oil hinges on windmills that steer gusts, and restock fog in sealed barrels. Their warehouse smells of ozone and d...
Underwater Orchestra
Composer Theo wins a grant to create an underwater orchestra. He designs instruments that resonate beneath the surface: kelp harps, coral chimes, shell trumpets. Divers train to play while submerged, breath measured like rests. The debut concert take...
Skylight to the Past
In her grandmother's attic, Sienna discovers a skylight that opens not to the sky but to a specific year: 1998. Through the glass, she sees her younger self drawing on the driveway, her grandmother hanging laundry. The skylight opens for fifteen minu...
The Painter of Weather Maps
Miloâs meteorology degree hung crooked in his studio. He spent mornings at the national weather service, translating data into models. Afternoons he spent painting storm systems on canvas, swirling acrylic lows and highs with a palette knife. His colleagues teased him. âYou canât predict rain with p...
The Seamstress of Constellations
Mei sewed in the dark. By day, she mended clothes at a tiny shop between a pharmacy and a bar. By night, she climbed to her rooftop with needle and thread spun from meteor dust and spider silk. There she stitched the sky. It started when a meteor shower tore a small gap in Orionâs belt. Mei felt a t...
The Candle Factory Strike
The candle factory on Maple Lane had operated since the 1800s, pouring wax into molds, wicks cut by hand, scents drifting downwind. It supplied churches, birthdays, blackout kits. Its workers were proud of their craft. Then, one autumn, candles refused to burn for lies. It started with a politicianâ...
The Apartment Between Floors
Between the seventh and eighth floors of the Grandview Tower, an apartment existed where no blueprint showed. The elevator stopped there only if you pressed 7 and 8 simultaneously and hummed. Tenants whispered about it but few found it. Those who did entered a cozy space with mismatched furniture, a...