A Trick of the Light

"I don't know how many times I squinted through the rocky crevice at that crack of light, faint by your standards and intoxicatingly brilliant by mine. There I was again, for the last time. Light this brilliant was as mesmerizing as music, even though it hurt my frail eyes. The thought of finally finding out what it was thrilled me and scared me at the same time." When Kimi ventures from his underground home to a world filled with light, mysteries surround him. As an outsider, he is sent to retraining where he will have one year to learn about the world of light and prove that he can fit in. It is only later that he discovers that, if he cannot fit in, he will be sacrificed to the Light.

Emma Okell has been writing since they could hold a pen and invented their first nom de plume when they were four. They previously published two books under the pseudonym Olana Stuart. Their short story "The Cooking Spoon" was recently published in the Youth Climate Collaborative's publication Climate Courage. For more information visit youthcc.org/climate-courage or emmaokell.com.

Olivia Montoya is a solo hobby developer/designer, zinester, community builder, event organizer, speaker, and graphic designer. They are in their element working on game and game-adjacent projects, especially narrative video games, tabletop role-playing games, and live action role-playing games. You can see their work on oliviamontoya.com.