Preface

Hi. In case we haven't met, I'm Aliya. Twenty-one years old as of this writing. Student of International Relations, but I will ditch all that to be able to write stories full time. Until then, I write as a hobby, and I'm really glad you decide to take your time to read the writings of a complete nobody like me. Thank you!

This small book is a collection of short stories and flash fictions I wrote in the last four years, and then left languishing in my computer. Most of them are short enough that you can read several in a single sitting. In fact, I deliberately chose up those that could be read in a single sitting. Some of them I've already posted online, scattered in my blog or social media.

I scoured through my old writings to make this collection, which led me to see the best and worst side of myself. Writing is a method of self-expression, and in each and every single one of these I saw a piece of myself and the life surrounding me at the time I wrote them. They're all, overwhelmingly, shamefully, me.

So they're the skeletons in my closet, disguising themselves as old things I found in the cupboard.

I've deliberately ordered them in this collection. Not chronologically, but still, an order. But you're free to jump around between stories. Read the last one first (that's my favourite, by the way), start from the middle, roll a d6 dice to choose. You do you.

I've attached a short comment for each story, the thoughts I had after I rediscovered the story in my cupboard. Read them before or after the story or even skip them altogether. You do you, mate.

These stories are very personal to me, and I'm just really glad you take the time to read them. Thank you! And I hope you enjoy them!

Jakarta, 6 April 2019

If you like what you read here, more of my stories can be found on my blog (pseudomon.wordpress.com) and my website (pseudomon.github.io). I only picked out the shorter stories for this collection, so if you want to see my longer stories, my website is where you can see them.

I'm also pretty active on Twitter @PseudoStygian. Feel free to say hi!