Doorways onto Disintegrating Demons, Time-Travel and Volcanos

Sore Loser

For fellow Wordle addicts:

 The day began badly when it took me all six tries to solve the Wordle. The new hairline crack in the screen from when I tossed my phone in frustration was another inauspicious omen.

While commuting, I noticed that the sky was unusually dark. As my train approached the city, I realized that the gloom was actually the combined plumes of smoke from several distant fires. Just as I walked out of the station, a twisted piece of metal plummeted out of the sky and nearly crushed me. I glanced around to see if it had fallen from a nearby crane or scaffolding (and whether there was any identifying information to use to sue the responsible party). Unenlightened and disappointed, I continued towards my office.

Distracted by my near-demise, it took me five minutes to realize that the streets were nearly deserted. The only other people in the street scuttled along even more briskly than usual, with anxious glances upwards. Finally, I decided to resume my much-neglected exercise routine and sprint the last eight blocks.

As I burst through the revolving door, panting, our security guard Fred intercepted me. "What are you doing here? Haven't you heard about the alien attack?"

Uneasily, I realized that after chucking my phone, I'd skipped my normal morning post-Wordle news-scan out of sheer disgust. "What?" I gasped.

With a crackle of static, all the security monitors went blank and then the image of a purple-colored thing with three eyes appeared. "Bring to we the being that make the Wordle!" it hissed in accented English.

My jaw dropped. This couldn't be happening! "Only five letters unfair!" the thing continued angrily, flailing an appendage with seven long finger-like protrusions. "And what mean knoll? Cheater you! You pay we for this!"

And I thought I was a sore loser!

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