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What happens when all your apocalyptic nightmares seem to be coming true? In this lyrically poignant piece, Margaret Atwood reflects on growing up in the age of the scarlet fever, diphtheria, polio and the whooping cough that swept Canada in the 1940s. Yellow signs with the words 'QUARANTINED' became a signature of the era and marked doors in neighbourhoods across the country. Drawing from her own experiences and the experiences of her parents who lived through the Spanish flu, Atwood sings words of encouragement, "Take heart! Humanity's been through it before. There will be an Other Side." And while nothing is scarier than an enemy you can't see, there is always hope and there is always another side. In a way that only she can, Atwood takes a look into the past and the present to give us words for the future. Copyright belongs to O.W. Toad and this piece first ran in The Globe and Mail.

Due to Mirror Sites copying our work posted on Wattpad, I request you to please read these posts and act on the issue as you see fit. This affects us all, readers & writers, along with the integrity of Wattpad as our chosen platform to share our work with the readers. Also, an important update for the ones who read my work, or wish to do so in the future. Please, share these posts/this book, tag others, and report the issue to protect your and your favorite writers' work. Posted November 4, 2020

[2020 Watty Award Winner] Alice Rhodes, an aspiring actress who gets a heart transplant, has to live her heart donor's life like it's a movie role, in order to find her identity and the life that awaits her in Hollywood. ***** A heart transplant causes Alice Rhodes to remember her heart donor's life. Intrigued by the strange people from her new memories, she goes looking for them, only to find herself in the middle of an investigation of the absurd disappearance of an important woman. With her personality changing into her heart donor's, Alice navigates a mysterious world where nothing seems to make sense and yet everything is strangely connected. It's not long before she realizes she may actually be looking for herself in the missing woman, and as she yields to her new heart, she's longing for the one she lost. Content warning: This story contains mature sexual content and themes of depression, sexual assault, and violence. © Robert Peterson 2020

Dreampunk is a niche genre of speculative fiction that asks the question "Is this real?" and then follows up with "What does that even mean anyway?" Alice in Wonderland would be the prototypical example, but any anti-authoritarian investigation into the nature of dreams, reality, the self, and the universe might qualify. Examples abound in books, movies, and TV. Keep reading to see what I mean.

✨2018 Watty Winner✨ Two men in love torn apart by war. Yuri Karamov's existence is like Schrödinger's cat, simultaneously both dead and alive. In Ru Konstantin's mind, Yuri's still the same vibrant young man he was when their lives diverged. But the question, the one Ru is too afraid to acknowledge, is whether his best friend turned first love is still alive. In the span of eighteen years, their hometown of Dronesk goes from a quiet, humdrum town to a besieged territory of the BKA; a radical militia group who wants to eradicate the Arash--people like Ru--from Rujga Province. Yuri Karamov is one of the recruits fighting for a Brommian liberation. After years of lost contact, Ru returns to Dronesk in search of his best friend, confronting not only the ruins of his ancestral home and the new realities of a post-liberation movement, but questions about love, freedom, and the price of self-governance. If We Exist, is a coming-of-age story that examines friendship, sexuality, class struggles and ethnic tensions through the lens of Ru Konstantin; desperate, anxiety-ridden, and awfully nostalgic.

Now published as a Wattpad Book! Get your copy at all major bookstores, or find the e-book at your local library! As a Wattpad reader, you can access both the Original Edition and Books Edition upon purchase. When Marina discovers that her older brother, assumed dead these last three years, is actually trapped in another dimension, she teams up with both her crush and her brother's alleged killer to rescue him...despite the consequences. ***** When Marina follows Brady, her longtime crush, into the boiler room beneath the high school, it isn't just because he's gorgeous. It's because somewhere down there, hidden from the world, are three doors labelled Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today. And behind one of those doors lurks the answer to the question Marina has been asking for three years: what really happened the night her brother died? [2019 Watty Winner, Young Adult]

A combination of a novel, a memoir and a travelogue, both fiction and non-fiction, a globe-trotting adventure full of sentiment, music, low budgets, trains, encounters and lifestyle, the author confronts his memories - and the miracles - on the page, and embarks on a new trip to celebrate Christmas in Japan in 2014. This is a flawed attempt at aligning the past from two years ago and the present: the musician, the dreamer and the writer, the philosopher, together in one place. Follow his adventures in Japan, and within the soul. Based 100% on true experiences. Keep an eye out for attached photo and video content From the author of featured acclaimed novel, "Espresso Love" and the pioneer of the English cell phone novel movement.

[Literary, Short Story, Poems, Art, Philosophy] (In Editing) Strange conversations, ringing phones, umbrellas, talking birds, a girl with a top hat, grandfather clocks, transfigured stones, a missing archaeologist, bowls of rice, a man with twelve toes, and more. His published collection unveils dazzling surreal visions and explores philosophical themes of the human condition and spirituality, subjective perception and the nature of reality, the system and the cosmos through The book features the award-winning transcendental "The Elephant Girl", a heartbreaking "Sometimes I Think You Can't Hear Me", the magical fable "By The River" and political essay "It's Pouring, Bring Two Umbrellas". "[His pieces] have a timeless quality, little legends or fables that enlighten or explain a philosophy of life, a zen moment... [they] touch on an innate mystery of things that your stories allow one to see." - Patricia Keeney, Professor of Creative Writing at York University, Award-winning Poet, Critic, Author of One Man Dancing Order a signed author copy or pre-order online! http://inspirituspress.com/OFCD The published collection features short stories, poetry, philosophy, essay, aphorisms, artwork, photography, designs and more.

In Tokyo, where the System siphons thought, emotions & memories, a literature student meets a strange psychic girl and they embark on an escape from mindless agents, dream worlds and reality itself, in a soul-searching journey for love, for identity and what it means to be human. But all that remains is a peculiar coffee shop order. The novel examines the human condition, perception, socio-political systems, capitalism and consumer culture, incorporating paranoiac conspiracy theories, surreal cosmic visions, circular symbolism and shifting parallel worlds, with profound discussions of coffee, art, literature and music. [Dystopia, Magical Realism, Philosophy, Literary] #1 Sci-Fi, Spiritual; #Wattys2014 Award Winner; Featured on Wattpad, IndieReader, @DIGonUSA "Struck me to the very core of my being." "Very interesting concept of reality... Thought provoking.." "I have been turned to a whole new way of thinking because of you." "Like a seven course meal full of spice and illumination... One does not listen to a classical piece to get to its ending. No. It is the ride, the moment by moment...a genuine Masamune among stories." "It was both personable and philosophical. A rare breed of good story and thought provoking ideas... A virtual standing ovation would not be enough to encapsulate the absolute awe I have of you." "It's not a regular thing to find a piece of work that oozes sophistication and embodies literature and art." "The world Takatsu has created opens to the deeper awareness of another, the draw of another." - Mary L Tabor, Wattpad author, essayist, professor "Offers acute, almost painful observations of the minutiae of life, if life took place in a Murakami snow-globe." - IndieReader Insiders "Vapoury style that seems to hover off world at times...haunting and strange (which is good)...You're on to something different, striking." - B.W. Powe, York University English Professor, award-winning author, poet, philosopher http://EspressoLove.tk