xonophone



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    Jonathon Sims very much does not want to be working at the Magnus Academy as the new English teacher - but maybe Martin Blackwood, the schools Guidance counsellor, might be a silver lining to the whole thing ...

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    16 Jul 2026

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    The Eridian thrills a high sound that doesn’t get picked up by the translator which means that it has no clear meaning. Like when a human gasps or sucks in a deep breath. It actually sounds a little like that. When they notice that I’m staring straight at them they scramble back into their hiding spot and hold very still. 

    A child, I realize with a start.

    That’s a child! 

    “Hey,” I call and the kid squeaks again. I was about to get to my feet but abort the movement and crawl closer on my hands and knees until I'm inches away from the xenonite wall. I wait and it takes me much too long to realize that they don’t have to peek around the corner to see if I’m still there.

    “Hey there,” I try again, my voice low and calm. It’s my teacher voice, the one I use for shy and scared students. 

    Used. 

    The fact that I haven’t had to use it for years and it still comes to me automatically almost knocks the air out of my lungs but this is not about me, it’s about making sure the little pebble doesn’t die of fright from the scary alien. “Hi, I’m Grace. It’s alright, you don’t have to be scared.”

    ***
    How Grace finally gets back into a classroom, where he belongs

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    11 May 2026

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    Jon finds Gertrude's statement under the floorboards of his office. Elias tries to intervene, too late; Jon's not going to let it go.

    Elias doesn't mind eliminating people who get in his way.

    He's less clear on how to proceed when they show up to work the following morning.

    (If there's one thing Jon excels at, after all, it's refusing to let go.)

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    10 May 2026

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    Jon trades usefulness for statements.

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    26 Apr 2026

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    Jon hadn’t anticipated just how quiet it would be at Daisy’s cottage. He definitely hadn’t anticipated how that quiet settles something inside of him, like balm on an injury he didn’t know he had. He’d thought the lack of human presence would make him more aware of the loss still sitting in the pit of his stomach, heavy and solid, but it’s … it’s nice to have the space to process things. To know that he’s currently alone by choice, not by happenstance, and that he has the freedom to just be. Jon lets the solitude envelop him like a weighted blanket, warm and comfortable and safe.

    It’s a few days later when he first meets the man who pets the cows.

    .

    Following the loss of his grandmother, Jon takes a sabbatical and moves up to northern Scotland to stay in Daisy's cabin and study the religious culture of the village near it. There, he meets Martin, his apparent and unwanted neighbor who makes odd jokes and seems to exist solely to ruin Jon's attempts at finally getting some peace and quiet. But as Jon spends more time with Martin, he begins to warm up to him and, as time goes on, to fall in love with him.

    It just takes him a bit to realize that the man he's fallen in love with is a god.

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    26 Apr 2026

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