No, the steam-powered jackalopes would never arrive in time to save us — unless our one great hope could succeed. The hope’s name, of course, was Begonia Escargot.
[Image by A.A. Salmon, shared by The State Library of Queensland, Australia]

“Too bad,” Rutherford said, as if on cue. “Too bad about that hole in your hand.”
[Image shared by The Library of Congress]

Bolted to the headstart, we were going to the galactic center of a Tootsie Roll Pop and licking every center from the inside out and there was nothing the scientists could do to stop us.
[Image by Jack Delano, shared by The Library of Congress]

He probably should have retraced his steps and tried another destination when it was clear that the elevator had dropped him off in 1927 instead of 1972.
[Image by Wreford Miller]

“Old ghosts aren’t always old souls. If one must play with them, play nice.”
[Image by Christina Ramey]

Sure, the off-white sheets had been changed recently, but the nauseating aroma of old leftovers wafted from the mini-fridge like a fog of decay. An antediluvian slab of fungus-encrusted pot roast peered over the lip of a lidless Tupperware bowl, and a thick carpet of mold clung to every surface inside of the unplugged refrigerator. […]

The alehouse’s brash din was a welcome respite from the grave silence of the mountain crypt and its endless, solemn halls that Fulholme and company had traversed for the past fortnight. Though somewhat deafening, the overwhelming cacophony was an affirmation of life that the members of the haggard party had found themselves craving throughout the […]

The mechanized dipshits on floor nine had no idea where to begin. Boxes, many burst like office supply piñatas, lay in toppled stacks across the tread-creased, threadbare carpeting. Mold-scented ceiling tiles dotted the floor; above them were the empty spaces they’d left behind like incomplete visions of the abyss rumored to lurk, masquerading as floor […]