The First Featured Submission for PTP
The State of the Paper
January was long, full of turmoil and cold. The weather seems to have taken a page from the current state of affairs and gone quite bone chilling on us. In spite of both of these things, people and community remain an enduring force of warmth.
As far as my writing goes, January 2026 has been mild. I’ve held to my goal of writing every day. Sometimes it has just been a few lines, sometimes it has been a few pages. I have followed my heart’s lead which has landed me in different stages of seven different stories. One of these stories is turning out to be a possible novella, maybe even longer. We will see how it unfolds. The remaining smaller scale projects have given me the boosts of creativity I needed to keep writing.
To round off this issue we have our very first featured submission. A dear friend and follower of the paper, Nick, has graciously allowed the first part of his short story to appear here for you. I am very humbled to be able to present this work for your viewing pleasure (Red Devil Motel series is only available on Substack). If anyone would like to submit a piece please don’t hesitate to reach out.
-Niall
Beating a Dead Cyber Truck
It’s been over 2 years since Tesla released the Cybertruck. In that time it's been mocked, joked, and memed from recalls to “Cyberstucks”. Now I am not usually one to throw a rock at an already shattered bullet-proof windshield, but sometimes the joke just falls into your lap. I had just started my run before I had to stop again to take this amazing picture.
Cyber Truck with Cargo Carrier attached.
A Cybertruck with a cargo carrier. I have never seen a more “hat on a hat” situation than this. It’s as if someone had a hat that was $80,000 and it didn’t meet its functions as a hat so you get another hat to cover up that fact. You would tell that person to just get a new hat.
The cherry on the cake (or the hat on the hat on the hat) for me is that the cargo carrier clearly diminishes the ability to use the “truck” bed. I salute you Elon Musk; not in the Roman style, but in the hand to the head exasperated dad looking at his kid inventing pizza with a slice of gold plated white bread and a dollop of ketchup.
A Small Town Moment
Last night I dreamed about that moment in a small town you always seem to have. It’s while you are behind the wheel, a lull in the radio, and you have just passed the scattering of houses that marks the start of wherever you are traveling through. Connections of asphalt become white on green names, each standing properly straight. The houses become bunched, neighbors tighter on either side, built in the time when porch calls outnumbered motorists. And there, after you have come to feel that small town effect, you are hit with that moment.
You are crossing railroad tracks, not a train to be found amongst the lattice work and hand painted mailboxes.
Then it’s gone and you are leaving it behind you. Leaving that small town moment for another couple miles or another day. Never knowing when that moment in a small town will have its last night.
Ruth’s Book Corner
Want to relive the early 2000’s music scene and millennial angst? I have the book for you.
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickly blends the literary staccato writing that Normal People perfected with pretentious music opinions that seem to be deeply held by the author herself. While Sally Rooney is able to use the space she creates to elucidate her characters, Brickly’s characters feel more obscure with her attempt in leaving it for us to interpret. Brickly’s narrative voice recedes at points. Going from the main character relaying the situation to the reader, to then the events unfolding without the feel of a post analyzed narration. I think that this was a later edit to give the book more drive and to keep reading engagement high. It is just a bit jarring to have the future MC pop back in for a line or two after not being present for forty odd pages.
In spite of my critical analysis this book was a captivating read. There was just a certain kind of draw to the main character that kept me reading intensely until the end. The book also had some strong scenes in which it was easy to visualize and worked well in the flow of the story. The book never truly drags at any point, it moves with a consistent pace and clear vision of what it is doing.
For those who get those nostalgia nodes peaked when early 2000s culture is mentioned, you will love this book. It isn’t slamming you in the face with it, but it is very much steeped in the time period. You can feel Brickly’s experience color the way the story is built, which for the most part is in a positive fashion. This mouse, despite not seeing a wink of the 2000s, gives this a thumbs up for music lovers and those who yearn for low rise jeans and crop tops.
-Ruth
Red Devil Motel
The Red Devil Motel Series has been omitted here. You can read all of them over on the Substack.