The Only Ones

by Aaron Starmer

"Call it coincidence, call it fate. This is the place you come. There's no one else. This is the entire world."

These words welcome Martin Maple to the village of Xibalba. Like the other children who've journeyed there, he faces an awful truth.

He was forgotten.

When families and friends all disappeared one afternoon, these were the only ones left behind.

There's Darla, who drives a monster truck, Felix, who uses string and wood to rebuild the Internet, Lane, who crafts elaborate contraptions, and nearly 40 others, each equally brilliant and peculiar.

Inspired by the prophesies of a mysterious boy who talks to animals, Martin believes he can reunite them with their loved ones. But believing and knowing are two different things, as he soon discovers with the push of a button, flip of a switch, turn of a dial. . . .