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Below is an excerpt from the short story The League of Extraordinary Kyles. The story follows a group of multiversal duplicates of Kyle hosting a self-help group for other wayward Kyles. It’s dark, funny, and explores what it means to find yourself lost in a sea of sameness. How do you stand apart when everyone you know… is you?

“Can we get back on subject, please?” K-963 sipped from a canteen tucked inside his hazmat suit. “I’m sick of these meetings without end.”

“Screw you, bagboy.” K-29 spat, folding one leg over the other. “We’re Kyles. We argue, get over it.”

“Stuff it, both of you.” K-22 matched K-29’s tone. “Nothing’s changed since we got here. Till today.”

“Not again…” K-203 muttered, propping himself up on the podium. “Everybody, just calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down.” K-29 shouted while rising from his chair. “Who put you in charge anyway?”

The room burst into a chaotic symphony of shouts, snide comments, and jabs about one’s mother before a loud knock came at the door. So loud that it stopped them all dead in their tracks.

A delivery driver toting a massive box rolled past the group, dropping it in the center of the room. Walking up to K-203, the driver tapped a pen against a clipboard in his hand. “Dead-Ex delivery for… Kyle?”

Exchanging nervous glances, K-22 and K-29 examined the box while K-203 read the document the driver provided. “We never order anything.”

“Look, are you Kyle or not?”

“Yes.” The room unanimously answered.

“Great. Then sign here. I don’t have all day.” The Dead-Ex delivery driver curtly replied.

“Sure, whatever, I guess.” K-203 said, signing the receipt.

Tearing off his copy, the Dead-Ex driver slapped the paper in K-203’s hand and walked off. “Thanks, bub.” “What the f…” K-998 locked eyes with the delivery driver, noticing it’s a much older Kyle in disguise, silently shushing him with a finger to his lips and a wink. His nametag read, Hello, my name is Jerry.

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© 2025 Benjamin Clay. All rights reserved. This story is for personal reading only and may not be reproduced, distributed, or used commercially without permission.