End of the Line

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new thriller story, "End of the Line." Set on Chicago's Blue Line during the late-night shift, this story follows Lily, a train conductor whose routine crossword puzzle is interrupted by a mysterious voice on an old radio frequency claiming there's a killer on board. Blending real-time suspense with transit procedural detail and character depth, the story explores quick decision-making under pressure, the courage to break protocol when lives are at stake, and what happens when an ordinary person must choose between following the rules and following their instincts to save passengers from a deadly threat. You can find the written version of "End of the Line" right here. About the Author Jon Negroni is a Puerto Rican author based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His published books include The Pixar Theory (Slimbooks, 2015), a pop culture nonfiction, and his debut novel Killerjoy (5050 Press, 2017). His recent short fiction includes "Men Who Are Strong" (IHRAM Press) and "Upon a Dream," an original fable published in The Fairy Tale Magazine. His upcoming anthology appearances include a cryptid horror tale, a speculative fiction piece for Neon Hemlock, and a superhero story for Oddity Prodigies. He's also the co-founder of the entertainment website, InBetweenDrafts. Listen toward the end of the show for Jon’s full author’s notes on the making of this story. Read "End of the Line" with original artwork. Explore our full archive of stories and poetry. Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera. About Cetera Magazine We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons. Credits Host & Author: Jon Negroni Editor: Natalia Emmons Artwork: Jon Negroni Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Share This EpisodeIf you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.