Sarah Goodnight, a 27-year-old expert on ancient languages, is underemployed and longing for a university professorship where she can make a meaningful contribution and get a regular paycheck. Her major social activity outside her tiny Chicago apartment is running 5ks and 10ks every couple of weeks. She earns her living translating ancient Sumerian and Akkadian tablets long-distance for the British Museum and admits that she has ignored her appearance and wardrobe while she commutes in ripped jeans and a faded sweatshirt from her bedroom to her home-office every day. In a rare outing she is surprised by a handsome man who claims to have a box of ancient tablets. The strange language on the tablets is new to Sarah and might have the potential to rewrite world history. But there are dangers and international complications. Not to mention professional jealousy. Can she find fame and love amid the mysterious unknown language contained in the clay tablets?

James J. Brodell is the editor of an anthology of paranormal Halloween tales written by readers of A.M. Costa Rica and published with their permission and also the permission of the newspaper firm.