Drift World

# Drift World > PROPOSED WORLD DOSSIER · GENRE ANTHOLOGY > Hot-pink material is a new scenario for author review, not an established transmission. The closing aftermath is a proposed narrative coda, not information Ned receives after leaving. ## I. World Summary Empty stone terraces rise with sunlight and drift apart. A ferryman crosses the gaps on a cable platform. His town is deserted; his only passenger is a covered shape he takes home every evening and brings back each morning. Neither leaves footprints. ### Geographic Coordinates Not assigned. The encounter location is described in the summary; no latitude or longitude is established. ### Temporal Coordinates Not assigned. World numbering is a catalogue order, not a confirmed itinerary. ## II. World Divergence Liftstone explains the moving terrain, not the haunting. The ferryman died trying to return his wife’s body before their terraces separated. His crossing repeats because he will not put the burden down long enough to finish it. This is one haunting, not an explanation of the vanished population. ## III. Event ### Interdimensional Transit — Arrival Ned wakes on the moving platform and offers to hold the covered passenger while the ferryman winds the cable. The man recoils as if Ned has asked for something intimate. ### Event The Passenger Who Stayed Ned discovers that the platform always returns just short of the landing. The ferryman will wind only one-handed; the other arm supports the body. Ned stops offering solutions and says he will stay beside her if the man needs both hands. The ferryman lowers the bundle into Ned’s arms. It weighs almost nothing. He turns the wheel with both hands and the platform reaches the doorstep. For a moment two figures stand inside the house. Ned is left outside with an empty cloth. ### Interdimensional Transit — Departure Ned falls asleep against the wheel. In the proposed coda the terraces separate and the platform remains at the house, no longer making its empty circuit. The world has not acquired a population or an answer; one repeated act is finished. ## IV. Story ### External Story Not yet drafted. ### Internal Story Not yet drafted. ### Interpersonal Story Not yet drafted. ## V. Photographs ### Photograph | Precursor Not yet received or recorded. ### Photograph | Afterimage Not yet received or recorded. ## VI. Logs ### Observation Log | Transmissions No published transmission is assigned to this proposed encounter. ### Observation Log | Supplemental No separate private entry has been drafted for this version. The proposed consequences appear in III. Event. ## VII. Linked Records ### Connected Worlds - [[Earth Prime]] — reference reality; no direct transit route is established.