The Cactus and the Corpse (in-universe)

You may be looking for the story in the real world.

The Cactus and the Corpse was a short story printed in the 21st century paperback Horrors of Arcbeatle. Maritsa found the anthology in the Plume Coteries' Library while trying to find a horror book to keep herself awake through the night, as it was her turn to keep watch; flicking it open at random, she realised that The Cactus and the Corpse was actually about her; remembering her Bookkeeper training about what to do in such situations, she resolutely ignored the story and skipped to the next one in the book, The Thing in the Woods, deciding that she "probably wasn't missing much". (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse ^[+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"])

It was written by A. Twain, published by Arcbeatle Press, and published in 2023. Olivia Kagg Waldermein cited it several times in her essay Love & War: A Meta-Historical Investigation of the Dawn of the Cosmic Revolution, on the matters of Mappers, the Space Lords of Fractallax, and "the Duskerides' little success story". (PROSE: Love & War ^[+]Loading...["Love & War (short story)"])