ALSO-RAN

What if second best was the only way to find yourself? Also-Ran is a raw, voice-driven gut punch about surviving in second place. Sully’s tortured and half-drowning in family wreckage—Dad’s a mess, Mom keeps vanishing into psych wards, and the neighborhood feels like it’s waiting to give him a beat down. Meanwhile his best friend Ash is breaking track records in the high-altitude of Albuquerque, and four-foot tall Sloan is the only girl who sees through Sully’s crap—but she’s running out of patience. He scrapes for scraps of self-worth in a world that’s already stamped him as runner-up. But he keeps showing up anyway, bleeding sarcasm, heart split wide and leaking. Because sometimes the best you get is surviving the race.

©2025 Timothy M Tays (P)2026 Timothy M Tays