Welcome to the Toll Booth Universe

The Toll Booth Universe: Where Every Journey Has a Price

By Stephen A. Codekas

Some roads lead you home. Others lead you somewhere you never expected to go. And then there are the roads that lead to the Toll Booth.

At first glance, it’s nothing remarkable — a squat concrete structure squatting at the edge of nowhere, its single window clouded with dust and time. But step closer, and you’ll find it is no ordinary booth.

Inside sits the DNA Diviner, a strange, humming device that can send travelers anywhere in time and space — to moments long past, to futures not yet written, to places they’ve only imagined. All it takes is a single drop of blood.

But nothing comes free.

The Diviner’s price is always personal. It might take a cherished memory, a beloved sensation, a defining emotion — something irreplaceable. The payment could be the memory of your mother’s face, your first experience of snow, the sound of your own laughter. And once paid, it’s gone forever.

This is the heart of the Toll Booth Universe — a collection of interconnected short stories exploring the lives of both the travelers who arrive seeking something and the keepers who operate these strange outposts. Each tale stands on its own, but together they form a mosaic of longing, regret, and the strange bargains people will make when given the chance to change their story.

Key Stories So Far

• The Toll Booth to Everywhere
  The original story, following a weary Booth Keeper who has been at his post so long he’s forgotten how he got there. Travelers arrive sporadically, each paying their toll for a destination in time. When an old friend appears, the Keeper’s sense of detachment begins to fracture — leading him to turn the Diviner on himself.

• Yvette’s Tale
  A grieving widow meets a strange man who directs her west to the desert. At the Booth, she’s offered the chance to relive the day her fiancé proposed — at the cost of every memory of his voice. She agrees, believing she can simply make new ones… only to discover too late that even new memories are taken from her.

Themes and Tone

The Toll Booth Universe blends the eerie timelessness of speculative fiction with the raw emotional core of human drama. Every story asks a question: What would you give to reclaim the moment you lost? And just as importantly: What if getting it back costs more than you imagined?

It’s a world of mystery — where the Booths might be scattered across deserts, forests, and cities, each with their own Keepers and their own rules.
It’s a world of loss — where the currency is not money, but the pieces of ourselves we can never replace.
And it’s a world of choice — because no matter how strange the toll, the traveler must always decide if it’s worth paying.

What’s Next

Future stories will explore other Booths, other travelers, and the shadowy “management” that keeps this system running. Some characters will cross paths, while others will remain trapped in their own loops. The more we learn, the more we’ll wonder: is the Booth a blessing, a curse, or something far stranger?

If you’ve ever wished you could go back — or forward — in time, The Toll Booth Universe will make you stop and ask: At what cost?