Easy, Buddy.

Cold water swallowed the world whole.

Then—

darkness.

When Jon opened his eyes again, sunlight burned across the edges of his vision while a stranger’s silhouette leaned over him.

“Easy, buddy.”

The voice felt calm.

Grounded.

Real.

Which somehow made everything else feel even stranger.

Jon pushed himself upright slowly, coughing pond water from his lungs while his thoughts struggled to reconnect.

Trees.

Birdsong.

Golden Gate Park.

Reality had returned.

Or at least something close to it.

The dreadlocked man beside him explained everything simply.

Jon had fallen into the pond after collapsing near the path.

He’d dragged him out before he drowned.

No panic.

No drama.

Just kindness offered without expectation.

That unsettled Jon almost as much as the visions did.

Because lately the world had begun to feel fractured.

Artificial.

Unstable.

But the stranger beside him—

felt completely certain.

Completely at peace.

As though he understood something Jon didn’t.

And when the man smiled—

it carried the strange warmth of someone who already knew exactly where this encounter was leading.

Continue the journey:

👉 Follow Jon as he meets the mysterious wanderer known as Al
👉 Enter The Unbound Realm