...Chaos...

Pugod woke to the sound of a seagull and recognized the scent of an old country house. Outside, it was 2008, and he was seven again. But in his mind, 22 years had passed, and in his memory, fifteen years of guilt. Every night, his best friend, Chaos, disappeared into the summer darkness, returning home only in police reports. Pugod was stuck in a loop, his only goal being to stop a kidnapping. That fateful night, he didn't sleep. Clutching the baseball bat he'd borrowed from his older brother to his chest, he stalked Chaos, who had come out to "look at the bats." A shadow indeed appeared from behind the lilac bushes, not winged, but human. His heart was pounding, but his legs held firm. When the stranger grabbed Chaos's hand, Pugod was already standing nearby.