Nothing was moving. Except the mosquitoes, the static, and possibly something from another dimension. By the time we noticed the loop, it had already started opening.

Spiral Sam and I stepped back. What came through felt intelligent, precise, and strangely aware of the patterns shaping our lives.

The decision was already made. Then came the hiss.

We said we’re selling our house. Then we started pulling at the threads of what our life could become.

Heather gets one question and takes the longest possible way around it. I lose it laughing, but stay with her. She eventually lands, and somehow the scenic route explains the whole thing.

We left home looking for the kind of peace we thought distance might give us.

What we found was less simple. The farther we went, the more the question changed.

In the pool, the conversation starts to flow from gossiping about family into the patterns underneath it.

The air was quiet. The country was loading.