The sun rose lazily over the horizon, smearing golden light across the sleepy village. Birds chirped like overenthusiastic backup dancers, and a soft wind rustled through the trees like a whispered rumor. Keal stretched in bed dramatically, as if auditioning for a royal performance.
"Ahhh! Another day for love and adventure!" he declared to the ceiling.
Nylessa, sipping her tea in the kitchen, called out, "Did the ceiling confess its love back this time?"
Keal emerged from his room like a prince from legend—if that prince had bed hair and one sock missing. "Not yet, but I'm wearing it down. Persistence is key, my beautiful gothic mother."
Nylessa choked on her tea. "Beautiful—what now?"
"Oops. Did I say that out loud?" Keal grinned with mock innocence.
She raised an eyebrow, smirking. "You better hope that charm works on monsters too, since you're running low on common sense."
Keal winked. "If I meet a monster, I'll just compliment it until it questions its life choices."
Nylessa laughed, shaking her head. "You're ridiculous."
After breakfast—toast slightly burnt and Keal swearing it added flavor—they sat outside. The breeze was warm, and Nylessa's long dark hair danced like threads of midnight in the sunlight.
"So," she said. "You seemed depressed recently. But today you're back to being weird. What miracle cured you?"
Keal shrugged. "I forgave them."
She blinked. "Just like that?"
"Yeah. If I didn't, I'd just burn inside with hate. And I don't want to be crispy on the inside."
Nylessa raised her cup in salute. "To non-crispy insides."
"Exactly! I am Keal. I choose love, weirdness, and breakfast."
Later that day, Keal decided to go for a walk—mostly to practice dramatic hair flips in the wind.
"The world isn't ready for this level of main-character energy," he whispered to no one.
He wandered down a dirt path, kicking pebbles and flirting with passing flowers. "Hello, Miss Daisy. You're blooming beautifully today."
A squirrel dropped a nut on his head. He took that as a sign of cosmic agreement.
As he turned toward a clearing near the forest, Keal stepped on something soft and furry.
"YEEP!"
A dog yelped in protest and darted off, leaving Keal sprawled in the dirt.
"I didn't see your tail, sir! Please forgive me!" he called after the dog. "We can still be friends!"
Embarrassed and covered in leaves, Keal got up and dusted himself off. He glanced toward the forest.
"Maybe I'll just take a quick peek. I won't fall into a magical dimension or anything, right?"
He strolled toward the treeline. Birds chirped. The wind whistled. The trees whispered.
Then he stopped. Just as he turned around to head home, he heard it.
A scream.
High-pitched. Female. Terrified.
Keal froze. His heart skipped.
"That wasn't the wind," he whispered.
For a moment, everything was still.
Then he ran.
Toward the sound.
Toward trouble.
And possibly… a new chapter of madness.
—End of Chapter 17—