“You know…” he trailed off. “It’s honestly not that great of a story all things considered.” He let a small chuckle escape his lips as he pulled her a little closer. The story felt so far away, he’d done so much, experienced two whole worlds he’d never could have imagined. The beautiful fantasy that was Althanas and her magic, and the wonderful world of Texas with Ray where he’d gotten married and started a life instead of just waiting for the days to pass him by.

It felt like a prologue to a really great book, and yet somehow it seemed fitting to be standing on the shore of this pond once again.

“It all started the night I turned twenty one.” He urged her along to follow him, walking as they spoke. “I’d just ordered a pizza and finished a good ole Netflix binge when a package from my father arrived. It held a series of books that contained rules from some sort of tabletop game called Althanas, and as I was reading into it I suddenly fell backwards, plummeting through the sky and plopped headfirst into this pond!” He gave a rather dramatic flourish with his free hand as he spoke. “So I crawled like a drowned rat onto that dock over there although…” he paused. “It wasn’t so fucked up the first time around. I wonder what happened? A fire maybe? I’m getting distracted. I crawled out of the water and sat there shivering for a bit trying to figure myself out for a bit. After a while I ended up picking a direction to walk, looking to find someone who might be able to help me out…”

With a grin and a twinkle in his eyes, Vince closed his own and spun slightly, wife still in hand as he picked once again, a random direction. “That way!” he exclaimed with all the confidence and energy he could muster even though it was very clearly almost bedtime. “If I recall correctly, I found a village off in that direction!”