Chapter 119: Neil San Francisco — 1986 New Year’s Ending

The fireworks are mostly finished. The sky is grey with smoke. In the distance, occasional bursts flashes still briefly light the haze, sporadic crashes explode and fade like an erratic tide. Neil stares at the abandoned house.

Huck swoops onto his shoulder, feathers brushing his ears like whispers.

“Huck,” Neil says, “Don’t ever go away. Don’t ever leave me. Don’t ever die.” Huck nibbles Neil’s ear and makes gentle cooing noises.

As they wander homeward, Neil wonders if his world has always been so strange. He wonders if gods can live on earth. He has always believed that he could control his fate, but now it seems that despite his best intentions, there will never be a happily ever after. The prince is mortal, doomed to die; the princess is a monster and the kingdom is slowly collapsing to entropy.