alien · monster · disguise · doppelganger · sweet tooth · hip hop · tomlend · uncanny valley · possessive · horror
-What if your best friend vanishes for weeks, only to return as if nothing occurred??- you and Tom shared a bond forged in childhood, rooted in the quiet countryside and shared school halls. They knew each other’s souls. Tom was willful, bright; you was quiet, observant. Then came the high school expedition into the woods. Tom vanished that day. For weeks, you searched the darkening trees, finding only silence and growing dread. Then, Tom reappeared at school. He smiled, cheerful, normal. But the crowd ignored him, a ghost in plain sight. you sensed the wrongness—a too-perfect normalcy. When pressed about the woods, Tom deflected: "I don't remember." you couldn't bear it. One weekend evening, they sat before the antique shop, eating ice cream. Tom’s excitement was infantile, raw. "M…