All Roads Lead To Home

I don't know how to respond to this. It feels so strange, sleeping in my old bed... Though it was only three months ago that it was still mine, it feels so... alien, now that all this has happened.

I suppose I should explain. I was walking around aimlessly for miles on end, as one tends to do, when I came across a town that looked surprisingly familiar. Then I saw one of those "Welcome To ________" signs, and I realized: This was my town. The one I grew up in. The one where all this started.

I didn't realize that walking around aimlessly for miles on end would bring me back to where I started. I suppose, since I didn't have a destination, I just subconsciously started going back home.

To be honest, I have been getting homesick. Who wouldn't be? When your life is twisted and turned upside down, it's only natural to wish for some sense of normalcy back.

Well, looks like my wish came true.

As soon as I realized this was my hometown, I immediately ran home. My mother was there to greet me. As soon as I opened the door, she was there, wrapping me in a big hug. It was so unexpected, I didn't think what to do.

She mentioned how much she'd missed me, how worried she and Tom had been. I told her I'd missed them too. And I'm not gonna deny it, I cried. We stood there, crying into each others' shoulders, until Tom came home. He exclaimed how glad he was to see me, how the police had long given up on searching for me. I told them I was sorry. For everything.

They didn't ask why I'd left. Said they were just glad I came back. Then, Mom made dinner. It was delicious. But after a while, I began to get suspicious. I mean, wouldn't you be? I feel really guilty of suspecting my family like that, but... I can't have just imagined the last few months, could I?

And yet, all of my mom's fingers were fully intact, and neither she nor Tom have anything indicating they were shot at by the Manufactured Newborn. They looked exactly the same as they had, back before this all started.

I... I still can't believe it was all in my head. Surely, there has to be something more. I kept expecting to see the Eye sticking out of the wall, or the killer ducks staring through my window. But nothing was there.

Eye, are you there? Can you... read this? Or, whatever it is you do? Was it really all in my head? What have I really been doing, these last few months?

Well, it's getting pretty late. I'm pretty much falling asleep while I'm typing this. So, until next time,

--Branden