Eran's Delusion: He came back 🔰⚔️🧣 🕊️And just like that, Everything Changed. At that Terrible Moment in my Heart I knew.

He was dead!!. .

. .

Perhaps if I hadn't pushed him so hard. Or so soon.

Maybe if I hadn't let my own guilt and fear hold me back before I plunged into the ravine after him, then maybe I could have saved him. It took a full ten seconds of hearing his agonized cries before I could force myself to look down at what used to be my son.

He had landed directly on his head, but the helmet did nothing to prevent his neck from twisting halfway around his body under the force of the impact. He had been jolted so hard that part of his spine ruptured straight through his skin, glinting with a bloody shine.

--Shall we head home, Father?‖These words should have evoked tears, yet instead, I was seized by sheer dread. The speaker wasn't my son – I wasn't even certain if my child retained the ability to speak.

I pivoted cautiously, ensuring I maintained my footing on the stony terrain to avoid tumbling helplessly down the cliff. --I'm fine, Dad.

Let's depart. ‖Eran – or someone indistinguishable from my son, right down to his freckles and the stain on his clothing – stood atop the hill, while below, I still beheld the mangled figure of the same boy.

. .