229-31 Min — Home2reality---11-03-2021--235246 -

At minute 15, he stopped. A deer stood twenty yards away, head raised, ears rotating like radar dishes. It stared at him.

229 days. 31 minutes.

He turned away from the window. Walked back down the porch steps. But he didn't follow the blue-lit path to the pod. Home2reality---11-03-2021--235246 - 229-31 Min

"Re-acclimation complete," said the Guide. "Please return to the pod for decompression and reintegration briefing."

Leo didn't move. He just stood there, barefoot on the cold steel grating, and closed his eyes. At minute 15, he stopped

He walked toward the highway. Toward the distant sound of cars. Toward a world that didn't care if he was ready for it.

He stood there for a full minute. Then two. 229 days

In the Home2Reality, animals were decorative. They never stared. They never judged. They certainly never had those dark, wet eyes that seemed to say: You don't belong here, do you?

Leo walked up the porch steps anyway. The wood groaned—real wood, real weight. He pressed his palm against the window glass. Warm inside. A coffee mug on the table. A child's drawing taped to the fridge.