The scented treasure of the park tempered his confusion as he followed the path. Sammy used to know every species of tree. Now they were just comforting presences. Sammy used to know his way back home. Now there was just the terror of loss…

And the invitation of the pond.

Irish writer Perry McDaid lives in Derry close to the Donegal hills. His diverse writing disciplines and genres appear in international multimedia, recently with entropy2, Amsterdam Quarterly, Plotters Ink, Alfie Dog, and 50-Word Stories among others. He has one imaginary cat, Stinky, who is mostly nailed to a board above an allegorical scat-ruined flower bed.