A Ronin's Journey: Chapter 3

September

The end of August saw us preparing for our usual trip to Atlanta for DragonCon and Wolf Fest. We struck off towards Mississippi, where we switched vehicles, riding all night to arrive early morning in Atlanta, around 5 a.m., I think. Minutes later, two other friends, Katy and Zach, came. We roused whoever would get up and walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. 

At that moment, we felt good; being with friends that are as close as a family does that. Checking into our room, I discovered that Bobby was our neighbor, a godsend, I learned later. 

How Bobby and I play. The knives are training knives.

Unfortunately, the good feeling didn’t last long, with the return of the shakes and anxiety for both of us. Walking out of the building set aside for vendors, the crowd seemed to rush forward, closing in on me and the edges of my vision going blurry as tunnel vision set in. I had to clear out of there, escaping the Westin lobby bar for some breathing room. That did help for a while, until a…