Perception’s Edge

Jake Riley, an only child with childhood-onset schizophrenia, was diagnosed at the age of 15 after dropping from the surface of the earth for two days, only to be found hiding under an old fallen tree covered in dirt. The cause of his disappearance was never indeed discovered, as he claimed he could not remember, and the blank, dead expression on his face coming home that day prompted his parents not to ask further questions. Soon enough, they packed up and left their hometown to start anew, for the story of the Lost Jake could not fade away from the sight of fellow citizens of Texas, Alabama.

Seven years later, still living under his parent's care on the outskirts of Dulac, Louisiana, Mississippi, John was now an active schizophrenic individual who, after going through two psychiatric episodes of hallucination and paranoia, was later seen fitting again to leave society on his new medication, with the condition that he takes his antipsychotics daily and is kept away from loud crowds or any startup triggers; otherwise, he risks being admitted indefinitely.

Another two years went by, and he seemed a lot better, even befriending the clerk at the gas station nearby, learning how to cook and clean by himself, with just a not-so-slight case of worsened cognitive function, memory loss caused by what he thinks is the side effect of his antipsychotics, but his family convinced him that it was a fair cause that sticky notes and a diary could resolve, and although, when on his medications, he acted as sane as everyone else, a spectatorial timer began, degrading his state with the passing minutes, but that had not happened in two years, because in two years he has yet to ever missed a pile. And on that, the Riley family grew confident in their strategy that in a critical state, they left him for the weekend to attend the funeral of a close relative, leaving him alone for the first time in 9 years, as they feared bringing him along could trigger yet another episode. They thought it was only for the weekend, and they did prepare for it. There was nothing to fear, right?