Wildfire

He had endured the dull monotony and occasional threats of school gangs, the crushing poverty and limited opportunities of Appalachia, and the grueling long nights and relentless exams of college. And for what? He had carved out a life for himself-a successful one, no less-but now it was all gone, replaced by the twisted reality of a TV show he'd once watched obsessively, devouring every episode as if it held some profound truth. At first, he hadn't even noticed the change. Life at Ty's Outfitters in Crowville, Georgia, had carried on as usual-busy, predictable, and steeped in the familiar rhythms of a small Southern town. Or so he thought. That illusion shattered the moment he turned on the news. The broadcast was eerily familiar, each scene a mirror of the events from that very show-a show that should have been fiction, not reality.