Tacoma, North and South

With his only destination being the City of Destiny itself, the young Hag set out on a trip that would eventually take him up and down the Pacific Coast, a wild ride of synchronicity and cosmic wandering. The boy was armed with only a guitar, a backpack, a host of friends and a hunger for novelty to battle the forces of uncertainty that would take hold of him along the way. As the changes of the world were accelerating, the only thing he could do, he decided, was throw himself to the wind and see where it took him. "Resist nothing," was the mantra that was repeated, "but question everything."

In an unexpected turn of events, Taylor ended up at the Northernmost point of Tacoma by the early afternoon, the perfect time for a run through the woods. He was overcome with a new appreciation for the city in which he was born, over 23 years ago. The woods were heavy with life and water and memories, and the boy could not help but be fascinated by the fungus growing all around. Soon enough, the lad had stumbled upon an untouched patch of beautiful, vibrant chanterelle mushrooms, which he quickly bagged up with a grin.

After spending some time with his oldest friend, Kyle, the boy made his way down to Parkland, the dirty South, to visit friends from school. In his excitement, Taylor tried to climb a balcony in order to surprise his friends through the window. Suddenly, one of the boards in the railing fell through, and with a loud proclamation of profanity, the boy fell about eight feet down to the pavement below. After being treated hospitably to Salmon, salad, and beets, Taylor was able to reconnect with his friends Nathaniel and Tyler. With Nathaniel, the mushrooms were cooked up and they turned out to be delicious.

A poetry reading party was happening at "The Grange" that night, but when it died down, Nathaniel and Taylor headed to the abandoned golf course to run through the fields and talk. There were two strange events that followed: A very large airplane was making a lot of noise as it moved through McChord Air Force Base, and about eight gunshots were heard a few miles away.

The night ended with fifteen cars coming up to the house and a young man came up and talked to Taylor through the window. "Yo, we from UPS," he said, unconvincingly, "the college."

"And?" the boy asked.

"We got beer," the stranger said. "Beer pong." It was 2:00 am and Nathaniel and Taylor were not amused and slightly terrified.

"Go away," they said.