"Timelines Torn: The Boy from the Storm"

Everyone in Lanton City remembered the storm, but only Eli remembered the boy who arrived with it. The rain had been falling sideways, lightning stitching the sky together, when the air behind the old clock tower folded. Not exploded. Not cracked. Folded—like a page bent too far. Out of that fold stepped a boy about Eli’s age, soaked but smiling, wearing clothes that looked almost normal except the fabric shimmered faintly, like oil on water. “Hey,” the boy said. “What year is this?” Eli sta