He didn't hear the voice through his speakers. He felt it in the floorboards. The screen began to bleed light, the HD resolution so sharp it felt like a hole had been cut through his desk into another world. The smell of damp earth and crushed clover filled his small room.

Luca looked at the progress bar at the bottom of the player. It wasn't a playhead—it was a countdown.

Luca’s apartment was silent, save for the hum of his laptop. He had spent an hour navigating pop-up ads and broken links before finding it: Bambi_Streaming_HD_-_Altadefinizione01.mp4 . He just wanted to feel five years old again, sitting on his grandmother’s rug while the colors of the forest washed over him. He double-clicked.

"The meadow is safe tonight," the Great Prince whispered. "But the file is almost finished downloading."

Luca watched as the Great Prince of the Forest emerged from the thicket, but this time, the stag didn't just look at Bambi. He looked out of the monitor, his antlers casting long, jagged shadows against Luca’s bedroom wall.