Panda Bear Watermelon

Cairo Jenson has always been surrounded by death. From the childhood tragedy that claimed his mother to the "pointless" foreign wars that claimed his comrades and his own left arm, he is a man haunted by a lifetime of grief and a bone-deep sense of guiltHonorably discharged and fitted with a mechanical prosthesis, Cairo's final military duty is simple... deliver the dog tags of his fallen brothers-in-arms to the capital.But when a freak rail accident strands him in Sullendale (the rural hometown he fought so hard to leave behind) the simple task turns into a gauntlet of hostility.The locals haven't forgotten him, and they certainly haven't forgiven him. Amidst the glares of resentful neighbours and the physical threats of a town that seems to want him dead, Cairo encounters a mysterious, ethereal young woman named Rei. Clad in white and clutching a plush panda with a tinkling bell, Rei is as eccentric as she is protective, possessing a strange, calming influence over the literal and metaphorical beasts that roam the town.As the atmosphere in Sullendale grows increasingly claustrophobic and the line between reality and nightmare begins to blur, Cairo realizes that his homecoming was no accident. Trapped in a place where the past refuses to stay buried, Cairo must rely on his strange new companion to uncover the truth behind the "curse" that follows him...before the town that raised him becomes his final resting place.