Lost in the World

chapter one

Wit

Everything was white. I could feel my body move but I couldn’t see anything.

Wait...did I just get pranked?

Moby. Not cool dude.

It took me a minute to calm my nerves and try to figure out where I was. For one, it wasn’t all white like I’d thought, it was mist. I could feel the moisture on my skin and the humidity was making me sweat more than I already was. I knew I was still on a hill though because I was tilted forward.

Whelp, time to poke around. Can't stand here all here day, now can I.

I toed my way down the hill; it was a gradual slope so it wasn’t that hard, and in a few minutes I’d already made it to the bottom. On the way down, the fog got thinner and, by the time I was back on flat ground, the white cloud of fog was gone.

But so was the city.

What had just been an urban civilization had become a dense forest with trees I’d never even seen before. They had a mix of blue, green, and yellow leaves. The trunks varied in size, from being four times as thick as any tree trunk I’d ever seen to thin enough to wrap my whole hand around.

Walking beneath one of the blue-leaved trees, I stepped on a fallen leaf. Picking it up, I noticed it was different from anything I'd ever seen before. Where the leaf lining should have just been a slightly darker blue, it was glowing, not brightly but enough to notice. And looking around, all the leaves shared that trait. Now that I was closer, I noticed that when the wind blew through the bundle of leaves gathered on each branch some of the glow from each leaf was carried away. Like dandelions blown for a wish, the glow spread through the air and disappeared.

It was beautiful. Like a heart pumping blood to a bleeding finger, the tree would send more color to the leaves and that new vibrance would shine for a moment before fading in the wind like it's predecessor. Transfixed, I admired the cycle for minutes on end. What is that? Where does th color go? How is this possible? Racking my brain with the possibilities, I didn't hear the shifts along the grass till it was almost five feet away.

Rustle~

Jumping at the noise, I turned to see...a snake? The thing had brown scales which helped it blend in with the dirt, but what was odd about it was its shape. It laid on the ground and slithered like a snake should, but it was flat like a snake was stretched out and laid on the floor.

Weird.

It was a little too close for comfort though, crawling around just a few feet away from me, so I backed up a step and

Snap~

...stepped on a branch. The snake curved itself and lifted its upper body to face me. “Woah there buddy, you don’t want to do this.” I whimpered. I definitely wasn’t ready to fight a snake yet. I backed up a step, and

Snap~

...broke another branch. Shit. All of a sudden the snake jumped at me. It freakin jumped! What the fuck?! I halo dodged to the side and ran away. Uh-uh, nope. I didn’t even look back. What was that? The snakes I knew could lunge, but they definitely can’t jump five feet through the air.

I tore through the forest, zigzagging in case I was being chased. I ran for maybe ten minutes before I felt safe enough to look behind me. No snake.

"Whew."

Checking the area before I did anything, I threw my sweaty body against the base of a sturdy tree and collapsed in the shade.

Ow~

Running for minutes had got my blood pumping, and I could feel the cut along my head start to bleed again. Ohhh, damn that smarts.

Stupid snake.

I covered the scratch with my shirt again. “I bought this thing white right?” I questioned. Right now it looked more red than anything else.

I laid my hurt head against the trunk.

Well, one thing's for sure: I’m not in Kansas anymore. Noting that, I looked around and for the first time I realized something important: Moby’s not here, and I don’t think he was with me when I got here either. Did the door take him somewhere else?

I didn’t know.

I didn’t know where he was, I didn’t even know where I was. I didn’t know what that snake was and I don’t know what these trees are, because I know nothing.

What do I do?

Hesitant, I got up and decided it was time to explore. “Let’s try not to run into any more bloodthirsty monsters.” I mused.

Goal number one: get out of this godforsaken forest. I’d run for a while earlier, but I didn’t see any way out. With that goal in mind, I started my way through the forest, careful to avoid any long strips of brown soil.

Walking under the thick foliage, I was enjoying the dense shade. That was until I heard a bird squawk. I was already on edge, so as soon as I heard it I took a karate stance and faced off the small...pterodactyl? The featherless bird was around the size of a hawk and made itself at home between the branches of one of the larger trees. It was a leathery grey...bird with a long neck and an adam's apple that sagged to its chest, like a turkey’s snood.

I lowered my defensive position because it looked harmless; it didn’t have talons and it looked too fat to fly around. I took a step closer to get a better look and the bird squawked at me.

“Hey, buddy. What’s your name?” I babbled like I was talking to a baby. I couldn’t help it; I love animals. I used to beg my mom to get a dog all the time. Taking another step closer...was a bad idea. He warned me with the first squawk but I didn’t take him seriously. When I took the second step, the sac on the bird's neck started vibrating and it opened its beak, letting out a shriek so high pitched the ground started to shake and the tree bark splintered off.

The sound paralyzed me.

It only lasted a few seconds, but for that whole time, I couldn’t move. And for the first time in my life, I was struck with true terror. What if there was something around? What if I died, just like this: totally defenseless. But luckily nothing ever came and I recovered seconds later. But it still continued to screech and I had to back up and cover my ears.

Damn, Moby already messed them up, man. A few more seconds into the shriek and all I could hear were my ears ring. Tripping over the vibrating ground on my way out, I couldn't believe I stumbled into another stupid and terrifying animal. That's two for two.

Fuck me. This is a forest of nightmares.

I didn’t get out of the birds vocal range for a good half-hour. My ears were bleeding again and I really only had myself to blame. Okay, rule number one: don’t go near any animals because they’re all assholes; one was a jumping snake and the other was a supersonic pterodactyl.

Learning from my mistakes, I mushed on through the perilous jungle, painfully aware of the danger of any and all animals.

I walked for hours, passing all kinds of weird animals and strange happenings.

At one point, I'd come across a small clearing and what I saw made my jaw drop. Rocks the size of cars were connected by silky white webs thick enough to wrap my arms around, and while it made for a pretty cool stone formation, further up the canopy, a mammoth-sized spider was connecting another 'rock' to its web. Hauling the oversized stone up the web with its mouth, it reverse-climbed to the top faster than any animal that size should be able to. Yeah, as cool as that is, nope. I tiptoed away faster than if I was running.

A few minutes later, I meant to stop and lay down at a tree trunk for rest again, but as I got within a few feet of the tree, its branches came down and lashed out at me, whipping me across the chest and leaving a long red line from shoulder to shoulder. Complaining about the injustice of every oddity, I walked away with a newfound respect for wildlife.

Hours later, and at this point I was tired, hurt, and hungry, and I was just about to give up when I saw something that made my heart patter. There was a break in the tree line. I ran into the clearing and was immediately bathed in the starlight.

It’s dark already? I guess I was in there for a long time.

The sky was the same color at least but the constellations were totally different. I couldn’t even find my own birth sign.

“What the fuck, where’s libra?”

“You aren’t gonna find a library on my land boy.” I heard someone say.

The voice frightened me. I turned to my right and saw that a man had walked toward me from a cottage further down while I was distracted.

He had long and wild brunet hair, an untamed beard, and equally wild black eyes. The man looked absolutely nuts, wearing mismatched brown and black farmers’ boots and some kind of sheer linen one piece.

He seemed altogether upset at my appearance - the guy kept clenching his hands into fists by his sides.

“What are you here for?” He questioned with an edge to his voice.

“My dude,” I raised my hands. “I am so lost.” I’d finally found someone who could answer my questions and maybe point me in the right direction. I told him I was lost and had no idea where I was or where I was going, but I didn’t say anything about Moby. He probably wouldn’t even believe me. I don't even believe me.

“So your saying, no one is trying to find you?” he asked, which was a weird question, but I answered anyway. “No, dude...I don’t have anyone.” Damn, I’m getting emotional again.

He eyed me up and down but didn’t say anything. He looked back to the cottage and I saw a pair of young faces quickly duck under the windowsill. His eyes lingered on the window before they wandered to the odd brown crops that framed most of his land and then they gleefully swung back to me.

What's that look about?

“I think I can help you,” he motioned to the cottage. “Come inside and we can talk while I treat your head,” he said with a wide smile.

Wow. What a nice guy.

“I’d love that.”

And so I headed to the man’s house for answers to all the questions I had. But I wasn’t scared, in fact, I was excited; from what I could tell this was a different world. That meant there was no Sammy or Prince's or foster home antics; no trailer, no pain, and no beatings with sticks.

This was everything I ever wanted: a fresh start.

I started to tear up.

In this world, I’ll take the reigns of destiny and nothing’ll get the best of I, Witlin: king of kings and man of men.

Hahahahah

Finally, we reached the doorway of the brown cottage and I made my way inside behind - what’s his name? I opened my mouth to ask, but as soon as I stepped past the foyer, someone behind the door swung it closed and nailed me hard with something metal. They hit the same spot on my head that was already cut and bleeding from the broom Sammy wielded before.

I staggered a few steps to the side. My knees collapsed under me and I fell on my face, sliding a few steps more. I tried to talk. To question. To complain. To express my confusion. But none of the words came out of my mouth right. Saliva ran between the gaps of my teeth and it sloshed out like I was having a stroke. Then my injury flared and I clutched my head till I puked, my body convulsed, and I passed out from the sheer agony.

Oh my god.

Not a good start for the king of kings.