“If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy. But since I am not, I do not care.”

― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

A desert. A wide expanse of sand. Sand that went well beyond the horizon. Yet another ocean, one made of land, instead of water. An ocean more difficult to traverse than the sea. For I can conquer the sea with my kayak, but the sand, one cannot paddle through the sand.

I paddled to the shore and let the waves carry me onto land. I looked up, I saw three moons and two suns. An unusual sight.

“Well, this sure isn't Kansas anymore.” I whistled to myself while shaking my head. “I'm not quite sure where the hell I am. Or why I'm even talking to myself. Ugh, I guess this habit still hasn't left me.”

I wade the rest of the way to shore, pulling my kayak behind me. I take notice of the tide lines, and pull my kayak well past where the water would reach at high tide.

“Alright, so, I'm lost, probably on a different planet, with no resources, just my paddle, kayak, and emergency kit. Oh boy, this should be fun.” Groaning I start going through my things. I begin pulling everything out of my kayak, when my grandfather's cabin key falls out and hits the sand.

I reach down to grab it, but as soon as I do, the key starts emitting a bright light. I take two steps back out of surprise and laugh nervously.

The light from the key starts getting stronger and stronger, before finally it flashes.

“Ah what the hell Grandpa! What the hell is this?” I yell out to no one in particular as I get flashed yet again by light. I open my eyes to see my grandfather's cabin. “What the fuck old man. What in the name of Henrietta Josephine Margarita Tequila is this?”

I approach the cabin. Walking around it a few times, I confirm it is indeed the real thing. Sighing, I move to open the door. I peek my head inside, confirm that everything still looks fine, I step in all the way.

“Alright cool. Well, I guess my food and water situation is good now? But how the hell did it appear from the damn key?” My mind racing at a thousand thoughts a millisecond. “I guess I didn't know you as well as I thought then old man.”

First things first. I need answers. I start scouring through all the drawers in the house. I don't find anything towards solving my questions. But I did find a hawaiian doll. One of the ones that wears a skirt and holds a guitar. It's quite cute.

Anyways, after tearing through the cabin like a man on a mission, I decide to calm down, and start searching slowly and methodically. Going through every nook and cranny, I find a journal.

The contents spoke about my grandfather's younger days, exploring, adventuring, seeing all the world has to offer, before he finally stumbled upon a key and a kayak in a street market in Thailand. He bought the items for cheap, thinking of keeping the key as a keepsake, and the kayak for his future endeavors.

He continued on, travelling the world, he was climbing Mount. Everest when his key came off his necklace and hit the ground. He experienced the same thing as me, a gradual glow growing in strength, until a bright light flashes. When he looked up, he saw the cabin. It saved his life on that trip. He was quite curious about the cabin and made discreet inquiries all over the world for information on “artifacts” like the key. Finding no information he was disappointed. But not discouraged.

As for the kayak, the kayak apparently was created by an ancient sea-faring civilization. He didn't discover the secret of it until his first trip. He passed through the same red ocean I did. He called it the Sea of Blood. His theory was that it was a graveyard of all civilizations past, present, and future.

Anyways. The kayak automatically transports people across the dimensional veil. The reason being some kind of runescript that my grandfather never had any luck deciphering. There's no controlling where you go next. He only managed to get back through contact with another civilization known as the Iz’gathro.

In his journal he brags about saving the crown prince from a timberwolf. An animal I believe exists on Earth. He continues on about living like royalty before the prince amassed the materials required to pierce the dimensional veil.

“Alright. Holy shit that was a lot to process.” I grumble. “I have food, water, and shelter covered. So I'm not stressed there. I should probably go see what's around me.”

I proceed to get up before a wave of fatigue hits me.

“On second thought, I'm gonna take a nap first.”