Alex sat in his bed, his brain not quite comprehending what his eyes were telling him. Thick underbrush surrounded his bed, instead of the usal carpeted floor of his house. Tall trees rose on all sides, stretching far above, creating a dense canopy above. Scattered sun beams illuminated the forest as they filtered through the leaves. A slight breeze ruffled the leaves, along with Alex’s messy brown hair. Perched on the top of his wooden headboard was a brightly colored bird, chirping merrily. Above him he could still see the edges of the giant crack in the sky meshing together, closing the view into the swirling back nothing that lay beyond.

He shook his head and blinked. Looking back up at the sky, he couldn't see the odd sight any more.

“What the heck?” Alex exclaimed out loud, wincing as a sharp pain lanced though his head, reminding him that he still had a massive headache. I am definitely am imagining things. He cradled his head in pain and tried to remember what had happened. Did I die? He wondered, looking at the knotted cord laying beside him. Another stab of pain dissuaded him of that idea. Probably not, I probably would have messed that up as well. He took a deep breath, breathing in the earthy smells around him. If I am dead, at least the scenery is nice.

Alex slid off the bed, his bare toes sinking into the soft earth. His sudden movement sent the small bird fluttering away to a nearby branch. Not a terrible place to be after I died. Way better than what I thought was going.

With nothing better to do, he slowly walked around his bed, noticing the feet were buried at least a few inches into the earth. Under one he could see a plant that had been squashed beneath the foot. He could see cracks and chips along the frame, and a few splintered cross beams hanging down underneath.

That’s odd, he thought to himself, not really knowing what to make of it. I think I had a dream I was falling?

Leaving the puzzling partially broken need behind, he walked slowly under the branch where the bird had flown off to and considered his options. So I’m pretty sure I can rule out being dead and in some odd afterlife. None that I've heard of look like this. He ran his hand over the rough, dark brown bark of the tree. And I really doubt I could lucid dream all this. He circled the tree, head tilted back, eyes scanning the massive tree. But where does that leave me? Kidnapping? Prank? Aliens? He listed off the top three ideas of why he was here. He gave a small chuckle, mindful of his still aching head. Each one sounds crazier than the last.

Meandering back to his bed, Alex sat down. Wherever I am, and for whatever reason, I’m here now. Probably going to get eaten by wolves or something anyways, and then have stories told about that one random kid that appeared out of nowhere and got mauled by a bear. I’ll be what they teach forest rangers in forest ranger school as the crazy stuff that can happen. Then I could at least make someone laugh that way.

Flopping onto his back, he gazed up at the shifting ceiling of leaves above. But what am I going to do until I'm eaten? He felt a slight pang of hunger. Probably die of hunger. I’ve only camped like twice in my entire life, and each time I had a cooler full of food. He let out a groan. I better get up and figure out something to eat soon. Can't have the bear only finding skin and bones. I'll do that later.

Still laying in bed, Alex closed his eyes, listening to the soft whisper of leaves above his head, and the soft chirping of insects. He felt a little of the weight he didn’t realize he had been carrying gently drift away into the wind. Not the worst place to be kidnaped in, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Alex woke with a start, an incomprehensibly large slitted eye staring at him from his dream. He frantically looked around, seeing the unfamiliar forest around. It took his sleep-addled mind a moment to remember that he wasn’t in his house. Well, I can definitely rule out dreaming now, unless there’s some serious dreamception going on. He stretched his arms above his head, and let out a yawn. I could really use a bagel or something right about now.

With another yawn, Alex slowly sat up and swung his legs off the bed. There’s got to be some berries or something nearby, right? That’s what forests are full of. Berries and wolves. Deciding that there wasn’t really anything better to do, Alex began to look for something to eat. Taking careful steps with his bare feet, he made his way to one of the bushes near his bed. Peering at the scraggly bush filled with bright green leaves, he tried to see if there were any berries hanging, ready to be picked. Well, I guess this is a non berry bush. Good to know. He meandered over to the next bush, one that looked pretty similar to the fist, only to find it devoid of any berries as well. Yeah, should have known that the same kind of bush wouldn't have berries on it, he mentaly berated himself.

He spent the hour or so meandering around the clearing and slightly beyond, checking each bush and plant for anything that could resemble a berry. Alex kept the clearing with his bed in it in sight, not wanting to get lost. Thought that would be my luck, get stranded in a forest, and then get lost, he thought.

He spotted a few birds fluttering about, and at one time he saw a small, green furred animal running up the trunk of a tree, its form disappearing in the dark foliage above. After what felt like the hundredth bush, he found a small cluster of bushes with spiny leaves that had small, greenish purple berries clustered on the stems.

Alex let out a small whoop of joy that his search had born fruit after all. He cautiously picked a few berries, trying not to get poked by the leves, and failing. Sucking on his punctured thumb, he eyed the pea sized berry. It doesn't look poisonous, so I should be safe, right? He tried to reason with himself. What’s the worst that could happen? He considered the possibilities. Could be basically arsenic, and I could die a long, painfully drawn out death, or I could not eat it and die of starvation, equally long and painful. With a shrug he popped the berry in his mouth. After biting down on it, he almost immediately spat it back out. What the heck was that?

Forcing himself to swallow the insanely tart berry, Alex debated eating more of them. Deciding to put that decision off for later, he began to gather up as many of the tart berries as he could, stuffing them into his pajama pants pockets. I’ll wait a bit to see if I die from eating that one, and then eat the rest if I don’t.

Noticing the fading light of the forest, Alex decided to call it a day and headed back to his bed even though he had just woken up. For the thousandth time he wished he had gone to bed with his shoes on the night before as he accidentally stepped on a sharp stone he didn’t see in time. Should have known I was going to be dropped off in the middle of a forest. With a mental shrug, he dug into his pocket for another berry. They're probably okay, haven’t died yet, and I’m pretty sure poison acts pretty fast. He popped it into his mouth, and grimaced at the flavor again. I really hope I don’t get used to that flavor. No one should, he thought. Though with my luck, that’s going to be the only edible plant around.

Finishing the berry, Alex finally made it back to his bed. Everything would be so much quicker if I had shoes. He eyed his bedsheets. Maybe I’ll just make some wraps so I can actually walk around. Sitting down on his bed, he fished out another berry. Well, I’m just going to call you edible now, he thought, staring at the berry. Tastes horrible, but unfortunately edible.

After finishing that thought, a bright blue light enveloped his vision, forming a translucent square box in front of him.

You have gained the skill

[Survival] (common) lvl 1

5 XP gained

Alex just stared blankly at it, berry forgotten in his hand.

“Huh?” he grunted in surprise. He looked around, trying to see if there was anyone around shooting a projection in front of his eyes. As he moved his head, the glowing box moved as well. What the heck is going on? He thought as he inspected the box. Is that why I have such a terrible headache? I got implanted with some crazy augmented reality chip?

He waved his hand through the box, and it dissipated as soon as he brushed past it. Now that’s pretty odd. Can I pull that up again?

“Um, can I see that again, plase?” he asked the air in front of him.

Nothing happened.

Feeling dumb, he looked at the berry in his hand. Is this what hallucinating feels like? Shaking his head, he tried to figure out what was going on. Aren’t mushrooms the hallucinogens? What type of berry is that? He eyed the berry suspiciously. Or is any of this real, and I really am dreaming. Didn’t Cameron say that it’s impossible to do math in dreams? Something about if he could, Cameron would be solving quadratic equations every night?

Bending down, Alex began to scratch 1+1 into the dirt. Hmm, yeah, that equals 2. So, not a dream? Unless Cameron was wrong, which is pretty unlikely.

He thought for a moment longer. So not a dream, AR chip then? Kidnaped and implanted with some new tech? LIke human trials.

“Hey, researchers or whatever,” he called out into the forest. “What type of test is this anyways?”

He waited for a movement, but nothing happened.

But why would I be chosen for a clinical trial of a new AR chip anyways. There’s millions of people better for that sort of thing anyways. And why the kidnapping, and the crazy dream sequence...

He paused his train of thought for a moment, remembering a brief flash of images of a swirling dark abyss that had swallowed his bed.

Maybe that wasn’t a dream then? He snorted at the thought. Yeah, that had to be a dream, or a hallucination at the very least. The odds of a random portal appearing under my bed and throwing me across space is very unlikely.

But what if it wasn’t? Maybe I did actually fall through a crack in the universe and end up somewhere else. He thought back to the fuzzy memories of looking at a giant crack under his bed and falling through it. Did that actually happen? Am I really in a different universe?

He got to his feet and jumped a little. Gravity seems normal, and there’s oxygen I’m assuming, so that seems pretty similar to Earth. But that really doesn't rule out being in a different universe I guess. I wish Cameron or Sam were here, they would know what to do. They’d be running around, figuring things out, like that glowing blue box that appeared in front of me. What did it say again, that I had learned a skill or something and had gotten XP. He scratched his head. Like I’m in some kind of game? Aren’t there tons of stories out there with people trapped in a game and trying to get out?

“Log out?” He questioned the air, hoping that would work.

Nothing happened.

Of course it couldn’t be that easy. If I was trapped, I wouldn’t just be able to log out. Though I really doubt it’s a game, he thought, looking at the stunning scenery around him. It’s way too realistic, though if it was, there would be some sort of stat page I could access?

“Character sheet,” Alex said out loud, sincerely hoping he wasn’t on a hidden camera show.

Nothing happened.

I really thought that would work and bring up a status page or-

He lost his train of thought as a glowing blue box appeared in front of his eyes.

Status Name Alexander White Race Demon (Human) Class - Level 1 (5%) Titles Marked by The Serpent Health 10/10 Mana 11/11 Stamina 4/6 Attributes Vitality 10 Toughness 8 Endurance 6 Wisdom 11 Vigor 6 Presence 5 Agility 9 Intelligence 13 Strength 7 Willpower 8 Attribute points 5

He stood there, staring at the floating box for a moment, stuned. I guess it really is like a game. Alex reached out his hand to touch the box, but it again dissipated into motes of light the moment his fingers made contact with it. So I can’t touch it? How do I interact with it? I obviously called it up somehow. He thought back to before the box had appeared. I was thinking about a status page and it appeared.

Just as he thought about his status page, it appeared in front of him. Huh, just thinking about it brings it up? That’s going to be annoying. He stared at the words before his eyes.

“A demon?” He cried out loud in shock. He hurriedly patted his head to check for horns and twisted around to see if a tail had sprouted. Finding everything to be the same, he turned back to the floating box. I have so many questions, like why does it say I’m a demon, but also a human? Are humans a kind of demon? And that’s just the race part of it. He sat down on his bed to process what was happening, swiping away the page.

Running his hands through his hair, he considered what was happening. Top contender is that this is just a hallucination from eating weird, terrible tasting berries that I found in the woods. He popped another berry in his mouth. Though the taste is starting to grow on me.

With a thought, Alex pulled up his alleged status screen again. Though if it isn't all in my head, who knows what this could be. A game? Maybe some crazy alternate dimension where everything is a game? He gave a shrug. Or I’m on a hidden camera show and everything is just to mess with me and let people have a laugh at me.

He scanned the area just in case he could spot a camera crew or something similar, only seeing the trunks of the trees in the quickly fading light. Deep shadows began to grow as the sun started to drop beneath the treetops. A faint howl sent shivers up Alex’s spine. He could feel the temperature dropping with the sun. The birds in the trees began to quiet, as the forest sunk into twilight.

Well, this is going to be an interesting night