A Whole New World

I'm trying to put more dialogue in now, it seems a bit dry. And any thoughts from characters will now be in italics.

*40 hours later*

I'd been walking for about a day and a half now, and I must say, I had never felt better. The countryside has helped me forget everything that had happened over the past few days. I'd forgiven dad for what happened, he hadn't been his usual self. But that didn't mean I was ready to just jump back into his arms, I still needed some time to think about what has happened over the past few months.

Wandering around the country has been... refreshing, to say the least. I had found that by placing my tent on top of my pack rather than in it, it made my load feel considerably lighter. I had never thought it, but my Ipod also helped me sleep during the night, surprising considering I was listening to The Killers during most of it.

At one point I came across an old barn filled with hay bales. I went inside and leant my weight against one of the bales. It felt pretty solid, so I thought I would practice some archery to pass the time. It had been a few months since I used my bow, and I had felt bad letting it gather dust in my cupboard.

I walked about 30 yards from the bale and pulled out my bow, attaching the string and readying an arrow. All the memories I had of archery came flooding back, and I quickly zoned out as I chose a particular point on the hay and loosed off an arrow. It embedded itself in the bale about a foot to the left of where I aimed.

"Hmm, the sights must be off" I said aloud to myself. I had a look at the sights and adjusted them accordingly. After another five arrows, I managed to land an arrow dead centre in the hay. I felt a warm feeling of satisfaction wash through me, making a nice change from the sharp winter air. I retrieved the arrows, and spent the next half hour just having fun. I even tried to make a smiley face in the bale with my arrows, but it ended up looking like a Picasso painting of a man with a bad mole on his lip.

As I retrieved the arrows and went back to start another round, I heard a shout off to my right. Looking round, I saw a man, probably the owner of the barn, running at me brandishing a shotgun.

"Get off my land!" He shouted at me. Classic line.

Always one to take good advice, I turned and ran across an open field, not even bothering to put my bow in the pack. Fortunately, the farmer wasn't exactly in running condition (let's just say he could use a bit more of it, if you catch my drift). But he wasn't giving up on me that easily.

As I reached the other side of the field, I heard a loud crack as the farmer fired his shotgun, I heard the pellets hit the trees around me, and dig into the dirt at my feet.

Fuck. I thought to myself. Now he's shooting at me? That's not exactly a warm welcome.

That shot was the only one he fired though, so after running a bit further, I stopped to catch my breath and slide the bow back into my pack. I also took the moment to check the map. I hadn't realised how far I'd run until I looked at the route I had chosen and found I'd deviated off course by at least a mile.

I began to recall the run in my head, while saying it out loud, "So, that must be the barn there... ran through those trees.. that sign looks familiar. I must be riiiiight here then."

Seeing as I was already off course, I thought I would take a detour. The cliffs would make for an exciting walk, as well as an excellent view across the sea. After all the time in the countryside, it also felt like a bit of variety.

After walking for another couple of hours, I reached a rocky cliffside. I actually gasped a little bit. The postcards and photos couldn't hold a candle to the real thing. The height, the air, the smell, all of it added to the experience. I looked down to see a small beach about 200 metres below, with tiny people, like ants, lying on the sand and jumping through the waves. I smiled to myself. Maybe when I got back, and dad had recovered, him and Chris could come here with me on holiday. The three of us, and just leave our troubles behind.

Mesmerised by the sight, I started walking along the edge of the cliff, taking in everything that moved. I thought I was paying enough attention to where I was going, but if I had, I would have noticed the patch of rock I was on starting to crumble.

As I noticed a rather large stone fall away from the cliff beneath me, fate decided to toss its coin. I only had a moment to react as the rest of the cliff started to move upwards at an alarming rate. I instantly flung out my arms and managed to, somehow, find a chunk of rock to grab onto. After a moment, I came to my senses and found myself hanging off a cliff face by one hand, the rest of me swaying back and forth in the wind. I breathed a sigh of relief; the coin had landed in my favour.

Unable to see any other stones to grab, I drew my knife out of its sheathe and dug it into the earth above me. Finding the strength from somewhere, I pulled myself up the wall and rolled back onto solid(ish) ground. Realising what had happened, I quickly got up and searched for more stable terrain. I wandered back away from the cliffs a few hundred metres and sat down to inspect my gear. It had felt strangely lighter than usual.

Crap. The bag I stored my tent in was missing! I got up and ran back to the cliff. Taking care not to have the same bad luck, I shuffled closer to the edge and looked over. There, about fifty metres down, on the sharp rocks, was a small red bag. I could only watch in dispair as I became caught by the waves and was washed out to sea. Bollocks, I had my suspicions about that loose cord.

I looked back up to see the sun setting in the distance. Starting to panic about where I was going to sleep for the night, I made the mistake of saying that phrase. The one you should never, ever, ever say:

"Well, at least it can't get any worse..."

Me and my big fucking mouth.

As if on cue, the clouds above me started to become dark and angry, and I saw a mist of rain coming in from the ocean. It reached the coast in no time, and I was quickly soaked by the downpour. Accompanying this rain was a gust of wind, one that seemed to rip into my bones, it was so cold. My clothes were drenched, so they didn't do much against it.

I knew I had to find shelter, and fast. I was miles from the nearest town, so my only option was to find some woods or something. I could already feel the first symptoms of hypothermia already settling in, as a wave of shivers tore through my body. It was almost painful. I got up and started to look around for somewhere to hide from the cold. I must have wandered for thirty minutes, but it felt like hours, I was having trouble focusing now.

In the distance, I saw a large clump of black against the red sunset. A forest! That would help, even if it was just a bit. I felt myself begin to focus a bit more. If I could get there, I might just make it through the night. I had to hurry though, too long out here and my mind would start playing tricks on me. I steeled myself and trekked towards the forest.

After what felt like an eternity, the rain lessened as the trees offered some protection from the elements. I found a tree near the edge with a large, thick canopy and decided that this would be a good place to rest, making sure I could still see outside the forest. I pulled my pack off and went to open it to get at my sleeping bag, but I couldn't. My fingers weren't responding. I couldn't feel them at all.

That's not good. I had to get warmer or I would become delirious.

I fumbled with the zip more, but my fingers were frozen. I ended up resorting to moving the zips with my teeth. I saw my sleeping bag right in the middle, but when I tried to pull it out, it became wedged on something. Even if I did find the culprit however, my arms were getting tired, like I'd spent the whole day doing push-ups.

Oh well, I thought to myself. I'll just sit against the tree and sleep here. After all, it is fairly comfortable. Wow, it is really cold. Hehe, I can't feel my arms anymore, that's kinda funny. Why is it funny? I don't know, but I can still laugh about it. My eyelids were getting really heavy now. I yawned, I'll feel much better in the morning.

The night before, as I was going to sleep, the only thing I was thinking about was my family. I missed them, but I would've been home in a few days, and I would see them again. That night however, all I could think about was the cold. Did I mention it was cold? Because it was really....

....really....

....

I opened my eyes, but I was quickly confused, all I could see was black. I thought my eyes were still closed, so I brought a hand up to my face. No, my eyes were open, the space around me was black. As my senses adjusted to the darkness,I heard footsteps behind me. I span around, and saw a figure approaching me. When they got closer, I almost fainted from seeing her.

"Mum?"

That was all I could say. She looked as beautiful as she always had before that day in the hospital. She took one look at me, and gave me an expression of disgust and dissapointment. I felt my heart twist as she turned and began to walk away.

"No, wait. Please!"

I tried to run after her, but it was no use, she was already gone. I must've run in that direction for hours, but I never found her. I was about to start crying, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A faint light, so small I could only see it if I wasn't looking directly at it, like a distant star. I didn't know what it was, but it was better than the dark nothingness I had previously experienced.

I immediately started to run towards it, rewarded as its light grew stronger. When I started getting closer, however, I noticed something else was there.

A silhouette of... something, contrasting against the white light, standing right in the middle of it. After closing the distance further, I began to make out its shape. It was some sort of creature, with four legs and a tail. At a rough guess, it looked similar to a horse, but far too small to be one.

I was now right next to it, and noticed it wasn't a silhouette. It was a figure. The light curved round its body, but it still looked as black as the rest of this place. Its head was currently turned away from me, so I thought I would get its attention.

I felt silly talking to an animal (if this was one), but I thought it was worth a try. I approached it cautiosly and asked, "Hello? Can you tell me where I am?"

The creature's head turned as quick as lightning, and that's when I saw it's eyes. Describing them as "bright white" would've been an understatement. I tried to shield my own eyes from the intense light, but it still pierced through and blinded me. I was then knocked back with the force of an explosion, but instead of hitting the ground, I kept falling. I only had a moment to scream before I was engulfed by the darkness again.

I woke up as if someone had slapped me across the face. It was still dark, but I didn't feel tired, or even cold. I felt alert. As I looked around, a mixture of shock and confusion entered my mind.

I was still leaning against the tree, but the rest of my surroundings were unfamiliar. I was still in a forest, but which one and where I had no idea. I stood up, and saw trees in every direction. That can't be right. I could see fields when I came in here. I wondered where I could have possibly ended up.

Confusion wasn't the only emotion I had. Fear was the other one. I know they were only trees, but there was something about them. They looked... unnatural, like someone had torn holes out of them and stuffed them into other trees. I started forcing myself to think rationally. They were trees, big pieces of wood and leaves. I knew they wouldn't attack me, but that didn't stop me feeling like they were watching me.

I sighed to myself. Wherever I was, I could surely find an exit if I just walked. I studied my map, still tied round my neck, but it was hopeless. The map showed dozens of forests in the area, and it was impossible to single out any of them. I was in the middle of the woods, and there were no landmarks to help me. Crap.