Chapter 1: switching on
So…this is what the other side looks like. I gotta say…it’s beautiful. I found myself looking up at the brilliant blue sky in the middle of a tall field of lush green grass. I looked at the sky watching the clouds pass by for what felt like hours just enjoying the scene and try to see images the white puffs made.” Huh a starfish that’s new” I said to myself. I could see a lot of fish shaped clouds a bowtie cloud and even-wait a minute….”Where am I?'
The last thing I remember I was flying over to Rome from Spain in a helicopter with other four people-no…friends I was flying with friends, who I was working with on assignment to get a coverage on the new laws and statements that Italy was enforcing. The people from the magazine that hired me wanted a lot of shots of the events taking place in Rome. “Did I make it?” I asked myself sitting up from the ground to get a better look at where I landed.
The field was about twenty yards wide and at least the same in length, and was surrounded by tall trees on all sides. Some oak trees and others I did not recognize mainly because I didn’t know what to even call them. I look down to see that my camera bag and iPod were sitting next to me. “Oh Shi-my stuff!” I shuffled over to see if my Camera gear didn’t break from the fall….did I even fall? Anyways I looked at my bag. My beautiful black and red DeviantART camera bag with all the pockets and zippers I love to use; It even came with a rain cover. I zipped open the front of my bag and low and behold everything was fine. Both of my cameras were fine, my lenses, my film, and my lights and no I don’t mean my camera flashes I mean small LED finger lights. Yes, I dabble in Light Painting as a hobby.
I checked my digital camera to make sure that the memory card still had all my pictures I took throughout the trip. Yep still got them all from the day my friends and I left the airport in California to last night of all of us eating at the hotel restaurant. “Huh. That’s weird” as I eyed my battery image on my camera “I could of sworn I didn’t charge my camera battery” I got the assignment on such short notice I didn’t get enough time to charge both of my batteries. “oh well” I shrugged “might as well take it as a blessing” I got up, sling my camera bag over my shoulder and not knowing which way to go I headed to what I believe was west. When I got to the edge of the field I turned around and looked at the tall grass knoll I lied in. “This would make a good Picture.” I said to myself, setting my camera bag down and pulling out my Canon Rebel T2i. Turing it on I lifted my camera to my face and messed around with the aperture trying to get it right and focused the lens until it was crystal clear. The lens was a 50mm so I didn’t have to zoom in or out. I took the shot and looked at the image on screen. “Damn. Too bright.” I took another picture, but with a lower shutter speed. This time the picture was a little too dark but that’s ok that’s how I work out an assignment. Take some bad pictures and get better in time, I mean Margret Brooke-White took Thousands of pictures and only a few made much impact in her early years but she got there. Anyway I got my picture, put my camera away, and slinged my bag over my shoulder and continued to walk into the forest wondering where the hell I am.
I Continue to explore my surroundings in the forest I woke up in. There were trees that I've seen before, like Aspens and spruce and..."is that a Bodhi? I thought they only grew in India and parts of the Philippines? what's that doing in Italy?" I said to no one still walking pass the Bodhi, starring at the tree in worriment thinking that my plane went passed the country and crashed somewhere in south-east Asia." Well...great, just great! I crashed in the middle of Asia, I don't know where I'm going, I don't even know where 'here' is, I'm gonna lose my job because I got-" I stopped myself as I saw something yellow jump into a bush a couple of yards away. "What? Hey! Someone there?" No answer came. "I...know I saw you!" I still heard nothing, but the bush started to shake a little. Wait can they even speak English? "Uhh...Can you speak English?" The
