The Elements of Liberty: The Second Perspective

Ow...

When I finally regained consciousness, my first thought was that my head hurt. A lot.

now, normally this wouldn't be a problem, as it hasn't been the first time that I woke up with a headache.

what the problem was, is what I was laying on.

grass.

my first attempt to open my eyes resulted in a lashing pain lighting up across my skull, and I promptly gave up on the endeavor for the moment with the assumption that I probably had a light concussion. I distracted myself from the aches in my head by piecing together why I came to be in this state. As I tried to remember why I hurt so much, I began to feel very uncomfortable. as my common sense began to function again, I realized that I was out in the sun. Getting more than a sun-tan, if the slight burning sensation on my arms and face were any indication.

I decided that now would be a good time to try to open my eyes again. Upon doing so, the same lashing pain shot across my head, and I resisted the urge to moan in pain. But, not to be deterred so easily, I kept at it, managing to open my eyes just a crack, then nearly shutting them again as I stared directly into the sun.

The sun....

my mind went on overdrive as I involuntarily twitched my entire body in a vain attempt to get up, as I realized that I was supposed to be in school. as I lay still, still recovering from the failed attempt to right myself, my thoughts were having a one-sided shouting match at me.

I was supposed to be in school! How long have I been out? By the way, why was I out in the first place?!

as my inner conscience continued to have a mini panic attack, I continued to open my eyes a little more, careful to avoid looking at the big ball of flame in the sky. finally able to fully open my eyes without nearly passing out from the pain, I got a good look at the sky, a nice pearly blue. by this point, Mr. Inner Jackass had a metaphorical heart attack due to the shock of the situation, so I wasn't going to get any help from him any time soon.

I tried to sit up again, albeit a little more slowly this time, and as I finally came to rest in a semi--comfortable sitting position, I got a hard look at where I was. in the middle of nowhere. Then the realization hit me like a freight train. I finally remembered why I was sitting in the middle of some random forest for no reason. The swirly sky. The light beam. and finally, me flying into said swirly sky through said light beam. To say I had a panic attack was an understatement. To say that I flipped my shit was more accurate. I stood up (or rather, limped up) and looked around, trying to see some kind of path or road so that I could use to get out of here. after a few moments of panicking, I finally calmed down enough to think about what to do.

okay, now what? I'm stuck in the middle of some random forest, with no foreseeable way out. wait, where's my backpack?

as I looked for my stuff, I spotted it a couple of yards away, lying in a small patch of Dandelions. After retrieving the pack, I unceremoniously dumped it out, emptying the contents onto the ground. "alright, gear check." I muttered to myself, looking through what I had to see if anything was useful. the stuff that I had in my bag were as follows:

*my school binder

*5 packages of Pop-tarts

*my phone

*my pocket knife

*my house key

*my water bottle

*my textbooks

*my lighter (because pyromania is fun)

All in all, it was a pretty shit list. I stuffed my pocket knife in my jacket pocket, and put the pop tarts back into the bag. checking my phone, I saw that it still had 86% battery left. that was good, for now at least. I got rid of my binder, figuring that I doubted that I would need it here . I kept the textbooks, though, thinking that if it got really bad, I could just use them as makeshift tinder or something.  I hooked my house key on my front right belt loop, figuring that I would need that, should I actually find my way back home.

home...

I stopped for a moment, realizing that my brother and dad didn't know where I had gone, and would more than likely come looking for me when they found out that I wasn't coming home. thinking about them worried me, as I finishing putting the pop tarts back in my pack, keeping one out to eat now. I looked around, spotted a hill and walked toward it, munching on a Pop tart as I went. once I got to the top of the hill, what I saw made me suddenly think that my chances of survival just dropped. By a lot.

forest. forest everywhere. the only other notable landmark that I could distinguish above the small hill was a mountain range off in the distance. Cursing my ever-depleting luck, I decided that the mountain rage was probably my best bet. uncapping my water bottle and taking a small sip, then rubbing a little more onto my sun-burnt arms and face. afterwards, I began my long trek into the woods, hoping to at least reach the foot of the range by nightfall.

                                                                         ~~~~~~~~~A few hours later~~~~~~~~~

After a few hours of walking about and tripping over almost every root and shrub along the way, I decided to see what was going on above the canopy, since I couldn't see past the thick canopy, making the forest I was tramping through seem much darker than I thought was comfortable. After climbing a fairly tall tree (accompanied by a lot of scrapes and swearing) I poked my head out of the top of the tree, then gasped. that mountain range? apparently it was a lot bigger than I thought, as it loomed over me, dominating the surrounding area. I also noticed that the sun was still around the middle of the sky, making me wonder how it's possible that the forest could be so dark, so I figured that I should continue onwards to the mountains, because I think I might actually make it by nightfall. I was about to continue on my journey towards the mountains, when my stomach decided to let me know that I was slowly starving it to death by growling extra loud at me. I've been trying to conserve my food, as I didn't have any kind of tools to hunt with. Nor did I know how to hunt.

Probably should have took that hunting course back in Boy Scouts.

Anyway, after wolfing down a package of Pop tarts, I mentally counted how many packages I had left. Only three packages. Well fuck. "if I have that little food left, I hope to whatever deity is listening that I find something edible, or at least someone who can lend me some food." I muttered to myself. During the long-ass walk towards the ever-closer mountain range, I seemed to have picked up the habit of muttering to myself, probably to alleviate the boredom of walking in a single direction for hours on end.

After climbing down from the tree and trudging through the forest for another half-hour, I came upon a hedge. As confusing as a hedge in the middle of nowhere was, I still had to get to the mountains by nightfall (the canopy had eased up some during the trek, allowing me small glimpses of the sky as it slowly made it's way down from its throne in the clouds. Back to the matter at hand, I looked at the hedge.

it stood at around 6 ft. tall, and had quite a few thorns scattered around the wall of the hedge. Well, this was going to hurt. I began to squeeze my way through, getting scratched by what felt like every single thorn in the hedge. "ow ow ow ow ow ow ouch!" I chanted as I weaved into the hedge. after finally dislodging myself from the last thorn, I turned around and felt the ground give way underneath me.

well, fuck was the only thought I could form as I tumbled down the sudden decline, bashing my head into a stone, knocking me out for the second time today.

                                                                    ~~~~~~~A little while later~~~~~~

I was awoken from my rock-induced slumber by the feeling of something poking my chest. groaning, I lazily batted away the offending object before I heard the gasp. It was feminine, and from the way it-she gasped, it sounded surprised  to see me alive. I heard whoever it was retreat a few paces, then stop. groaning again, I placed a hand to my head, calling out to whoever was standing there. "ach, hey you, where am I?" I heard it shuffle a little bit (did I hear... clops?) then answer, "what.... what kind of beast are you?" THAT got my attention. "beast?" I opened my eyes, and what I saw came very close to making me take another dirt nap. 'she'  was a blue unicorn with white hair, with what looked like a large cart behind her.

"....oh." was all I could manage to say before my old friend Mr. inner Jackass decided to make a comeback.

oh my god... is that... a UNICORN!?!? I had to keep from fainting at the sight of the one person-err, pony I'd thought never existed. as I stared dumbfounded at the unicorn, she shifted uncomfortably. "Do you understand what Trixie is saying, creature?" Snapping out of my stupor, I replied, "what? I-I mean of course I understand you, I just..... huh?!" I couldn't get over this. if I'm sitting here, talking to a freaking unicorn, then I'm either dead, or I hit my head much harder than I thought.

I was once again brought out of my shock by here poking my chest with a stick. "did you hear a word Trixie said?!" she said crossly.

"w-what? oh sorry, no I didn't, I just have a lot on my mind... right now..." She huffed indignantly. " Trixie had asked if you were injured"

she stated. "oh.. uhh...I think so, I mean my head hurts a little, but it's fine, I guess" she nods. "Trixie sees. then Trixie will be on her way then." I was about to let her go on her way when something popped into my head. "hey, wait!" she stopped pulling her cart and stared at me, eyebrow raised. "I uhh... was wondering if you could, you know, help me out or something? I mean, I'm a little lost, and I need to find a way home." she stared off into space for a moment, as if thinking. she looked at me for a moment, and then smiled, like she had an idea.  "Trixie supposes she could help you, but you will have to help her in return." she stated. in return? what's she getting at....? "what do you mean?" I asked. "Trixie has come into a bit of a.... slump, recently. Trixie requires an assistant in her act." she said. "your act, are you a magician or something?" I replied. "of course Trixie is a magician, do you not have eyes??" she nearly shouted, point her.. hoof at her hat and cloak.

"okay, okay! I didn't notice, I'm sorry!" I quickly said, cringing at the volume of her voice. she huffed again, before she said, "Trixie forgives you, now are you coming or not? Trixie wants to get to an inn and she is instead standing around, waiting for you!" I took a second to look around, noticing that it was nearly dusk. "alright, I guess..." I said as I slowly stood up. "then come along, already!" she said as she walked to her cart. "alright, alright, I'm coming!" I said, slightly annoyed at her pushy-ness. "you may sit on the back of Trixie's cart, just don't touch anything!" she said, patting a spot on the bench of her cart with her hoof. "alright..." I mumbled as I sat where she indicated. "now sit tight, creature, and we'll be at an inn soon." she said as she began to trot to the front of her cart. "hey!' I called to her. "what is it now?!" she huffed, turning around. "the name isn't creature, it's Bowen." I stated dryly, annoyed that she kept calling me 'creature'.. "Fine, crea-Bowen." she replied, sitting in the seat of her cart. "thank you..." I mumbled, slipping off into sleep as I heard the cart begin to move.