It's There

“Guaauaahh.” Russ groaned.

“I can’t friggen' believe I decided to come with you, dude, I mean what the heck is out here that's so interesting?” I rolled my eyes, he didn't have the same appreciation for exploration and outdoors that I did, which I suppose I should've taken into account when I asked him…

Why did he come with me?

Russ sat on the couch twiddling the sticks on a controller, as the sound of distant explosions and guns emanated from the television. As Jake strolled by with a basket of laundry. He backpedaled a bit to ask Russ a question.

“Hey Russ, I'm gonna go hiking in the forest in a couple days, wanna come?”

“Yeah, sure, whateve- Oh come on!” Russ threw his controller onto the couch. In a fit of frustration.

“Great!” Jake went back to moving the basket.

Oh yeah…

“Well there's always sticks to play with if you get bored, make a shelter or something.”

“I might just.”

“Oh wait- don't do that, we're not there yet!”

I pretended I knew when we were stopping. It took me a while to realize it, but I didn't exactly know where we were at the time. I sure wasn't following any trails, and every time I looked back brought me closer to the realization that it all looked the same.

Suddenly the forest got darker, denser, more saturated. It felt more wild, less like a hiking trip and more like a game of survival.

“Huh.” I exclaimed, noting this odd change in scenery. I heard something scurry off, and the whole thing quickly seemed more alive, anything could happen.

“Maybe we should turn back now.” I said, turning foot just before being stopped by Russ turning me back by the shoulder.

“No way, you brought us here, either we keep going, or we stay here, but it better damn be worth it.”

I suppose Russ was really set on that. Well, better not to disappoint him.

“Alright, alright, have it your way.” I threw my hands up for emphasis, and continued the way we were headed. After a while of wandering about, I, of all two people, sat down on a downed log on the edge of a clearing.

“This spot seems nice...Ish… Why not rest here?” I wasn't fooling anyone… Or at least not Russ, we had passed about fifty nicer spots on the way there. He didn't seem to care anyway, though. He shot me a look, then went about fiddling with sticks, logs, moss, pine branches, whatever he could find.

I sat there for a while trying to think of what to do. It was pretty clear Russ didn't want to go back until he'd accomplished something, and I don't think I could get us back even if he did. I decided to go searching for water, our water bottles were pretty much empty, and I happened to have some potassium permanganate on me.

I searched for quite some time, making sure I always knew where the 'camp' was. Getting lost twice over was not on my bucket list. Eventually I found what looked like a small pool of incredibly reflective water.

It didn't take me long to realize the trees on the other side didn't match the ones above. This wasn't something reflective, this went somewhere, which disappointed me momentarily, until I realized the implications. I tried poking at it. It felt like it was resisting me as I did so. I even stuck my head in there, the air was breathable, in fact, the gravity was flipped.

My mass fell too far forward, --quite an accomplishment when your instincts tell you "That's a huge drop."-- and I slipped in and floated partway through. Then pulled myself back out taking a moment to stare at the hole. I could see the terrain failing to match up, dips going farther down on one side than up on the other.

There were stones, too. Four small obelisks positioned around the hole on the other side, with glowing runes printed on them. Foreboding, but not particularly ominous.

After finishing up my long observation I stood back up and dusted myself off to get Russ.

When I got back he was poking something with a stick. Figures.

“You’re not gonna believe what I found.” I said.

“Our house?”

I facepalmed. "Of course not."

"Well that would be pretty unbelievable." He said, tossing his stick over-shoulder.

"Weren't you going to make a shelter or something?" He thought for a moment. Long enough to force me into continuing the conversation.

"Aaaaaanyway, just come here, this is crazy." I beckoned him the way I had come from, walking slow enough for him to bridge the distance.

We arrived, and I presented it with my extended palms. "Tada!"

"What, what is it?" He walked over to the point I had displayed.

“Whooaaaa.” He backed away from the hole as soon as he had realized it was there. I ran up and jumped straight in, smiling all the while, and from beneath the ground I heard him shriek. I poked my head back out the other way to confirm to him I was still alive. Seeing that Russ had fallen over backwards made me chuckle a bit.

“Ohhhhohoh god, don't do that. Ever.” He said, getting back to his feet.

“Well come on then, let's see what this is!” I said, shifting away from the hole and getting up to look around.