Episode 1, Part 1: "Eh, it could've been worse... right?"
It's late at night. Tired, I lay across my bed; my eyes drifting to sleep.
The sounds of a great thunderstorm fills my house... a small shack built in-between a thick layer of trees. At night time, the roof is completely invisible, and during the day, it can only be seen either from up above the treetops, or from a very tall person... and only barely for the latter.
The thunder keeps on booming, causing my phone, my only alarm source, to flicker.
This, of course, means that the power is about to go out.
I unplug my phone, seeing no point in risking it getting damaged, and just stare at its screen. 75% battery life. I disconnect it from WiFi and place it on the nightstand once more, then relax once again.
It takes me a good bit of time, what with the thunder and all that... but eventually, I manage to find that sleep has taken over my body.
I wake up with a start, as my alarm fills the dark, windowless walls of my bedroom. With a grunt, I rub the sleep from my eyes and grip my phone, then stare at the time. 6:00 AM. It's time to wake up and get dressed for my first day in the office.
I stand up slowly, then pop my neck. Lifting my head up from its zombie-like trance, I walk over to the light switch and flick it on... only to find that the power is still out.
I sigh as I continue through the darkness, thanking the light that glows from the living room window and door that I at least have a little illumination inside, despite the lack of power.
Without much thought, I open the cabinet nearest to my bedroom and pull out a small glass, then walk over to the kitchen sink. Unsanitary it may seem, I could care less at this point about water pollution and all of that.
My care is quickly found again, however, once I find nothing but muck dripping into my glass.
I groan before placing the filthy cup in the sink and turning the rancid waste off. No water means no shower. No shower means bad first impressions, due to me smelling like a sewer... well, almost. I'm fairly certain I'd smell like one if I bathed at this point... though I'm not entirely sure, as I kinda-sorta don't have a sense of smell anymore.
I never really could figure out how I can still taste, but without working nostrils. My gag reflexes are still in check, but only due to spices causing my throat to pucker up.
In other words, I can't smell... only feel.
I disregard my thoughts and walk back into my bedroom, then pick up my phone. Turning it on, I notice that the battery life only went down five notches... but the signal is no longer available.
I decide to blame the storm on these things. Whatever kind of weather I slept through, it must've been a tornado, or something!
Whatever the case, I'm sure my boss would understand, considering he lives close by.
Not wanting to waste any time, I quickly walk up to my dresser and slip into my work clothes; a simple white button-up shirt over a white sleeveless undershirt, a pair of black formal pants, and casual black tennis shoes. I take a mental note to invest in some better work shoes once I can afford it.
Giving my dark brown hair a quick brush, I step outside my room and into the living room.
Once there, I pocket my wallet and the key to my house, then grip the door handle... only to pause and groan before turning and heading back into my room to grab my phone I nearly forgot... again.
Finally, with all of my essentials at hand, I open my door and shield my eyes from the bright sunlight that glows in-between the tall trees of the forest that... surrounds... my... wait a minute.
"What the hell?!" I ask out in the open, staring dumbly at the unfamiliar scenery before me. Sure, my house is in-between a bunch of trees, but I could never forget the light poles that surround the treeline, or the driveway that leads up to it!
I look down and notice that there's a difference in the grass a few feet ahead of the front door and the rest around it. The grass is greener and smaller when close up, but a darker shade of grass circles around the whole building... almost like my house was among one of those strange grass circles cut out of large fields, only to be placed inside another.
Blankly, I stare outside the doorway, not daring to step foot outside, then close my door for five seconds... only to open it up again, finding the same exact scenery before me.
There's something else that seems off about the exterior of the place. Not only is the grass darker, but it also appears to have some sort of cartoon-like appearance to it... as well as the trees, now that I get a good look at it.
Finally, out of curiosity, I stretch my hand out and stare at it.
To my sudden shock, as my hand stretches out, it begins to fade from a realistic look, and turns into a cartoon-like hand like the world around it.
I jerk my hand back inside, and notice it turn back into a real hand.
"Okay... this definitely isn't the strangest thing I've been through..." I idly tell myself, giving my hand an inquisitive slap. Yep... there's pain, alright! I'm not dreaming this up.
Now don't get me wrong. My life was going so well. I had a loving family, a decent job, and a bright future ahead of me. My younger brother was about to get married, and he invited me to be his best man. My youngest brother was about to get his driver's license... before me, might I add. Twenty four years old, and still no license... but I digress.
However, this whole thing seems too bizarre of an opportunity to not succumb to the most basic of human instincts that has connected us all together as one... curiosity. I feel the urge to explore, yet the nervousness to walk myself into danger.
I stand there idly, unsure of what to do, when suddenly my stomach growls loudly, telling me just what needs to be done.
"Eh, I'll worry about it after breakfast." I mutter before walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge.
It feels like it's been an hour since I left my house. Oh, how could I have been so stupid?! I just had to open that fridge, only to be reminded of the simple fact that my power was out for too long, and spoiled all of my lunch meat, my condiments, and even my veggies!
Now here I am, scavenging in the middle of a godforsaken forest, with no clue what's safe and what isn't, due to the coloration of my eyes being shifted into that of a live cartoon... in first person, might I add... which, while freaky all in itself, is kinda cool, actually... if a little on the trippy side.
Another growling noise causes my eyes to move towards my stomach, as my hands instinctively grab it.
Then I notice that it wasn't my stomach that was growling...
The hairs on the back of my neck stands firm as the growling soon becomes threefold, followed by the sound of twigs snapping.
I turn around and look at a bush, and notice that the sunlight seems to have dimmed down a good bit, forbidding me from seeing behind the first layer of trees.
"Okay, seriously! What the hell do you want, huh?!" I ask the growling voice with an equally annoyed tone.
And then, an all-too-familiar shape emerges from the bush closest to me... a wooden paw attached to a wooden leg. A canine muzzle with leafy brows and glowing green eyes.
I'm staring at a timberwolf from one of my favorite TV Shows that I dare not say the name of.
Whatever the case, though, my eyes shoot open as a new realization dawns upon me.
"Oh, crap. I'm in the f
king Everfree Forest!"
