Fingers nervously dancing along his sides as his mind struggled to calm down as the sights that met his eyes kept throwing him further and further down the rabbit's hole, except Ash feared that the rabbit was still digging deeper just for him. He had seen some startling things after the accident, but these things were starting to feel too real and continuously present to be something that a bit of shock therapy could drive off.

"Everything's going to be fine, I just need to find the orchard. Orchard means road, road means town, town means liquor store, and if I'm blackout fucking drunk I won't have giant bears licking me all over... I think."

Ash continued to mumble to himself as he trekked across the strange woods that had produced so many terrifying and fascinating sites, creatures, and maybe even dreams. He pondered if it was these twisting game trails and gnarled roots that had so influenced his sleeping mind so, maybe he was still in another layer of dreamscape that he was yet to awaken from. The thought sent a chill up his spine for as far as he could remember these were the worst sorts of dreams, for no matter how real they seemed or how long they dragged on he would end up back in those chains with the water rising as it always does.

"No, please no... I don't care how many monsters I have to avoid or how many woods I have to be lost in just please let that be the last time I dream of that place. Please.. please.. please..."

Suddenly desperate to prove that everything was really real, Ash began trying to go through his senses with tests. He dropped down to the forest floor and began to stare intently at the miniscule details such as the small hairs on a nearby beetle or the fine lines upon a half decayed leaf before grabbing a stick and writing the words 'This is real, I am real, what I see is real.' Ash spoke these words aloud as he read what was written, listening to his own voice whilst also listening to the drone of insects and birdsong.

Spotting a nearby thorny bush he grabbed at the prickly plant to test his pain response, following a slight curse he found that he had already moved on to taste as the coppery taste of his blood was clear to him once he put his finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding. Looking back to the bush though he set his mind to trying to identifying the plant, testing to see if it was some amalgamation of plants or the real thing. Ash was actually quite happy to be only slightly familiar with the gooseberry bush that he had grabbed, that meant that it wasn't what he thought a gooseberry bush should look like but instead a more real example.

After grabbing a few berries to nibble on Ash returned to wandering in the direction of the orchard, using the sparse glimpses at the sun to keep his direction decently straight. Feeling comfortable that he wouldn't wander to far off track once he had been walking for a few minutes he resumed his ponderings.

"So as far as I can tell everything is real and I'm only on the edge of being insane. That brings me to wonder where the hell I am... The large overly affectionate bears remind me of when I was in Cali, plus I think gooseberry is a mostly American plant so I think I'm still near home which is... Hmm, that's not good."

Ash takes a moment to slap his cheeks a bit to help focus before continuing his self evaluation.

"I can remember states, basic ideas, and generally who I am. However I can't remember any faces, where I exactly grew up, or fine details of my own history... Fuck maybe I am going crazy."

His train of thought thoroughly derailed by the more intense light of the clear sky on the other side of the brush he had been pushing through, Ash shielded his eyes from the bright light and gazed out at the seemingly endless rows of apples trees.

"Easy to get lost in a place like this if you don't know the way... Eh fuck it, not like I'm not already lost as it is and what's the worst that can happen if you get lost in a place where food is literally growing everywhere around you.?"

Seeing no activity he pushed forward and began to walk down a row at random, only stopping to pick an apple off of a branch and inspect it. Finding a nice red delicious in his grasp, Ash took a tentative bite out of the fruit and smiled as a seemingly familiar taste washed over his tongue.

"Hap....day Ash!"

Frowning Ash bite deeper as a hazy memory danced across his mind, feeling like he was trying to grasp something deeply important to him. Something... lost.

"I'm sor...sh. We didn't have enough for a real cake. We'll try har...xt year...

"Deeper!" The deeper he bit the more he remembered.

"...'s okay! Birthday pie is just as good as birthday cake, besides I really like apple Mo...

"More!" As he chewed through more to retrieve clarity he barely felt the seeds and core pass his lips...

C'mon lil b...you should feel M...'s belly! They said her name's gonna be...

"No bring it back! Deeper!" Ash barely flinched as the last sliver of apple was forced into his mouth as he bit down further, the taste of blood twisting the memories to another time and place... The sickly scent of blood and smoke burning it's way back into his mind as he gagged and sobbed, but refused to let go of his vicious grip upon his own hand as he clawed at his mind to remember...

...

Eventually Ash rose from the ground a whiles after his stupor ended, having cried over faces he couldn't see and names he was unable to remember. Wiping his eyes and wrapping his hand in a light bandage from his pack he gazed down at the ground and saw a red, shining apple sitting there. He crushed it underfoot and shouldered his pack as he continued down the orchard rows.

Author's Note

Hey hey people, Fresh here. So I have been gone dealing with the never-ending tirade of bs that plagues my life but before I end up having to deal with more I thought I'd try to push out a short continuation to this half-decent story that I'm glad some seemed to have enjoyed.
I am trying to get started on it again and I hope that I can keep the creative juices flowing.