Cold…
A simple word of four letters, yet the only four letters needed to describe most of my life. It's hard to describe it otherwise when you must spend weeks and even months inside the four walls of a hospital room with more frequency than anybody's sanity will let you without becoming insane.

But then again, it's not like the people around me think that I'm the most sane person here, at least not after I tell them about that place.

It's not like I can blame them for that. A girl who has spent two-thirds of her life in a cold room and who, even in her middle twenties, keeps talking about a fantasy world where she is a magical wooden deer? Yeah, people would at least question whether my brain is still working well.

My little visits to this other world started just a few months after my first visit to the hospital, being only 10 years old and seeing my parents and brother in such a terrible mood when listening to the doctors who didn't have a single good news for them, being taken away from my friends, replacing the unbeatable dishes of mom with the bland food that offers this place, taken away from my precious little garden that my dad and I started just a couple weeks before... Yeah, it wasn't exactly the happiest moment of my life.

After the first time being interned for a long time, the doctors ordered that I take regular revisions. A little while after that, my dad took me on a camping trip, a trip that was interrupted when I had a sudden attack. Since then, it was a bye-bye to any activity that involved being more than 4 miles away from a hospital.

Saying that I was devastated would be an understatement. After that, I have become obsessed with every magazine that shows me the bare minimum of the exterior world, from flora, fauna, and even encyclopedias of mystic creatures—you called it, and I probably have already read it—whatever makes me feel free of my tiny room was welcome with open arms.

Seeing back at that time, I wonder if this was my little obsession—what let me come to this site for a start.

It was on a specially bad day that everything started.

That day the doctors postponed my release from the hospital indefinitely just when my dad and I finished our plans ready for this week. When they told me that I'm discharged from the hospital, we were finally going to have a nice trip to the house of my grandparents, something that I had been wishing for since, so I took the news very poorly.

It was like all the will of my body went to vacation, without desire to eat, drink, have visits, or even get up from my bed, cursing my luck for being forced to stay in between these four dammed walls, wishing to be free, wishing to don't be sick anymore, wishing with lands as fantastic as my brother's tales.

Wishing to be happy again.

I cried to sleep that night, and when I opened my eyes once more, I was already there—a paradise greeting me with open arms, a world that was made for me.

A world that I'm visiting once more this night, once I shut my eyes close.

Magic.

That's the only word that can describe what's in front of me right now.

Green fields extends as far as the eye can see, bordered with trees and snow mountains, birds singing happily and butterflies flying without worries with the warm rays of sun showering every creature over the land.

"Hello, my dear land, once more i come to visit... Damn, it doesn't matter how many times I've visited this site; I just can't get used to this faerie voice." letting go a little chuckle for myself, I do a fast revision over my body.

"Yup, still a wooden deer", i say once i put a hoof in front of me, The first time i saw my reflection on this world, i nearly screamed, i mean, who didn't going to have the same reaction if their body was replaced for the one of a quadruple made of wood and leaves? "Body sturdy, antlers decorated with gems and my mane is green and leafy... yes, everything seems correct."

I took a minute to close my eyes and just feel my surroundings, inhaling deep to smell the fresh scent from the green grass, the soft touch of the wind and the lovely sound of the critters around me.

With a final smile, I start to walk.
My walk turns in to a jog.
And before I notice, I'm running with all my strength.

Once more, I'm in the only place that feels like home; seeing the sun beans reflects in the little gems on my antlers. I still remember how hard it was the first time I came to this place; I barely was able to keep in feet for a pair of minutes before falling face-first on the ground, but every time I came here, it became more and more easy. It's a weird sensation, feeling certain familiarity with this body, but not a familiarity that someone obtains from practice and getting used to doing something; its more like I started to...remember? I think its the best way to describe it, like if I have been in this body once long, long ago, and now I'm finally where I'm supposed to be... ugh, I better stop with that nonsense; I'm here to be happy, no philosophical.

After a good couple of hours running in the meadow, I ended at the border of a lake with some fruit trees surrounding it, the calm water letting me have an image of myself: "I'm a beautiful specimen, even if I say so myself." Its a shame that I've not encountered another being like me; the birds and the rabbits are good company, but there's a limit to how much conversation about carrots and nests I can take.

Yeah, the discovering of being capable of speaking with animals was exciting just for a couple of weeks, i mean, comparing that with some of the things i was discovered to be capable of as the years went by, talking to animals is not exactly the thing i would brag about the most.

Since I'm already here, I indulge myself by taking a break. "'Just a dream, they say. Bah, explain then my fatigue and hunger then," I say to no one in particular, its been a long time since I gave up trying to explain to anyone that this world is more than a dream.

The first year my family and everyone thought that only was the wild imagination of a little girl with a severe case of 'too much candies in her tummy', but not much later the doctors started to convince my mother that all my experience in this world was some type of escapism method, Since then my already limited time in home was reduced even more with the visits to the psychologist.

"I swear that if need to see another ink spot..." letting go of a sigh, I gently tap on the ground. A shimmer extends from my hoof through the ground, and a root extends from the end of the green glow rising to the trees and collecting the sweet fruit for me. "Enough of that, time to a sweet, sweet treat." Before one of the apples finds its end in my mouth, I feel the gently pat of a soft paw on my flanks. A little albino fox who seems exhausted is leaning against my body.

"Cotton? Whats the matter, honey? You seem like you have run a marathon," I say, returning to stuff my mouth with the juicy delicatessen.

"M-miss i...i seen… " The words stopped for a moment while the little one caught his breath. "i've seen a strange creature near the flower river! "

"A strange creature?" i say skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" the little fox nods vigorously

"Like the 'Shadow monster' that was chasing you?" i respond with a smirk on my face, "don't worry, i'm going to tell the squirrels to stop messing with you again."

The little fox turned from white to red in less than a second, then shaking his head put a serious look on his face. "N-nothing like that! I really see it! It have long legs like yours and has shiny things over the body, and and—" I gently put a hove against his snout.

"Okay, okay, relax a little, Cotton," softly patting his head, i put up on my hooves and stretched my woody muscles a little. "i'm taking a look to it, ok?" As the words leave my mouth, i started to walk towards the river.

"'Kay," say him hesitantly, "but be careful, miss!" its the last thing i heard before i started running, Still a little skeptical about what Cotton saw, it wouldn't be the first time that the little one 'saw' something that scares him, the poor thing's scared even from his own shadow.

It took me around of 15 minutes to arrive to the river, with a light glow on my antlers, i let a spiral of leaves
surround me, once the leaves fell down, my body had morphed into a snake with the same green and brown color and wood texture as my previous body. "Well, let's see what got the little one so frightened." Quietly, I climb up a lonely tree at the border of the river. From the top of my green lookout, I can see... what the heck am I seeing right now? "Is that an armored pony? Wait, it have wings, a pegasi? But since when a pegasi have bat-like wings?"

Slowly i climb down and start my way towards the mystic creature who seems to be pretty small, or at least in comparison to my actual size. 'What is it doing? its…eating fish? uh...that's certainly odd'

Before i could approach even more to the little carnivore pony, i saw a baby bear walking to... him? her? i cant see it from there; the baby bear just sits down in front of the pony. "Owww, look, they're friends now." jiggling to myself, i keep watching, Once the pony noticed the presence of the bear, it took a look to the half-eaten fish, then to the bear and once more to the fish.

With a deep concentration frown, the pony deliberate for a couple of seconds before sighing deeply, After that, the pony gives the fish at the bear with a little smile in in the face, The bear doesn't hesitate a second and starts devouring the fish with the voracity of an oversize french puddle 'Well, at least now i know that Cotton have nothing to worry about.

Slowly I approach behind the pony; now that I'm close, I can tell that is a she, with a yellow coat and a bright orange mane as well as her tail. 'Time for presentations, i guess,' With the same spiral of leaves, i recover my previous form, my shadow casting upon her, Once i get her attention, i show her a friendly smile and with a soft tone, i say "Hello, little one, do not be afraid".

Seeing her pupils shrink, i highly doubt that shes following my advice.

Author's Note

This took me a way loot more of time that i was expecting, once i finished the chapter i rewrite it because i was taking more that i can bite.

This is my first time writing something that isn't for myself, im also not a native speaker so please, leave your comments and free feel to give me some feedback, tips and corrections, if you have some doubts i will be more than happy to answer, as long as it doesn't involve an spoiler