~~~~
I awoke with a headache to the sound
of waves. As my eyes opened, and I viewed my surroundings, nothing looked
familiar. The beach I was on seemed to stretch endlessly into the horizon.
While to my side were small, but steep, cliffs that lead into a dense, lush
forest. Everything around me felt alien and distant. The trees were tall with
broad leaves, the sand felt hotter than I expected, and the water was clearer
than I had ever seen. The glare of the sun above me was so bright I couldn’t
even look up.
My head was fuzzy, I could not
recall where I was, how I arrived here, or why. In fact, I could barely
remember anything about myself. All I remembered was a sensation of pain and
the decision to make a risky jump. After that, it’s all a blank, as if my mind
was a well and the well was drained. I felt sick to my stomach, nothing felt
right. I was alone, I was lost, I was afraid.
As I felt the sun begin to beat me
down, I quickly shed some of my clothing, an armored shirt, a thick cloak, and
soft gloves. I left only an undershirt, ripped pants and heavy boots. I bundled
the articles into a makeshift sack and threw them over my shoulder. I would
accomplish nothing here, I had to find out where I was. To follow the beach
seemed like the natural choice, but I could see that the cliff followed along
the shore far into the horizon. Instead, I would scale the cliff into the
forest, for all I knew civilization was only minutes away.
My travel was slow on the unfamiliar
terrain, as I scaled the course rocks of the cliff. As I gripped my first
handhold, I nearly cut myself when I squeezed too tightly. I took more care
after that as I steadily climbed the steep rocks. It took a good ten minutes
before I finally heaved myself into the forest above.
I thought I would feel relieved to
touch upon the solid ground, but I felt none. The earth felt thin and fragile,
as though I could crack it with a solid punch. As I gazed out further into the
lush forest before me, I began to understand why. The forest floor was laden
with holes that descended into an even denser forest. As I peered into one of
the holes, I could tell the fall would be just enough to be unpleasant. Not
lethal, but I wouldn’t walk away unscathed either.
Almost automatically, I took some of
my discarded clothing and reworked it into a makeshift rope. I used it to lasso
a tree in the distance, I tested the strength of the rope, and both it and the
tree seemed to hold well enough. As I traversed the thin ground between myself
and the distant tree, I realized something. That sudden ingenuity was not a
natural instinct, but a trained response. Whatever life I lead before must have
involved a great deal of survival in the wilderness. Although this muscle
memory will only take me so far in this unfamiliar environment.
As if on cue with my previous
thought, a careless misstep onto brittle ground nearly caused me to fall
through the forest floor. Thankfully, I was able to right myself quickly and
pull back onto the proper path. Rather than continue on aimlessly, I scanned my
surroundings for a short term destination. I immediately located a tall hill in
the distance. The ground around it looked solid, and it would provide a decent
view of the area. If I’m lucky, I’ll see a settlement, if not hopefully I could
find shelter.
I hoisted my makeshift rope onto the
next tree and slowly navigated in the direction of the hill. As I traversed the
unstable ground, my head began to defog a little, and a few memories bubbled to
the surface of my mind. I remembered a city, it was grand, majestic and floated
in the sky. The sky felt familiar, it felt comfortable, I missed the sensation
of wind on my face.
Thoughts of the city continued to
consume my attention, I could recall vague visuals of the city. It was full of
steam and mechanical devices, engineers, and geniuses lined every street. I
could remember the taste of food from a favorite restaurant. The warmth of a
cup of coffee from around the corner and the sweetness of cake from a small
pastry shop. I nearly constructed an image of the life I lived before in my
mind.
However, as I became lost in my own
head, I stepped through another weak piece and fell straight down. I was held
aloft by only my makeshift rope. My instincts flared up as I felt my sweaty
hands slip and heard the sound of the rope rip under my full weight. My heart
raced as the fear of falling took over my attention. I didn’t want to fall, I
just wanted to move forward.
As I thought the word forward, I
could feel myself get pushed by an invisible force, while a familiar and
soothing energy enveloped me. The force held me aloft just long enough to
scramble back onto the ground and dash for the nearest tree. The ground
collapsed behind me, but I reached safety regardless.
The hill was still a decent distance
away, but my knees felt like gelatin. I was so shaken, I struggled to find the
will to move on initially. Then I remembered that calming energy and the
mysterious force that held me up. I don’t think it came from anywhere else,
there isn’t even another living creature around me. I hadn’t even heard a
bird’s cry or the buzz of an insect since I woke up. Which means unless I’m
being followed by a hidden stranger, the most likely source of that power was
myself. It seemed ridiculous on face value, but something in my amnesiac mind
assured me it was the case.
Direction was what triggered it
initially, but I wasn’t in the mood to fling myself off another cliff. Instead,
I stared at a nearby rock and though the word “push.” The energy returned from
a brief moment as the stone moved slightly. I doubled my focus and tried to
push it harder, but the rock only moved a little further away. Frustrated, I
cycled through a dozen different variations of push. I just wanted to knock the
stone away. Finally, I succeeded, and the rock was flung away, along with the
ground that surrounded it, into the horizon.
Perspective thus gained, my next
experiment was much more gentle. I went with the inverse and tried to pull a
different rock towards myself. With a more focused mind and steady technique, I
was able to pull the stone to me and even hold it the air for a minute. The
process felt familiar and trained, I can only imagine what my former self was
capable of. However, all that mattered was what I was currently capable of.
As I pondered the limits of this
ability, my eyes turned to my torn clothing. It was too damaged to serve
reliably as rope anymore, at least to support my entire body. Then I considered
the alternative presented to me by these powers. With the power at my
fingertips, I turned my thoughts towards the ground between me and the hill and
thought “hold.” I took a cursory step on the ground, and it felt a little more
solid, as though it were made of sheet metal. Not ideal, but it was better than
before. With a hurried, but careful, pace, I traversed my way to the hill in a
short amount of time.
At last, I was able to climb the
hill, but as I reached the top, my heart sank. There were only trees as far as
my eyes could see in one direction, and the other was an endless ocean. No
signs of a settlement, no smoke from a village, nor a boat out on the water.
There wasn’t even a single bird in the sky above me. I desperately looked
further, but I was suddenly blinded by the light of a freshly risen sun. Which
confused me, it had been light out the whole time, what glare had blinded me
earlier?
I looked up at the light from
before, across the sky, a mysterious symbol was etched. A circle within a star,
both covered with ineligible text and at the center a hole, a hole in the sky
itself. Questions within questions piled up as the sun rose in the distance and
illuminated the world further. I finally managed to catch a glimpse of smoke in
the distance, hopefully, a sign of a nearby settlement. This place was a
mystery wrapped in further mystery, but at least there was a way forward.
~~~~
Lost and alone, an unknown number of miles from home, what could you possibly do?
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy. Also, happy 4th of July!
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