𝑇𝑅𝐴𝑃𝑃𝐸𝐷 𝐼𝑁 𝐹𝑅𝐸𝐸𝐷𝑂𝑀

𝐸𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇𝐸𝐸𝑁~ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

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Slowly, the world faded back into view. To my surprise, I was not dead. I was not laying on my back, being trampled by buffaloes. I was in the same location, standing on the path. What had just happened? Why was I still breathing?

The questions overwhelmed me. As my surroundings became more clear to me, so did the fact that I needed to complete this challenge.

I could hear the stamping of the buffaloes once again, as well as see their dark figures in the distance. Taking a deep breath, I tried to muster up as much bravery as I could. I needed to have courage here in In-Between, to prove I could do the same once I reached Sarosa.

"Over here!" I bellowed towards the buffaloes. Turning on my heel, I began to run. I was overcome with adrenaline. I headed in the direction of the meadow.

I could still hear the thumping of buffalo feet, but when I whipped my head around to see if they were following me, I noticed that they were still very far away. They had heard me call out to them though, and were coming in my direction.

How were they still so far behind me? I was not a fast runner, and could barely even keep up with Nola. How was I, a clumsy girl with the speed of a snail, outrunning these wild animals?

I tried to re-focus on the task at hand. Luckily, from our many trips to the meadow for water and a break from walking had become very familiar with how to get there. I knew that it could still be many more minutes before I arrived, however, I was still keeping a very good pace. Even after the adrenaline wore off, my legs did not stiffen up, and I was not gasping for air. Instead, it was as if I had been an athlete all my life, and this was merely a simple race.

With the buffaloes still far behind me, I spotted the opening that led into the meadow in the distance, getting bigger and bigger as I advanced upon it.

My fear was far-off now. It had been replaced with courage. Courage and a large amount of shock that I was actually succeeding.

I reached the meadow but didn't stop running until I was sure the buffaloes had stopped too. They fanned out, peacefully eating grass and drinking from the stream.

I sat down as the distance I had just travelled caught up with me. Panting, I leaned my back up against a rock. Before I could fully realize the extent to which I had just accomplished, my surroundings faded away once again.

This time when I regained focus I was standing at the base of a large mountain that could be seen from the meadow.

A few things occurred to me at that moment:

One, that my task was to complete all the challenges that my friends already had. I expected that I was to climb the mountain in front of me. And once I had succeeded, I most likely would move on to relaxing the birds.

Two, I was still in my own body, but would inherit the strengths of my friends during their specific challenges. That explained my speed when facing the buffaloes.

Three, Dugal's advice was more important than I had realized. I could never give up. If I did not complete a challenge, I would start it again. And that would continue until I had finished all of them. If I gave up, the bracelet would not come off. I would be stuck. I literally had no other choice but to keep going.

The relief of figuring all these things out was reassuring, but the realizations also came with some fear. What if, even with my friends abilities, I was not able to complete all the challenges? I would be trapped in this... this allusion forever. I would never see my friends again and we would never make it to Sarosa.