A whole new world

chapter 1 : The arrival

Geiranger fjord, Norway - June 12th

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Three hours ago.

The forest and its inhabitants were nervous, as if an undefined terror was rapidly approaching. A doom of nature, a hurricane, an earthquake, a tsunami like such natural forces of destruction are always in the minds of such creatures, whose instincts still warn them with a dreading sense of foreboding.

Still, no such thing came that day. The high rock, a small mountain on its own located on the high side of the massive cliffs of the great fjord in Norway –The Geiranger Fjord- bathed in the nice warm sun which shone brightly in June. For nature, it was full summer already. The full event that happened there was so rare no animal sense so keen, or human technology so precise, could have anticipated what would happen on that ancient high stone.

Summer holidays had not yet begun, so it was a lone figure of a backpacker who walked down the trail in the late morning, heavily loaded. He halted near the rock, put his heavy gear down for a small break and sat down, looking wistfully at the high rock while quenching his thirst with some water. After some contemplation he apparently decided to deviate from his planned path and moved up for a climb to the top.

.

Thirty minutes ago.

It wasn't necessarily a very high top. It couldn't even be described as a mountain, really. It was as the name said : a very high rock, overgrown in time with grass and trees. The side of the fjord was a steep cliff that towered easily five hundred feet higher above the walls of the fjord itself.

The backpacker took things easy, not in a hurry at all, but instead taking his time and pausing here and there, as if he tried to memorize it and compare it to earlier memories, when he'd been here in a younger age. Finally, he reached to top and with some last heavy steps after the climb he let out a whistle of admiration to the magnificent viewpoint he stood on.

.

Three minutes ago.

Sitting content with his rest and meal for the midday, the man was clearly enjoying his bit of rest in the pleasant summer sun, away from all thoughts of stress and usual problems. What could go wrong? He was alone, the sun was shining, he had a beautiful view, the birds were whi- they weren't. Where were the birds and why were they silent? That wasn't normal. He thought for a moment but then shrugged his shoulders, deciding it wasn't worth a concern and thus disruption of his rather excellent midday rest. Nothing would disrupt his current relaxedness, Murphy's law be damned. Absolutely fucking nothing could.

Until an earsplitting crack resounded over the land.

.

Thirty seconds ago.

A foraging squirrel dropped the piece of tree bark he was inspecting suddenly when his black eyes opened wide in fear, his little ears twitching to decide where the source of the sudden thunderous roars before he sped off. So great was his speed in his fright that a bystander could have sworn it was flying over the ground and through the air, between the trees. The rusty-brown squirrel wasn't alone when all manner of birds, beetles, deer, lynxes and even the worms on the ground tried to join it in its flight to safer grounds.