𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐴𝑠𝑎ℎ𝑖 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 1：Where am I???

Your eyes slowly creep open, revealing the ominous pitch black sky, almost completely covered by intimidatingly tall trees; the moon nowhere in sight. You look down to see that you're uncomfortably leaning on a tree stump, your clothes dirty and some scrapes and tears littered among them.

Just then you start to ponder, where actually are you? You look around, supporting yourself on the stump to sit up and get a good look, though all you notice is the dark sky and looming trees; no sign of any person, building, or animal for as far as the eye can see. You begin thinking about all the possibilities of where the hell you could be, and how you even got this far into a forest.

As your thoughts wander and drift off on the "overthinker train", your feet sprout a mind of their own, standing up and starting to pace around the grimey tree stump without even realizing it.

Did you hit your head on the way down? You can make out some things, but it's mainly all a blurry almost montage of you running desperately, looking fear-driven but determined. Then a fall, that must've hurt quite a bit seeing as your head and muscles feel sore. You become aware of your trembling legs the more you continue to pace around the stump, still worn out like an old pair of shoes... Speaking of shoes, you must have fallen in a patch of mud or something because your previous shoes are now covered in scrapes and a lot of brown... they look like they'll fall apart at any moment, just like the rest of you.

Now that you can semi-regain your mental pacing, you pause for a moment to wonder. How did you get here? Your brain recalls that you fell onto leaves, orange reds and browns consuming your unconscious body. This stump, this whole forest, it all makes no sense, you've never been here before, hell where even is "here"!? You collect your thoughts and decide you're not going to stand around for much longer, the tall looming trees make you feel like a small bunny waiting around for a big bad wolf to come catch you, which frankly you wouldn't enjoy very much.

You start to walk in a direction unknown to you, your feet taking the wheel as your mind wanders off once more. You're sort of.. Grateful, that this all happened. I mean, you wanted to get away from life in general, this seems like a completely new place, so what the hell man why not be happy about it! Of course, the more rational part of your brain reminds you that this place is still unknown, and by the overall vibe of the area, isn't very trustworthy, but you keep walking.

Right, left, forward, left, left, right, left, right. Trees. All you can see are the ginormous trees standing tall above you. Your feet want to give out again, your legs still shaking from the draining sprint earlier. Your shoes are somehow still attached by some thin threads, you wonder how long they'll last. Hell, how long will you last in this place?? It feels like an unending maze, just here to bring you confusion and break down all of your hope.

It's working. For a bit that is, the more you wander though the more the hopelessness just converts into frustration. These dumb fricken trees, the dumb rough grass below your dumb swollen feet, the stupid dark sky that you look up to every once and a while, making you feel small and insignificant. You always loved the sky, it always made you feel at peace, looking up no matter what time of day or night would make your heart flutter and a soft smile forming in your features. Why doesn't it give you such comfort now?? It's infuriating and confusing, just like the rest of this place.

You don't take a break, as much as you would absolutely love to, you have a very strong feeling that if you stop now you won't get back up for the next week or so. Your feet dragging you along the hunks of wood, before you meet the edge of a creek. Water! A river, slowly moving and making you want to jump right in, it seems so appealing to your sore body. You wonder if the waters warm? That'd feel magnificent... you look down to your feet, and make up your mind. 'Hey, they'd probably need a break anyway.. the water will feel nice!' You convince yourself as you take off your scraps of fabric- I mean shoes, holding them in your hands as you carefully step into the water.

"It's warm!!" You get so excited you say your thoughts out loud, forgetting that your voice is scratchy from the hyperventilating on the way here.. but that doesn't matter anymore! It's warm! It feels so nice you let out a sigh, closing your eyes as a smile forms on your face for the first time tonight. You open your eyes and look around, seeing that this small body of water actually looks like it leads to more! You follow the stream, your feet and heart thanking you for the small relief the water serves you.

The water ends abruptly at a random spot. "Huh? It looked like it was a lot bigger from back there.." You get into a habit of voicing your thoughts out loud, knowing you're alone, and just not really thinking about it while it happens. You look around more.. finding what looks to be more water through the trees! You step out of the creek you found, looking back and thanking it in your mind for leading you here and for being a good relaxer.

You wander over towards the pond, too focused on it to realize you still have your shoes in your hands, stepping barefoot through the dirt and grass. The closer you get to it the more details you notice.. the main thing sticking out to you is the abundance of flowers floating atop the water, almost completely covering it up. How did you not notice this on your way over?? You're confused.. but at the same time you take a moment and just, stare at it.

Admiration?? Maybe, you can't really find a word to describe how the scene in front of you makes you feel. You like it though, you know that for a fact. It's quite beautiful, the reds and whites on the flowers (which you assume to be roses,) making you calm down.. you don't know why they bring such peace and clarity to your mind. You walk around the pond, which you just realized, is actually quite big.

"HOLY SHIT WHAT-" You cant stop the words from coming out of your throat as your eyes catch something close to you.
"A GIANT FUCKING CASTLE WH- THATS SO COOL!?!!?! AND THE GARDEN??? That must've been where the flowers came from!!! Who lives here???? They must be famous or something.." You ramble on a bit, again just speaking your mind. It feels like your brain just exploded, eyes blown wide, you can imagine they'd have cartoonish sparkles in them and you'd be floating off the ground with love hearts around you if you were in some kind of animation.

You start walking through the garden, admiring how neat and tidy everything is, the roses and some other flowers looking so well taken care of. "Yeah this persons definitely a millionaire, I wonder who they hired to take care of these? Are they fake?? They look too good to be real.." You ponder out loud as you poke a flower to test your theory. 'It feels real... I wonder if it... tastes... real..'

Why did you just take a bite of a flower. But hey your impulsive thoughts won and you were proven wrong; the flower is indeed real.. didn't taste the best though. You continue to walk and make it to the back of the big building. "It's so pretty.. I wonder who built it? Who owns it? Plus who would own something like this nowadays.. I mean it looks awesome so I don't blame them but it's just confusing.." you mumble to yourself, still wandering around the sides of the building.

You make your way to the front, looking at the two large front doors.. "Woah." It's all you can think about all this, every detail of today shattering your concept of well- everything. It's nothing like you've ever seen before. You look up to the top, looking in all the windows, realizing how many there are, until you see someone staring right back at you.