Whispers from The Land of Magic: Book 1

A Curious Discovery.

I awoke in a large, seemingly 3 story, house that had many peculiar windows. Within the room I had awoken in, there was a window that was long and rectangular, the glass stretched through the wall of the room I found myself inside of, and based on that, it seemed as though it went most of the way through the house, through multiple rooms. I also saw that there was a noble-looking bed. I continue to wander around the room, investigating any and all crevasses and possible hiding spaces. It seemed that this room was a master bedroom of sorts. There was a large closet that had clothes that look about my size. It was surprising considering that I don't remember if I've been to this place before, though I was almost certain I hadn't. It seemed almost dream-like. I walked up to the door and tried to open it. Locked. I checked the pockets of the loose dark grey, plastic-like pants I was wearing. I felt something at the bottom of the pocket, it was sharp on one end and relatively smooth on the other. I brought my hand out of my pocket. It was a key? There was a house on the handle of the key, this house maybe. I brought the key up the door of the room. The key seemed to be remolding itself to fit the lock on the door. I put the key in, turned it and to my relief, heard a soft click.

As I opened the door, I noticed that there was a ribbon of gold on the flower-stripe wallpaper. It was seemingly glowing. I looked out the window to see the sun was above the window (based on the shadows), so I guessed that it was at least midday. I honestly didn't know how long I had been asleep, or even if I still was. I even wondered if I had woken up at all, or if I was in some kind of trance. I continued to walk down the hallway, following the golden ribbon on the wallpaper, until I hit a staircase going down. I had already assumed that I was on the second floor by looking out the window, so I descended the stairs. I was greeted with a large living and dining room, with a kitchen off to one side. My stomach growled at the sight of the kitchen. I slowly walked over to the black-stained marble island in the middle of the room. I opened the mini fridge that was under the island, to find a large assortment of food, at least for the size of the space. Inside was desserts and lunches, from truffles to stir-fry and curries to jelly slice. I felt saliva slightly drip down my chin, before swiftly wiping it off. I grabbed a small bowl of rice and salmon that looked especially good. I moved over to the living area, after grabbing a spoon, only to find a tall person, with long russet hair and fair complexion, asleep in one of the sitting room chairs. I slowly inched over to the person, noticing that the sharp points of their ears and the especially sharp canines poking out from their lips as they slept. I stood there eating the bowl of rice and salmon, just observing the sleeping person.

After a while, I had finished consuming the contents of the bowl, and the sleeping individual started to stir. As their eyes opened, I noticed that they were a blazing amber color, with a hint of sea-foam green in the center, towards the pupil. I jumped back in surprise.

"Ah, you're awake!" The stranger said in a tired, almost whispery way.

"Who are you? What is this place?" I asked hurriedly. I was trying to rack my brain for anything useful that I could use in this situation. As I stood there the redhead looked as though they were slightly confused at my unfamiliarity of the house and more importantly, of them.

"I am Practious. I own this estate; do you not remember me? Do you not remember this place?" They first furrowed their brow and then proceeded to raise an eyebrow, as though silently wondering if I might remember something.

"I have a sense of calm in this place, as though I have been here years ago, but I do not explicitly remember you nor this house," I replied with a sorrowful voice. "I am sorry."

Practious sighed. "You were quite young the last time you were here..." They look solemnly at the ground. "I shall show you a magnificent secret soon enough, but first, I must show you around the mansion and its grounds!" Practious seemed to light up as they spoke the last part.