Adventure! Journey into the Land behind the Mirror!

Alice in Wonderland ain't got Nothin' on this Shizzle (Fo' Rizzle!)

Chapter 1

James Buchanan Johnson (who everyone calls Jay for Short) woke up on this certain Saturday morning just as if it was any other Saturday. He walked to the bathroom at just past nine thirty in the morning in just his underwear.

After brushing his teeth quickly, his mom, the witch with the horn-rimmed glasses and singular mole on her chin, caught him returning to his room and demanded accusingly, "Jay, get dressed immediately young man! I don't want you spending all day in your underpants!" Jay sighed. His mother just couldn't allow him to be comfortable on a weekend.

Jay drudged back to his room and put on a pair of jeans, a green t-shirt (just solid green, he detested brand labels), and some long, white socks. Jay was practically ready to stab anyone suggesting that he wear the short ones.

Jay was a pretty average kid, and didn't have many descriptors. He had dark blonde hair and eyes that were so nondescript that the color isn't actually worth mentioning, but it could be said that they were a certain drab shade of hazel. His face was tall and thin and looked perpetually bored when he wasn't doing any of the few activities he enjoyed. He hung out with his friends at school, played on his old Gameboy Advanced SP (he was very particular about that title), and sat lazily around the house when he wasn't doing anything. He wasn't really passionate about any meaningful causes or activities; he just enjoyed everything as it normally was, gladly accepting that there were no sudden changes in his daily life. But today, he was unaware of the change that life was going to force upon him.

Jay opened up his closet door to return the precious Gameboy Advanced SP to his embrace. He slipped it gently into his pocket and stopped for a second to stare blankly at his figure. He honestly couldn't care much less about his appearance in the foggy mirror. Just your average joe (or Jay, as it were) in high school, struggling to get as far out of the way of life as possible.

Jay headed out of his to get breakfast. He got out a plain blue bowl and poured himself some cheerios. They were of course honey nut cheerios because the other ones were flavorless and made Jay's mouth a tad dry, which he particularly disliked. He didn't care what foods were healthy for him or not, he just wanted to wake up so something sugary in his bowl. If luck was on his side, there would be some lucky charms in the pantry by Monday.

On a desk in a snug corner of Jay's room was an inexpensive laptop. He walked over to his computer and signed on to social media. To no one's surprise, he saw that his "friend" Tina had posted another chapter to her trashy fantasy novel online. Tina was a nice girl, but the way she wrote made it seem like she expected to be dragged away by fairies at any moment, which Jay thought was ridiculous and stupid. To Jay, fantasy was called such because it never happened in real life, and he had both come to terms with this and was frankly glad of it.

Afterwards Jay didn't feel very productive (as if he ever felt that way) and sat down on the couch and played on his Gameboy Advanced SP. He had restarted Pokémon Emerald for perhaps the twentieth time and had just entered Victory Road. Completely ignoring the passing of time around him, Jay played for about half an hour, but forgot to charge the battery the night before so it had entered low battery mode after he defeated the first member of the elite four. He saved the game and grudgingly hoisted himself from the couch. It was at that pivotal moment that Jay decided to get the charger out of his closet. But he wasn't prepared for what he was going to see.

Jay slowly opened his closet door. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something peculiar. "Hmm, the heck?" he said nonchalantly. The regularly grimy mirror hidden in his closet no longer reflected his bland expression but something else entirely. It now shone crystal clear, depicting an image of a vast landscape viewed from far above the surface. There were forests of green trees, small settlements, and an endless expanse of ocean on the horizon. On the far side of the expanse he could see craggy mountains spiring ominously into the sky. It was a tranquil landscape except that it had a peculiar feeling of motion to it, as if it were less of a picture and more of a door, a gateway to a new world.

Jay looked upon the landscape in awe for a moment, and then said to himself, "Better wipe this off before mom sees it. Always putting clothes back in my closet..." Jay went to get a wet paper towel to try and wipe off whatever magical landscape had materialized onto his mirror. When he came back and applied the towel to the surface of the glassy surface, his hand did not stop as he pressed it against the glassy portal.

A startled cry echoed from Jay's mouth as he tried to remove his hand from the mirror, but it was slowly being pulled into the surface almost as if by some unstoppable suction force. He tried to yank his arm out with his other hand, but that only ended in getting his other arm slowly sucked through the mirror too. Inch by inch Jay's entire being was dragged into the ancient mirror by force. His only solace in the matter was that his Gameboy was still sitting snug inside of his pants pocket.

Finally, Jay was entirely engulfed into the image behind the glass. He could see the entire landscape more clearly now, but all that was on his mind was the incredible altitude that he had found himself to be at. Jay felt the descent almost as if it was in slow motion. He could feel the wind brushing around his body as he fell face first into the space below. Everything was going dark. He couldn't hold on to consciousness for much longer. Jay's world went black.

(This is the part where it builds a lot of tension with a dramatic moment ending in an abrupt and quickly resolved cliffhanger but it's the beginning of the story so he couldn't possibly be fatally wounded)

An unknown amount of time passed during the blackout. Jay, who was now extremely confused, slowly regained his sight and sat up and rubbed at his forehead. He had a terrible headache, as if his head had sustained the hardest impact during the landing. But he wasn't dead. He wasn't even badly injured.

After comforting himself a bit, Jay finally had the chance to look at his surroundings. All around him were trees and dense foliage. Leafy plants of exotic shapes covered the forest floor in the limited visible range under the dense canopy. Jay had landed in a clearing inside of the forest he had seen earlier. The forest looked dark and foreboding in every direction around him, and it was impossible to tell if this variety of vines was harmless or deadly. Jay thought that he would not have the courage to venture out of the clearing for some time.

There was no light in the forest except for what came from overhead in the clearing. Jay waited for some time for something to happen, but it seemed for some time that he was stranded there, alone. Then, not suddenly but gradually, he heard the heavy but graceful tread of footsteps. No, they were hoofsteps. There were many of them, not from a human but some animal herd. As the galloping grew louder, Jay could make out shapes emerging from the forest gloom. Then, jumping from the forest with a swift entrance came half a dozen men on horseback. They were clad in brown cloaks so their features could not be seen. He stared up at them in wonder until one of them guided his sleek, off-white horse toward Jay.

The mysterious stranger gazed down at him from his noble mount. "Were you the figure that descended from the sky earlier this day?" the unknown horseman inquired. His deep voice possessed a confidence that immediately made Jay feel comfortable answering this complete stranger.

"Y-yes. Yes I was. I fell right down from the sky. Up there." Jay pointed towards the top of the clearing.

The hooded man extended a large hand towards Jay, inviting him to climb onto the back of his horse. "Come with us. We'll take care of you." After Jay was seated comfortably on the back of the horse (whom Jay had for some reason had the notion it was named White Lightning), the man continued, "My name is Jayden."

"What are you people doing in the middle of the forest? Where are we? Where am I?"

"My companions and I saw a flash in the sky as you entered from the rift above. You see, we knew that you were coming. We are the Rangers."

Jay looked at Jayden, staring intensely with contemplation in his expression, and replied, "That is the most taken group name ever."