Into The Night

Fifty-Seven

I was dreaming, yet all of a sudden, I felt more awake than ever.

When Taylor stopped, so did I, the rest I heard from the world was the distant honks of horns and slight rumbles of the cars but other than that, was just our tensed breathing and fast heartbeats.

Taylor looked over to me, amazement and wonder filling her eyes beautiful smile. "We're close," She said, fog filling the place of darkness as I kept my flashlight on.

"Hope so," I mumbled under my breath as we walk side by side, her hand never leaving mine. It was the only thing I've felt warm in this cold forest and I want to keep it that way.

It wasn't very long until Taylor stopped,  a few hills around and same old dark trees surrounded us, I wondered what was different about it. I saw one of the trees marked with her leaguer symbol and she walked towards the left of the very same tree.

I followed behind her, yet she never let go of my hand.

Until she eventually did.

Taylor stopped right near a hill with awfully larger trees surrounding it. She removed a fallen branch that seemed to be blocking our path and pulled vines from a certain hill as though they were curtains. . . and it revealed a door.

"What the--"

She twisted the knob and shrugged. "Well, it was a hollowed tree back then that fell and these hills were formed a long time ago so everything was pretty old when I found it," she explained. "With the help of some of my dad's workers, I got myself a cozy home. Of course, they added a few luxuries and safety measures."

The door wasn't as tall as the both of us but she only had to duck to enter the small wooden door. I followed right behind her and she told me to close it.

"Alright, alright, if you find an old, hollowed tree that had a hill formed on top of it, you'll eventually have your hobbit home," I muttered and she laughed. "This is not possible."

"It is," Taylor said. "You're in my rabbit hole, now."

I looked around while scanning my flashlight and saw wooden ceilings and cemented floors. The ceilings seemed very supported by some sort of metal, I suppose because it shouldn't hold it that long. Seemingly, we're still at the entrance tunnel.

"Ugh, I forgot the lights," Taylor grumbled and when she stopped in her tracks, I saw her flip a switch and suddenly, the place lit up. Stood in front of her, is another small door.

She opened it again and told me to lock it after coming inside.

I didn't expect the actual inside.

Once I stepped foot inside her hobbit home, I looked around with the same wooden, yet not entirely straight ceiling,  and floor covered with dark green carpet. The walls are made of cement yet painted as though they're wood whereas the floor was decorated with glowing mushrooms that are supposed to be toys but well, Taylor can use her imagination however she wanted. There was also a mattress on the floor filled with one too many pillows and considerably, almost half the gang could sleep on it.

I tried as much as I can not to get distracted nor caught up with the Christmas lights that are hung on the ceiling but they were only coloured gold. At the furthest edge, the first thing you see is the small fireplace, I just don't know if it works. Beside it is a small bookshelf and a miniature of a grand clock and next to it seemed like a treasure chest but I wasn't sure. The next were shelves containing fairly average kitchen utensils and condiments. So she actually got food here.

"How'd you get electricity in the place?" I asked as Taylor was already making herself at home as she sat on the mattress on the floor.

"Like they do mostly in Singapore, underground wires," she answered. "You can just put your shoes there." Taylor pointed at the tiny toadstool-looking plastic beside me so I did.