The Story of Home

Chapter 2

The ground was a soft green, bright in contrast with the sky. As I stepped out, the soft grass tickling my bare feet, I could see giant trunks of trees, a sluggish brown with beautifully colored leaves. These same trees practically enclosed my house in a barrier of sorts. I was in a forest, though I did not yet know that term.

I should explore this place, I told myself. Besides, it's not like this house will give me anything interesting to see. I found myself in another debate with myself, though. It was almost an unstoppable urge to argue with myself.

And risk getting lost? What if something dangerous comes my way? What then? Where will I go? I should stay here, it'll be better.

But that's boring! I'll stay close by. I promise.

That thought bounced around my head for a while, and I considered it heavily before nodding and smiling. Yes. That'll do!

This robe wouldn't do, though. It was covering my feet, and that made it harder to walk. I was already having enough trouble as it was, tripping over the fabric and whatnot. All this grass would trip me up even more, never mind the tree roots! However I was going to do it, I needed to change my clothes.

And as though something heard my thoughts, the golden robes covering me started glowing. I could only watch as something--my own will, I realized--turned the robe I was wearing into a one piece tunic. The sleeves were still long, but they were a little past my fingertips so I didn't have to fight with them. A high white collar reached up to my ears, but it wasn't in the way. The skirt of the robe became mid-thigh shorts, so I didn't have to fight with anything to move around. It was better, to say the least.

And hey, I could now see zig-zag marks on my thighs and diamonds on my calves. There was still so much to learn about my own body!

But I put that thought to the side and instead began exploring the surrounding area, first brushing aside the heavy underbrush to get out of this heavy forest. The surrounding foliage was surprisingly thick; it took so much shoving and fighting to get out. It took a few hours, but I soon in a clearing and standing in front of a small, circular forest. The trees at the front curved noticeably, so I knew the ring was quite small relative to the clearing.

Odd, I thought to myself, but at least I won't get lost. How hard is it to find a circular forest in a clearing, after all?

I wandered around the clearing for a while, the grass cool under my feet. It was hard to believe I was stuck in that crystal house; it felt like an eternity since I've been there!

Something chirped above me. I looked up into the bright leaves and saw something jumping through it. What was it? Whatever it was, I couldn't see it.

Rolling my sleeves up to my elbows as best as I could, I started inching my way up the tree, scraping the inside of my thighs and my hands in the process. I didn't feel the pain, though. My mission was at the forefront of my mind, and no amount of pain would keep me from it.

Before long, I was straddling a thick branch, trying to push the leaves out of the way to get a look at whatever creature I heard. Much to my dismay, though, it seemed to be long gone. I strained my arms to reach out to other branches, but I couldn't without fear of falling.

Have to leap some time. Nothing in this world can hurt me.

Oh yeah? And what if I fall from this height and break something? What'll I do then? I'm the only one here!

Don't think, just do.

So I did.

Without thinking about the many consequences of failing, I leaped from the branch and reached for a higher one. My fingers grazed the bark, barely catching hold, before they slipped.

My mind froze. Everything around me stood still. That was when I realized that nothing was really happening. I'd frozen mid-fall.

What was happening?

This is freaky...

The other part of my mind didn't have a retort to that because yes, this was freaky. How was I supposed to get down? I looked down at the ground, but it was too far to fall without injuries.

I should try concentrating. Maybe this is like changing clothes and I need to just will myself up or down. If I think hard about it, I could bring myself to the branch. After all, didn't I want to stop falling when I froze?

I agreed with myself. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax.

Up. Go up.

A pull tugged at my chest as I began to climb in midair. My eyes were still screwed shut; I didn't dare look down or I might lose my nerve. It wasn't until I was securely on the branch I was aiming for that I opened my eyes and looked around.

That was when I saw it. A winged creature perched on the small branch above me, its head tilted in confusion or curiosity. I'm sure it regarded me with the same wonder as I regarded it. Its feathers were the same green as the leaves, and they were even distributed the same as the leaves. It's feet had the same color and texture as the bark, and the beak was a lighter shade of green. The eyes may as well have been nonexistent. It was no wonder I couldn't see it; its camouflage was perfect.

Slowly, I extended a hand toward it. It jumped back in shock, but after a moment of curious hesitation, it hopped back to me. Encouraged by its hop forward, it continued inching toward me until its feet were resting on the palm of my hand. With the same patience as before, I brought my hand back.

The small creature's head flicked to the side, one of its beady eyes on me now. I couldn't help but smile; I'd be sharing this world with this little creature. I couldn't think of anything better than this. Carefully, I set it back down on the branch so it could go back to whatever it was doing.

The ground was much higher up now, but now that I knew I could control how fast I fell down, I felt no fear as I allowed myself to fall. The ground plummeted toward me, coming faster and faster, and then suddenly stopped. My feet were barely touching the ground. Giggling with glee, I let myself fall the rest of the way, landing safely on the grass.

Keeping one eye on the circular forest, I started racing around the clearing, though I found no other wildlife. That didn't matter, though. I didn't even think there would be any more, so why should I really look for more?

I laid in the grass, looking up at the dark-bright sky, my arms and legs splayed out in the grass as I relaxed. I closed my eyes to take in the warmth.

And I felt something breathe on me.

My eyes snapped open. I was staring right into the amber eyes of a land creature, orange fur with a white stripe down the snout, which was a deep black. It wasn't growling, but it was clear that the creature would attack if I made any sudden movements.

So I didn't.

I just stared up at this creature, whose eyes seemed to see right through my soul. It blinked slowly at me before curling up beside me and closing its eyes. I smiled; everything here was perfect.