I attempt to stay as true as possible to canon in terms of species, characters, and locations. This allows me less freedom than other writers, so please keep your sent-in ideas as true to canon as possible.

Air whipped around my body like a flurry of rage. As the clouds broke from the shear force of the momentum, the looming threat of my body crashing into the green landscape below slowly grew closer and closer.

I was falling.

As I collided with the ground, it was as if a shock-wave blasted into my very center. I awoke, alive and well. A nightmare, or maybe a fantasy. I did have such vivid dreams quite often, a condition I didn't know how to quite explain. I could taste, feel, smell, and even get hurt in my own dreams. No matter what occurred in these vivid worlds, I would wake up as the pain blunted into my body and slowly faded away as my eyelids opened.

As I did every morning, I focused on a single thought. I did this in case I ever forgot who I was, I would always have a link to my past. Its stupid, I know, but remembering nothing is just as not existing. The thought of forgetting who I am was always a scary subject for me, bringing chills down my spine each time I thought about it.

My name is Jason Ander, and I'm fifteen years old.

I threw off the dull beige covers, cracking my spine as I sat up. The bed which I once found comfort on slowly degraded into a mess of damaged springs and crusted foam. Lifting myself from my matress, a gunshot echoed into the distanced. Most likely another idiot drunk, thinking they can shoot a bottle thrown into the air or some crap like that.

I tossed open the closet door, revealing the one pair of clothing that hadn't been ripped beyond repair. A clean but faded yellow T-shirt, a pair of darkened yet oddly flexible jeans, and an old pair of dirty sneakers. I also tossed on a royal purple backpack of sorts, although it was more of a survival pack I got from one of my relatives one holiday. My stuff wasn't the best, but hey, you live with what you're dealt with, right?

That one thought kind of echoed through my head, causing me to tumble backwards and back onto my bed. Tears began to well up in my eyes. That phrase reminded me of mom, before she died. Now I'm stuck with cheap clothing, a ruined bedroom, and a rotting neighborhood. I sat up, hoping to leave before-

"Jason! Get down here!" A yell echoed from down stairs. It was too late, he had already awoken. I hurriedly rummaged through my nightstand drawer, pulling out a dusty yellow and black striped yarn beanie. I stuffed it into my backpack, opening my door and rushing down stairs. Beer bottles hit my feet as I trudged through the piles of empty alcohol containers.

And there he sat, filthy and covered in sweat. As if his recliner wasn't as disgusting enough, he's too lazy to bathe. I hesitantly approached the recliner, both hands on my backpack. My step-father, the person I hated the most in my life. We blamed each other for mother's death, his aggression warping his mind.

"Get me a beer." He sternly told me, flicking through channels like always. The rent was due, and with the small amount of money he earned as a mechanic, I was sure he'd subract money from buying food for me, leaving me to starve until after the rent was paid.

Not wanting to get him mad, I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the nearby six-pack. I came back into the living room and handed him, flinching as he snatched it out of my hands and cracked it open. Taking a large swig, he looked back at me with an anger in his eyes.

"It's warm."

"There were none in the fridge..." I replied, struggling to speak clearly as my throat slowly closed up. He didn't like me defending my reasoning, I could tell. With a swift jab, I felt my nose crack and stumbled backwards. He slowly got to his feet, cracking his knuckles with a satisfying smirk smeared onto his face.

I ran as fast as I could, rushing out the front door as he chased after me. I didn't give him a damn beer, so he decides to break my nose. Just perfect.

After a few minutes, I looked back to see nothing. He had given up, most likely. I sat down, just a few meters away from the high school. Luckily, I had packed a hand mirror inside of my backpack, and could view what damage he had done to my nose. It was pretty bad, stained with purple and noticably cracked to the side. Dried blood splotched my upper lip, most likely caused by the initial breakage.

I pulled out a rag I had planned to use for washing my face with, as this problem was far more immediate. I ripped a small piece off, using it to wipe away the blood. With another quick tear, I created a makeshift bandage in the form of a long strip. I gently folded the strip, compacting and strengthening it. Next, I tore off a few pieces of bark off of the nearby tree, revealing the tender sap inside. A few dabs of that on the bottom of the rag, and I had myself a bandage.

Then came the hard part. This wasn't the first time I had my nose broken, but it doesn't mean you ever learn to block out the pain. I grabbed the bridge of my nose gently with two fingers, quickly jerking my wrist and setting the bone back in place. A loud scream and several stomps on the sidewalk assured me that I would never get used to this. I placed the sap-dabbed bandage onto my nose, securing the newly-set bone from healing improperly.

I took a moment to examine myself before I went further. Messy, hazelnut brown medium length hair that would grow inches in just a few months. My hair complimented my dark amber-brown eyes, or at least I thought so. My nose had a large blue bruise on it, with a smaller purple area caused by the breaking. My physique was basically just average, I wasn't muscular and I wasn't overweight.

I sighed, putting back the cracked hand mirror into my bag. As I approached the cliffside school, a large truck swerved. The back of it hit me at full force, launching me into a tumble down the cliff. Reddish sand slowly warped out of existance in front of my very eyes, a field of altered reality infecting my surroundings until the world began to resemble some form of unrecognizable fantasy land.

From a swerving truck and a view of the cliff I fell from, to a clear blue sky and moist clouds breaking as I fell through them. Only now did I realize I was going to die, and my sense of peace crumbled into shear terror.

I was falling.

With a thud, I hit the ground.