I walked calmly through the cool, dusky forest. As lost as I was, I was not afraid. I was never afraid of anything. Or, at least, that's what I liked to tell myself. I can't even remember the last time I felt afraid. My mental clock told me that the time had reached around half-past-five in the morning. Attempting to count the hours I had been wandering, I paused briefly in my tracks and rubbed the foliage from a particularly low branch between my forefinger and thumb, tracing over its frail veins with care.
"How did I even manage to get myself so lost?" I sighed. I gazed upon the darkening sapphire sky. "It's so unlike me to not know where to go," I observed plainly, thinking aloud to the empty space between the trees. I squinted off into the distance, and, upon sight of it, I gave a small tilt of my head and a quiet sound of inquiry. I took a few steps forward, leaning in a bit toward the object of my attention. A faint indescribable scent wafted toward me, carried by a gentle breeze. Feeling suddenly compelled, I broke into a sprint, not bothering to shield my face from the branches whipping toward me. After a short burst of speed, I broke into a clearing of tall grass, flattened back as if a large lead sphere had dropped onto it.
I was nearly dumbstruck. In the center of the field, a young woman lingered in the air as if gravity had simply forgotten her there. She was enveloped in a soft violet-fuchsia aura that seemed almost to emanate from her pale, unflawed skin. Curled up in a fetal position, she appeared to be dreaming. Evident waves of energy pulsed in waves from the girl, sending the grass around her wafting outward as if swayed by a gentle breeze. I was primarily startled by her likeness to myself. We could have been mistaken as twins. We had the same midnight-black tank top and black gloves, the same magenta shorts. Even her belt and boots were near identical to mine. We shared a strikingly similar hairstyle, our jet-black, medium-length hair flowing in perfect synchronicity with the soft pulses that left her body. The girl's serene, peacefully relaxed expression left me frozen where I stood. I could do little more than gape at the scene unfurled before me, overwhelmed by the stunning impossibility of it all.
I brought myself to take a cautious step forward. In a hypnotic state, I reached out my hand to her, my fingertips tingling in result of the electromagnetic waves she was emitting. Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open. Gasping and faltering a bit, I was horrified at the sight of my own expression reflecting back at me in her crystal-clear orbs.