The streets were busy this afternoon. But that's what I get for deciding to walk on a Friday. I adjusted my grip on my rolling suitcase handle and waited for the crosswalk light to change along with the rest of the blob of pedestrians. With this many people it would take twice as long to get to Mandy's. A buzzing came from my pocket. I pulled out my phone to see she was texting me again.
::Where are you?::
I sighed and typed my response ::On my way stuck in foot traffic.::
In my distraction the blob of people had begun crossing the street. I hurried to catch up with them, my purse bouncing against my hip and purple suitcase rolling behind me. Being tight on money already (being a college student with a cheap boss tends to do that to you), I had decided to brave the seven-block walk to Mandy's new apartment instead of getting a cab. Plus I could use the walk after that flight. Even now I could feel the pins and needles being chased out of my thighs.
I hadn't been to Mandy's new place yet. She was so psyched about her new flat in Portland she had convinced her dad to fly me out here for spring break. I hadn't seen Mandy since last summer when we stayed at my parents house. She'd finally gotten a real job here in the city and had insisted she show me around Portland. We could use some hang out time after not seeing each other for so long. It would be nice, I decided as I made my way down the sidewalk. I could use a break from work and school and just hang out with Mandy for a week. I wouldn't worry about anything going on at home. This was going to be my stress free week.
The next few seconds went by so fast, even I have a hard time understanding what happened. I can't imagine what it would have looked like. All I know was that somebody's shoulder collided with mine, shoving me from the middle of the sidewalk to the outside. My foot stepped on a grate, or a manhole, or something. One second it was there, and the next it just... wasn't. I was completely weightless for a few terrifying moments; not quite falling, but definitely not floating either. Some sort of strange in between. I tried to scream, to shout, to make some sort of sound, anything to let the world know that something was wrong.
Until, suddenly, everything stopped. My mind couldn't process what my surroundings were. Everything was... off somehow. I blinked a few times. I was lying on my back on something hard and round, my arms hanging off the sides. I sat up to find myself on a tree stump and was surrounded by leaves. Every color of autumn covered what appeared to be a forest floor. Wild oak and aspen trees were scattered as far as I could see, and the sun was set in a early afternoon sky.
Why the crap was I in a forest?