Author Note-My first fanfic in a long time. Special thanks to user: agent000 for the pre-reading and feedback. I hope you all enjoy!
A cool afternoon in late September found Jack taking the scenic route for a change. A few wayward leaves crunched pleasantly underneath his bare feet as he leisurely strolled down some nonexistent path. Birds chirped as sunlight filtered through the canopy of trees above, most of which were still trying to cling to the green of summer. He ambled along contentedly, sometimes humming as he let his eyes wander over every little thing he could find.
After wandering for an indiscernible amount of time he halted as he entered a small, narrow clearing. Standing at the edge of said clearing was what appeared to be an exact replica of his own crooked staff. Seemingly growing out of the ground, the wood also looked younger and it lacked the usual frost but the shape was unmistakable.
As Jack tentatively approached, he failed to notice that the woods had gone unnaturally silent. He reached out and tapped the other staff with his own quizzically and then the counterfeit staff burst to life. In less than a blink of an eye more rods shot up at all angles. The wood crackling and seemingly glowing gold as they did so. They wrenched his staff out of his grip. "HEY!" Jack exclaimed startled before lunging forward. He grasped desperately, but the new staffs were shooting up with fervor now.
His limbs were quickly becoming entangled and he felt the seeds of panic take root. Hastily he tried to back out of the clustered mess but was stopped by something hitting the back of his head. He felt his stomach drop. The wooden shoots had somehow managed to form a sort of hexagonal ring around his neck and his limbs were now equally immobile. He was trapped.
Before he could struggle any further, he felt sleep begin to wash over him. Suffocating, like a heavy blanket. He tried to fight it, but with a couple nods of his head he succumbed and his body went limp. The shoots golden glow faded and all was still.
If you were to ask me twenty or even ten years ago where I thought I would be right now, the answer wouldn't have been this. As a child I would've probably said that I'd be an astronomer working at NASA or a historian exploring ancient ruins in exotic locations. In my teens, I would have said that I would be a therapist who was changing the lives of my patients every single day. Today I was currently none of those things. Three years out of high school I had found myself an office job-the kind everyone hates-and I stayed there.
Sometimes I wonder how disappointed twelve-year-old me would be if she knew she wouldn't ever be an Egyptologist or a famous singer. Part of me hopes she would understand. After all, the job is stable and we're not homeless which has to mean something. However, the other part of me is angry on her behalf. Is this what being an adult means? Knowing you never reached your dreams but being content because hey, at least you're surviving!
I startled as someone called my name and I was brought back to reality. I should really wait until I'm not at work to have a quarter life crisis.
Five hours and one frozen dinner later I was heading back out the door of my apartment. It was a pleasant complex, nice units and cheap rent. My roommate and I typically alternated between the park nearby and the gym for our workouts most evenings. Tonight was a park night.
Saying good-bye to our cat and locking the door,we made our way down the three flights of stairs. As we crossed the large parking lot we passed the same gaggle of young girls who were always there. Today they seemed to be playing princess.
"No, I want to be Elsa!" a girl about six or seven whined. Another girl who looked a little older pursed her lips.
"I said I was gonna be Elsa last night," the older girl argued while crossing her arms and jutting out her chin. "She's blonde just like me, so I should be Elsa." My roommate and I shared a look before climbing into her car-a purple, hail damaged PT Cruiser and taking off.
The park wasn't that far but as I stared out the window I could feel myself start to daze. The girls had reminded me of what I had been trying to forget. Images of an odd young man and shepherd's crooks springing up from the ground flashed through my mind. It was strange, I had that dream over a month ago and it was still as unsettling today as it was then. There was a realism, a sense of panic and urgency to that dream that still haunted me.
As we pulled up I noted that the park was unusually sparse for a Friday. With its large clearings, playground, creeks and wildlife it was normally a popular hangout for the residents nearby. Maybe there was some event going on that I didn't know about? I shrugged it off and got out of the car, pausing to stretch.
There are two trails our park, an easy one and a hard one. After months of hard work and building up our stamina we thought today was the day to finally tackle the hard one. This trail was great for slow afternoon hikes,beautiful even. I had walked it several months ago and fell in love with it. The trail changed frequently with some parts being wide and smooth while others were narrow and rocky. It had benches at the top of one of the hills and small cliffs but my favorites were the parts of the trail that looked like they were taken straight out of a storybook. Hills that had stairs made of roots and a hidden meadow covered with tall grass and wildflowers. I couldn't wait to start my work out. How foolish.
Half an hour into the trail and I was dying. Why did I think I was fit again? Was I delusional? I continued to half jog, half drag myself along the trail. The birds chirps starting to sound a lot like laughter. Soon I felt a stitch form in my side and realized I couldn't go on much farther. I slowed and pulled out my phone to check the time. My roommate was a little ways in front of me; I figured she'd notice I had stopped soon enough. Suddenly I felt something hit me like a punch in the gut and the air whooshed out of my lungs. I had somehow managed run into the bench I had been headed towards. Simultaneously my water bottle flew out of my other hand and landed on the crest of the hill I was currently on. It teetered on the edge before ever so slowly rolling forward.
"No no no no no no no!" I rambled to myself as I raced forward.
The bottle continued its descent despite my protests. It really wasn't a very large hill but it was apparently enough to give my bottle the speed to rival NASCAR. I followed the best I could while trying to dodge tree roots and stray branches. I cursed as I felt another branch slap and scrap itself against my arm. Then I saw it finally come to a rest wedging itself in a bundle of tree roots. I came crashing out of the woods in a sweaty, wheezing mess. Black spots were dancing before my eyes and I closed them, taking a few deep breaths. I opened them again and then wished that I hadn't. What I had thought were tree roots were actually part of a larger structure and it wasn't a tree. It was a group of oddly shaped rods that I had seen a month before in my dream.
I had stopped running, but still felt like I couldn't breathe. I stood there frozen, just trying to comprehend what I was seeing. Slowly, I gathered up what little courage I had to step closer before starting to circle around it. It was exactly the same as my dream. Except, no boy. I reached for my water bottle carefully avoiding touching anything else; I wasn't about to take any chances. There was no way this could be a coincidence, but at the same time it HAD to be. There was no way that I had found the same evil, magical bush..thing that I had seen in my dream.
"What if you have though?" a little voice in my head piped up. "According to the Multiverse Theory anything could possibly exist" it continued and I grudgingly admitted it had a point. However, I had also seen how these types of things usually played out in novels and wasn't sure that I wanted any part. I should just go home and pretend like this never happened. However, I found myself standing back up, water bottle in hand ready to inspect the structure again despite my previous thoughts. This whole thing was so strange; it really was exactly the same as my dream. Except, no boy. Then,like flipping on a switch, there was.