Chapter Two: A Whole New World
I sat up, blinking in the sunlight. What happened? I wondered as I took in my surroundings...
I was in a small clearing in a forest. There were trees and bushes, and the light shine through gaps in the leaves above, causing a very pretty effect. But I didn't recognize the area.
"Where am I?" I said out loud. Everything looked so bright. So... Animated. I tried to remember what I was doing before I... "Oh, Glob! SANDY!" I yelled his name, very quickly going into a mini panic attack. I realized I was still clutching his backpack, but he was nowhere to be found. "SANDY, WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"Ugh, STOP YELLING," I heard his voice but I couldn't see him anywhere. I whirled around, confused and still a little freaked out... Okay, so I was a lot freaked out. But you would be too, if you were in my situation.
"Where are you?" I asked him. I sounded pitiful. I could hear my voice shaking. I hugged his worn yellow backpack to my chest. "I can't see you."
"Well, I can see you," he said in a creepy voice. "Maybe I'm dead. I'm a ghost. Wooooo..." Okay, now I'm not worried. He's fine. And I am now annoyed.
"Stop that," I snapped. "WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"Helloooo! I'm up here!" I heard rustling in the branches of one of the nearby trees and looked up to see Sandy sprawled out among the leaves. He carefully extricated himself and climbed down. I stared at him...
Something was off.
"Sandy?" I furrowed my eyebrows, not sure if I was seeing this right.
"What?" He asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You look... Animated! Like a cartoon character!" I was very confused. If he looked animated, then did I? I looked down at my hands, and-
"WHOA! SO DO YOU!" Sandy reeled back in shock. Well, I guess that answers my question. I wiggled my fingers. They looked jointless. Weird.
So now we both looked like cartoons. This is so not normal, I thought.
"Okay, okay," I said, holding my arms akimbo. "This isn't the time to panic. We need to-"
"AJ, stop. I'm trying to enjoy this dream," Sandy said, brushing himself off. "I think this is Ooo. Oh, wow, this is going to be a cool dream, I can feel it!" I gaped at him.
"Sandy, this isn't a dream," I told him point blank. "This is real." I knew he was wrong about the dream part, but I thought maybe he was right about being in Ooo. The way everything looked, from our physical features to the land around us, all bore extreme resemblance to our favorite animated world.
"AJ, stuff like this doesn't happen in reality," my best friend said, rolling his eyes. Well, I think that was an eye roll... It's kind of hard to tell now, because his eyes are pretty much just little black dots on his face. "This is definitely a dream."
"Well, if this is a dream, then we are both having the same dream," I argued.
"You ALWAYS say that in my dreams!" He argued back. "And every time I end up waking up, and when I ask you about it, you tell me I'm crazy because PEOPLE DON'T SHARE DREAMS. It's impossible, you know that." He got distracted by something behind me. He ran around me and dove into a bush, yelling, "MY GUITAR! YES!" He emerged with his precious instrument, strumming it lovingly. "I missed you, baby..." I couldn't believe it. He's talking to his guitar again. Idiot.
"Sandy, if this is a dream, then at what point during our birthday did you fall asleep? Did you really climb into my room and steal me away to the hideout, did you really give me this hat?" I waved the black pompoms in his face. "Did we really watch Adventure Time, and did Peppermint Butler-"
"THAT'S IT!" He yelled, grabbing me and spinning me around, his arms full of me and guitar. I struggled out of his grasp.
"What's what?" I couldn't wait to hear this one.
"We have to find Peppermint Butler and get him to send us back. Then we'll wake up!" Ugh. He still thinks this is just a crazy dream. "So, until we are ready to go back home, we'll just avoid Candy Kingdom. Let's go!"
"Sandy..." I groaned. "Listen to me, this isn't a-"
"I won't argue with a figment of my imagination, AJ," he said and ducked under a low hanging branch. "There's no point."
"And I won't argue with an idiot," I snapped. "There's no point there, either." Sandy chuckled.
"This is new. You're normally so much nicer in my dreams." Well, that's weird. I mean, I'm a generally nice person, but sometimes... Well, I can be harsh sometimes. Especially when someone is being stupid.
"Do you dream about me often?" I asked. We continued to make our way through the forest.
"Yeah, duh!" Sandy said. "When you spend so much time with someone in reality, it's hard to keep them out of your fantasy. They just show up, whether you want them to or not." Well that's encouraging.
"So, getting sucked into Ooo with me is your fantasy?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him and did my best Ice King imitation. "Leeeet me show you something speeeecial-"
"Shut up," Sandy said, obviously getting annoyed at my attitude and terrible singing. I decided it would be better until I could convince him that this is real somehow, than to argue with him and make him mad right now. So, although I don't usually do what he tells me to do, I shut up.
Finally, we made it out of the forest. I looked across the land, and our suspicions were confirmed: we were definitely in Ooo. I could see the Candy Kingdom in the distance, and farther out I could also see Finn and Jake's treehouse. I turned to look at Sandy, who was looking right at home in this strange land. Really, he looks like he belongs here, I thought.
His long sleeved blue striped shirt and green vest looked so strange now that they were animated. His dark navy jeans didn't look normal either. His baby blue beanie looked nice though. With his shaggy blonde hair and fair skin he looked a lot like Finn... That may be a problem, I thought. I hope no one mistakes him for their hero and expects us to do anything for them. Then again, Sandy loves to help people, he always has.
He was just walking, strumming his guitar softly and humming to his music. Enjoying himself. Still unaware that this was all real. How would he feel if he knew this wasn't just a dream?
I knew how I felt... I was kind of scared. What if we were stuck here forever?
What if we could never go back home?
Ok, so AJ seems like a real party pooper. But she'll get with it soon enough. Sandy on the other hand is having the time of his life! what he doesn't know is that he is truly "LIVING THE DREAM."
I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I just needed to get it all straight, make sure they have what they need to get on with the story.
I'm taking suggestions, if you have any! Where should Sandy and AJ go from here? Who should they meet first? Pm me or review, please!