CHAPTER FOUR

Thursday, January 7, 2016

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.

-John Lennon

I was still standing there, frozen, a million thoughts running through my mind, by the time Lainey pulled up in her Infinity Q45.

"Tiffany?" Lainey called worriedly, slamming her car door and running to my side. "What happened to your house?"

"You can see it, too?" I whispered, out of breath. "Good. That's- that's good."

"Why is that good?" Lainey snapped. "Your apartment is suddenly made of wood, and that's good? Are you insane?"

"It's good because it means there's a larger chance that I am not going insane, and a smaller chance that I already am," I said, taking in a steadying lungful of air. I shoved my shattered phone into my back pocket and linked my arm through Lainey's. "Either way, I am not going to go in there alone."

"I'd vote for not going in there at all," she joked worriedly. "Except my laptops still in your bedroom. Let's go, I want to get this creepiness over with."

I took a deep breath and skipped timidly up the steps, pulling a reluctant Lainey along with me into the house-turned-log-cabin.

"This morning I couldn't find the plug. It was like it had dissappeared," I explained as we scoped out the dark kitchen. "I went down to my oak tree because I needed a breath of air. It really freaked me out. I think I over-reacted though." I gave Lainey a sheepish smile before continuing. "When I got back it was like this. Luckily, I still had about 4% on my phone, so I called you. I think you know it from there."

I gazed around the kitchen. It was now empty of appliances; no dishwasher, fridge, oven, or microwave remained the once well-furnished room. Nothing with any hint of modern-day technology remained.

"Okay," I took in a shakey breath that seemed to rattle in my lungs like the noise-makers they used during pep rallies. "Let's go see the rest."

This time, Lainey led the way, seeing as I felt like I would collapse if I took another unsupported step.

Lainey tugged me down the short hall and into my bedroom. Most of my books were gone (which left me crying on the inside), and the few older tomes I owned were strewned hapazardly across the bookshelves; my leather-bound edition of Twelfth Night lay open on the hardwood floor.

The walls seemed to be made of a solid sheet of wood, how I imagined the inside of a tree would look. My window had dissappeared, the drapes fallen in a heap beside my lamp deprived nightstand.

I walked over to finger the heavy green cloth, my mind going blank. I was running solely on autopilot now, my mind unable to cope with the recent transformation of the building, along with the confusing visions.

I heard a voice behind me, growing more and more panicked by the moment. I ignored it in favor of holding the fallen curtains. Suddenly a hand clamped down on my shoulder, startling me back into reality. The panicked voice returned full force.

"Tiffany! Tiffany, we have to go! Like, NOW!"

It was Lainey tugging me out of the steadily shrinking room. Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn't noticed until now. The walls were growing closer and closer together -fast.

I let Lainey pull me out of the house, collapsing on to the grassy lawn. We watched in silence as the building shrank, the outside walls hardening into stiff bark and the roof tiles lengthening and sprouting leaves. In seconds, a tall, magnificent oak tree stood in front of them, it's old roots pushing out of the dirt. My magnificent oak tree.

"Oh. My. God." Lainey gasped, feeling as if we had just fallen down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..."

I tuned Lainey's panicked mutterings out, opting instead to shakily stand and walk over to my tree, placing a hand against the rough bark.

Something hard wrapped around my ankle, making me jump and look down. One of the thinner roots had torn itself up from the ground, securing itself around my boot. The root suddenly yanked sideways, pulling my foot out from under me and causing me to fall.

I landed amongst the roots with a loud thump, a sharp, familiar pain erupting in the back of my head as I slammed into the ground.

I could hear Lainey screaming my name as I dropped away into the looming darkness.

Yay! I've finally caught up with the new stuff! I'm super excited!

I'll be back with the next chapter soon!

Xoxo, Tinuiell