I watched planes land and fly off into the distance. Heard the sound of thousands of footsteps walking past me. The sound of a crying child in my arms as I tried to calm him down as best as I could.
I handed the small baby boy off to a pretty little girl on my left, and allowed her to try her best to calm him down. Her brown hair and entrancing brown eyes held my attention.
"You really should have payed attention in Ms. Whitaker's class," The girl said. I stared at her euphorically, and did nothing but look at her until I heard another voice.
"Mr. Conner."
When I looked back forward I saw a real estate agent talking to me.
The girl on my left was listening attentively at the words of the agent. I tried to listen in, but all I could here were silent muffles coming out of her mouth. The agent then led us to the house and allowed us to go in first. Once we were inside, I saw our furniture all planted around the humble abode.
"James," I heard the sweet little voice behind me say.
"Stay safe out there, I don't want you getting hurt," The pretty little girl said. Her face had changed. It wasn't small and cute anymore. It was long and elegant. I looked down at myself to see that I was wearing a police uniform with all the gadgets and such that would be strapped onto it.
"Daddy!" I heard a rapid set of feet behind me before they suddenly clung to my leg. I was about to pick the boy up, but the girl did that for me instead. The kid couldn't have been older than four at the time, but I didn't focus on him. I was being dragged to the door by an unknown force, and was looking at the two being slowly pulled away from me. And before I knew it, I was outside the door and headed to a blue car parked on my driveway.
Once I was inside, I started the engine and was about to back out when I heard another voice again.
"Me to be like you, I know, but I don't want to study these things," said a boy on my right.
I was about to respond to him, but I looked down at myself to see that I was wearing a long blue sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans. I then slowly looked to my left just in time for a car to hit me head on.
My eyes slowly opened to the sound of dripping water. A couple of feet to my left I could see a small puddle being formed by small droplets of water that had creeped from a crack that ceiling above. I then looked around the dark cave that I had claimed and, as I expected, was still barren of life. Shortly after my observation, I looked outside the small gaping hole that I was sleeping near.
Outside, I could see the sun slowly rising over the horizon and pecking the trees with kisses of light. I was a bit surprised that I was waking up at the crack of dawn, I usually woke up before the sky would even light up. It was a habit I developed after a year on the P.D.
I could do nothing more but stare up at the celestial body slowly craning over the landscape. It made me feel at peace for a time, soothing my frantic mind and soothing my warming my cold body. But as I was being bathed in sunlight, my mind began to wonder again. I started to think of how I got into this mess, and I let my mind conjure impossible theories. Such things as being teleported here, wormholes, the world exploding, time travel, a hole in the ground, resurrection, the list goes on.
But none of it made any sense. Honestly, teleportation? It's inconceivable.
But as I was questioning as to how I was brought into this domain, my digestive system began to stir and rumble. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten so many apples. I fell onto my hands and vomited out liquefied garbage all over the rocky floor.
Around a minute had passed until my stomach stopped pumping out all the apples I ate. I then, ever so slowly, got on my slightly wobbling feet. But as my body felt rejuvenated, my feet felt fractured.
I feel back onto the cold ground and groaned in pain. My feet felt like they were being torn apart, and my legs couldn't have been in any more pain. I slowly took one of my shoes off to reveal a disgusting dark colored sock that was inside and of it.
I then pulled the sock off with some restraint to show blisters that had surrounded the underside of my foot. I don't know how I didn't feel it sooner, but it seemed my brain finally registered the bloody things that were festering on my foot. I no sooner pulled off my shoe and sock on my other foot to see that it was dripping with pus.
I sat there for a while, basking in the unholy pain that plagued my feet. Every single time my toes flinched, it felt like my feet was being sawed off. It was excruciating, but somewhat bearable. Somewhat.
I ever so carefully put my shoes and socks back on, and started to crawl out of the cave. My hands clung to the ground and my arms pulled me with fervor as my useless legs were dragged behind me.
I had the smart idea to dunk my feet into the river to help them cooldown. I pulled myself through muck and dirt through grim and stain, but I eventually got back to the bank of that river.
But before I could even take my shoes off I heard growling in the distance. I looked around me to see if I was in imminent danger, but I didn't see anything. Yet as I turned my head back forward I saw a massive creature past the running currents of the water.
In the distance, imposing of power and command stood an intimidating animal. Its lion head, dragon like body, and scorpion tail was all the more threatening. He looked at me as predator would its prey and began growling again. It paced back and forth on the other side of the river it stood upon, looking for a way to get to me. I knew I was safe from it; the cold waters would have sunk it under if it attempted to cross.
But as it stared me down and let the time slip by, another sound came further in the distance. It sounded near similar to the thing that was looking at me, yet it was higher pitched. As soon as the creature heard that noise, it made a b-line to it, completely forgetting that I existed.
It was an interesting experience to see a predatorial animal stare me down only to go away. It was confusing, but interesting.
I then went back to the task of getting my feet in the water, looking behind me every now and then. I set my foot ware on the side and warily set my feet into the brisk waters.
It stung like hell when I first put them in, but after a minute or so it wasn't even noticeable. So there I sat, my feet buried in water and the sun tanning my skin. I sat there for a while letting my mind explore the vastness of questions that it held.
I took my backpack off and looked inside to see if I could do anything to pass the time. The only that I found were the water bottles and the many bullets that were in there.
With nothing else to do, I laid the backpack behind me and used it as a pillow as I looked up into the sky. I saw the leaves of trees dance in the winds, and counted the clouds that passed above me. I don't know how long I stayed there, but I do know that by the time I stopped the sun reached its peak in the sky.
I daintily pulled my feet out of the water and put them back into their blanket of comfort. I then carefully got up on my feet, and started to limp back to the cave. The pain much more bearable, but it still hurt to walk. And since I couldn't get medical help, I had to try the next best thing.
But as I was scaling up the inclined slope, I couldn't help but notice how I reacted to that animal. I should've been panicking at seeing such a foreign creature looking at me like food. I'm not certain if my mind has come to accept that I was in a different reality, or if I was truly going insane.
It disturbed me to such a degree that I couldn't think of anything. But as I sat on the cold ground of that barren cave, I began to think of all the choices I've made. Maybe shooting that pony wasn't the smartest idea in the world.
They more than likely thought I was a dangerous thing thing. I could've just gone there and turned myself in, and apologized to the pony I shot.
Truthfully, what else could I have done? If I stayed in there, in that godforsaken forest, I would more than likely die. I just saw a monstrous animal hunting for food; I was more than likely going to be the next on its menu.
It was either I stayed in that forest and be eaten, or I go to that insane world and live. I didn't have any other choice. With that in mind I stood back up and walked through the slums of the forest.
