...My head hurts...I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was flat on my back on the forest floor. Tom and Alex were laying, supposedly unconscious, next to me. I moaned and sat up slowly, every muscle in my body screaming in pain. What the hell happened?

I crawled over to Tom and shook him, "Tom...Tom wake up... ". He opened his eyes carefully and looked up at me.

"Phi...you're all right...What about Alex..." he murmured.

I glanced at Alex. He was face down in a pile of leaves. I looked closer and saw that he was breathing. "He's fine...I think...he's alive anyway..." I starred at my older brother for a view moment, taking everything in. Then I asked him, "Tom...what happened?"

He sat up and brushed himself off. He looked at me strangely then shakily replied, "I...I don't know... ". Okay, now that was a scary thought. Tom, not knowing what was going on?!? But he ALWAYS knows, even when our parents are in the dark... A little shiver ran down my back as I looked around. We were in a forest, but it wasn't in California. The trees looked funny, and it seemed a lot older, and usually the outdoors didn't even phase me! But this place was just plain creepy...

Alex stirred and lifted himself up onto his elbows. His face was covered in dirt. "*Gasp* ...can't breathe!!! Eww! There's dirt on my TONGUE!" He quickly spat dirt (well, now actually mud) and scrubbed his face clean with his arm. He took a quick glance around, then starred at Tom who was lost in thought. "Hey, bro!" Tom didn't even hear him. "Earth to Tom...this is ground control...please respond..." He gave up and turned to me. "What's up with him?"

"He's trying to figure out where we are." I replied evenly. Suddenly my patience with Alex grew really thin, as I normally did. I don't know why, but sometimes I think that he doesn't have a clue what is going on around him...

"Ohhh...You mean we're not in the park anymore?"

"Nooo...."

"Oh...so Tom, where ARE we?"

Tom starred into space for a few moments longer than stood up and scanned our surroundings. Alex and I just sat there and watched him pace the small clearing we had ended up in. I was just about to lose my patience with both of them when suddenly Tom stopped and quietly mumbled to himself, "It's just not possible..."

Alex and I looked at each other. Then I turned curiously to Tom, "What's not possible?"

Tom turned and looked at us with a weird gleam in his eye. It was the same gleam that I remember him having when he started high school. Slowly and thoughtfully he explained, "It seems...that we have somehow been transported into another place or time... ". He looked down at me. "We should try to find some sort of...civilization."

I zoned out for a moment, thinking of our current problem. "Right then...let's go!"

Alex glared at me suspiciously, "Let's go where?"

I sighed and looked at him. Sometimes he can be so shortsighted. "Let's go find some civilization!"

Realization dawned on him. "Oh..." He stood up with a grunt. "OK, lead the way captain!" I laughed. He could be so weird sometimes. Actually more like all of the time...

I stood up and was just to pick a random direction, when suddenly I heard a weird, disturbing, whispering voice. I looked at the boys. They had heard it too. I whipped around and scanned the ground. Then I looked up...