Chapter 1: Finding Fungus
It was a sunless late Summer's day and surprisingly cold in spite of the high humidity that brought the low rolling clouds over the mountains. The cool temperatures were the reason Adrian had decided to hike the Appalachian trail that particular afternoon, other than the prospect of getting some breathtaking footage from the small drone strapped to his backpack.
Gravel crunching underfoot and the chirping of finches were all he could hear over the sound of his labored panting on one of the steeper expanses of the path. His puffy brunette mohawk hung damp in his face; his glasses smeared with grease each time his hair brushed over them. His chest compressor and short sleeved button-down were uncomfortably moist from sweat and the breeze would chill them in the least refreshing sort of way. Even his comfortable tan cargo shorts felt like needles grazing his overworked thighs with each step as he pressed onward.
"Aahhh..." Adrian groaned up at the white sky, stopping to catch a breath and slouching pathetically under the weight of his bulky pack. "Why the hell am I doing this? Hahh… I can't do physical activities with my lungs."
He would have normally followed up that statement with some joke along the lines of using somebody else's lungs instead, but his exhaustion was too great. Scanning the area through his smudged lenses, he spotted a flat-topped rock cluster nestled between twin birch trees just a short ways ahead, by a sharp turn in the path. It seemed an ideal spot to sit for a moment and replenish his water and nutrient starved muscles. After he had trudged those last agonizing steps, he gratefully plopped down on the relatively clean medium sized boulder, slowly managing to snake his arms out of his backpack straps and place it pouch-side up on the taller rock.
Kicking his low-cut brown boots up on the shortest of the stones, he pulled free a large water bottle and a near to bursting ziplock bag of trail mix from the pack, spending the next few minutes noshing and admiring the varied shades of green in the deciduous canopy above him. Even once he had resealed his still plentiful dried snacks and water, he stayed for a while. With his back against the silvery white trunk of one tree and facing the other, he could almost imagine he had reclined in a hammock. The rustling of wind in the leaves was a mind-numbing sort of white noise that had him dozing before he knew what hit him.
About half an hour later, a rapid tapping in the distance roused Adrian from his rest with a start. He sat up straight, nearly knocking his precious belongings tumbling down the hillside. Following the sound with his eye, he discovered that the rapping was merely a woodpecker in another tree. He sighed, checking the time quickly. Luckily, his nap was not long enough for him to worry about it becoming dark before he could get his footage and return down the mountain.
Well enough refreshed, Adrian pushed his way to the top of the incline he struggled with most since the beginning of the hike. Finally, he reached a stretch of clear ground where an old mudslide left the area with a gorgeous overlook on the rest of the mountainscape and forest. If not for the clouds, one might have gotten to look upon the settlements at the base of the beautiful granite cliffs.
Awed all but to tears, he set down his gear and had a long recording session with his drone, capturing the scenery to look back on the next time he wanted to escape city life (without all the sweating and bug bites). Eventually, the drone was approaching low battery life and he retrieved it, heading back down from the ridge. Descending the slope now was a breeze and he had to resist the urge to run with his arms out like wings, lest he succumb to fatigue again or crash face first into a tree.
Passing by the spot where he'd come to rest at the rocks and birches, his eye caught something that he was certain had not been there before; on the largest boulder sat a mushroom, looking as if it had been growing there for a week. It was a few inches tall, had a domed red cap speckled with white splotches, and the pale beige stem was oddly sunken into the stone.
Adrian halted completely in his tracks, observed the fungus for a moment, then approached. He had seen this type of mushroom before, but never in person, and he was sure they were not native to the area. Having a sibling who enjoyed mycology as a hobby and being a general nerd in the realm of gaming and the internet, the name of this one was easily rolling off the tip of his tongue.
"Amanita muscaria…" He reached out, gently rubbing a finger along the cap's rim, avoiding most of the white scabs, and he smiled. "Just like the mushrooms from Mario. They don't usually grow here or on rocks, though. That's weird..."
He continued to pet the shroom and muse to himself for a bit before decidedly plucking the agaric to take as a souvenir. He wouldn't eat it, knowing the psychoactive compounds it contained, but it would be cool to preserve and show off to his fungus-freak of a sister.
Turning to get back on the trail, eyes still on his new mushy travel companion, Adrian failed to see the newest instance of the mysterious fungus that silently sprouted a foot tall directly behind his boot. Had his backpack's weight not thrown off his balance, he would not have staggered off the curve of the path, but he did. He fell, rolled, and tumbled painfully between trees, over rocks, and through abrasively scratchy underbrush down the scarp, getting dirt in his eyes and leaf litter in his clothes. After a long ten to fifteen seconds of playing as the disk in a round of pine tree plinko, he came to rest in a dip on the cliff face.
Having laid still, hissing in pain for a good five minutes, Adrian started trying to give himself an evaluation on his well-being. First he made sure his hands were fully responsive; check. Next, wiggling toes. No broken bones, he still knew his own name and where he was (relatively speaking), and the worst of his injuries he presumed were going to be just scrapes and ugly bruises. No permanent damage seemed to be done.
He sat up and started inspecting his gear; unfortunately for him, his drone was missing two of the four propellers and had a multitude of scratches and chips. He doubted the camera would ever work again.
"Damn! I mean, I could probably still get my footage off of it... Better than leaving it here. Can't dwell on it now." He wanted to be sad about breaking the awesome gift his mom had given him on his 21st birthday, but in this situation he couldn't spare the sentiment. He settled for keeping it fastened.
He checked his other possessions; glasses were intact, phone still worked (but had no reception), keys were on the chain, flashlight was in one piece, switchblade worked. His trail mix was a bit crushed up, but both that and his water were consumable at the very least. He somehow had not lost the mushroom that got him into this mess. His first aid kit and emergency spare clothes were disorganized but nothing was missing. While he had them out, he decided to patch himself up and change out of his sweaty hiking attire. If it were to get dark before he found his way back to a camp or trail, those wet and bloody clothes could mean trouble for plenty of reasons he elected not to think about.
Now dressed in a long sleeve orange shirt that would make him easily visible to other hikers, and durable blue jeans that would protect his scuffed up legs from the flora and fauna of the wilderness, Adrian felt less exposed but no less endangered by his surroundings. With a general direction in mind, he set off and hoped for the best.
After no less than thirty seconds into his venture, Adrian stumbled straight into a strange looking clearing in the trees. There was an oblong patch of barren ground, no wider in diameter than a moderate size swimming pool. The perimeter was practically fenced in with close knit trees connected by choking vines, though the trees thrived and had a great many leaves casting shadows on the field. In the center, in a small halo of light shone through a gap in the forest ceiling, lay a marvel of folklore.
"You gotta be kidding." Adrian walked straight up to the edge of it, partly fuming, but undeniably amazed. "These freaking mushrooms? More of them?"
At his feet was one side of a large ring of Amanita muscaria caps, at least a dozen, all different shapes and girths but none shorter than ankle height.
"It's ridiculous. I've never seen a fairy circle like this. Never…" He tightly gripped his backpack straps as he whispered, losing himself in the reverie of such a mystifying sight. So entranced by the strange oversized shrooms was he, the compulsion to enter the ring and lay in its midst overtook his sense. The next thing he knew…
There was pure darkness, and he was falling.