Chapter Three

Sunlight shone between the leaves of the trees. I opened my eyes. What happened? Did I just dream about the cave? I sat up and stretched. I looked around and froze. This was not my family's forest. The leaves were blue and the bark green and black. The grass was a vibrant green. I stood quickly. What was going on? I looked around. There was no sign of human activity. I began to walk in a random direction. As the sun began to set I began to run. Animals were jumping out of the underbrush that I ran through. I began to panic. I had thought that I was dreaming before, but as I ran through blackberry-like plants and received small cuts, I knew that something was not right, there was no way that I was still in the area that I'd come from. Had there been a tunnel below the one that I'd come through? If so, how did I manage to find another way out?

I saw the light of a campfire ahead and pushed on. Maybe they could help me. As I neared the small clearing I stopped short. It was a caravan of young women and large men. The women were wearing thick, long dresses. They were serving the men, who were laughing and drinking alcohol. One of them had noticed my approached.

"Good evening, sir. Have you lost your way in the forest?" With my hair tied back and hidden in my hoodie I probably looked like a man. I didn't answer. They were dressed in renaissance type clothing. Was there a fair that was I hadn't known about?

"Sir?" One of the women approached me. She was probably in her late teens. "Are you alright?" She got closer to me before her eyes widened, she fell back and screamed. "He's bleeding!" I reached up and touched my face. Sure enough I had a huge gash in my forehead. I hadn't left that cave unscathed. I felt my body weakening and I began to fall to the side. The men stood and ran toward me. I closed my eyes. I was gone by the time that I reached the forest floor.