You wake up in an alternate dimension.You look around, then see a five-tailed fox. “Can you please tell me where I am?” You ask. The fox looks at you with a curious expression on his face as he walks around you in suspicion. “Where you are? Nice joke. We’re in the Wasteland, buddy!” He says. “Um…Wasteland..?” He is shocked. “Wow. You really aren’t from here, are you?” He says blankly. Then, a huge boulder falls toward him as he steps toward you. The boulder then grows arms and legs, and it seems to be staring at you. “Run, kid.” The fox whispers. You run as far as you can, but the boulder catches you. “No..!” Exclaims the fox as he is caught by the boulder. Then, a mechanical shark suit stomps over to you and the fox. “Release the…Human…Thing.” It roars. “You got Silver? Really? I didn’t think it would be that easy. Good job, Pebble.” As the shark says this, Pebble claps happily. Then, the shark notices your shocked expression and says: “What’s wrong, kid?” You look away from him and notice the gray sand, the silver rocks, flat land, and you realize that the boulder is covered in glowing purple scars. Silver, the fox, looks at you and mumbles something very unclear. The shark orders the boulder, Pebble, to take you somewhere. Then, Pebble nods, and starts stomping forward. You fall asleep on the way to the shark’s fortress. When you wake up, you find yourself in a very different place. “Huh..?” You fully understand everything once you wake up all the way. You’re in a lush ocean…breathing underwater!? You watch as manta rays swim upside down, fish with legs walk on top of the water above you, and a puffer fish rolls around like a ball on the floor. Then, the shark suit stops and says, “Time to rest.” Just as the shark sits down, Silver whips him and his tails become spear like. He knocks out Pebble and the holds his tails up to you. “Tell no one.” He says as he smirks and then, he darts off. You are lost. You feel someone hit your head and you faint. You wake up to see…A corgi dog.

TO BE CONTINUED! THANK YOU FOR READING! BOOK 2 COMING SOON!!!

As my head flew straight back at what felt like I was traveling at sixty kilometers an hour through a mysterious dank, eerily echoing passageway. This almost felt infinitely long until I got flung out with my eyes slapped with the sun’s blood-red streaks of twilight. The vast air that was skidding across my face felt as if I was in a place of zen. Until the very next second I came plumeting straight down and getting my face slapped straight into some fresh grass. Not gonna lie but the grass actually did taste good… somehow? I slowly stood up with my face covered with an extreme amount of grass that it seemed like I applied it to my face as a lotion!

I slowly dust of all the grass and turn around to take a look at where I was but to my suprise is when I looked through window and notice that everyone inside are just animals that seem to act like us? For example, what seems to be my dad is basicaly a giant pig who can walk, talk and eat the foods that we eat! Not to mention I also saw my self as fish that is six times its normal size! I was extremely dumbfounded by this because I have never seen such stuff like before, ever! I slowly walked around the lawn thinking about all the crazy and weird ideas on how this was happening. Until I remembered one theory that I saw while I was scrolling through Youtube the other day and it was actually the theory of the multiverse! So my theory now is I have to find the same way I came here so I can return to my sweet home where ther are NO GIANT SIZED ANIMALS THAT DO THINGS THAT THEY ARE NOT MEANT TO BE DOING!

So yeah, I immediately looked around searching for any sort of hole near me so I can just slide back in and return back to my home. Kept on searching on, on until I even almost gave up and chose to live with these animals and live as a stranger to this world until I saw my miracle. It was as bright as ten suns combined. Without thinking all I new was that in a few more seconds I get back to my world and will never come back here again. So within a second I jumped in and found my self again faceplanted on my garden. I quickly rose to my feet and with no hesitation I looked straight in through the window and found myself watching my family inside playing some board games without me. So I quickly rushed in and joined then in the fun pretending that whatever I had just did was all a dream.

My head snapped back as I felt the remnants of ghe Grav-Plunger pluck me out. On all fours, I felt the familiarity of grass and dirt beneath my palms and knees. The sun, that old familiar pleasant dancer upon my neck welcomed me home. Years, facades, or perhaps mere seconds had gone by since my kidnapping to Astralfagar. Never again would they take me. I vowed with a clutch of that old familiar grass in my hand and with a near hysteric kiss of the ground I called home that I would never let the Alliance take me from what was mine again. Nothing except the scythe of mortality could and would separate me from this native land. This beloved home soil. It was mine. It would always be mine, and it was my life’s right.

I stood. Out puffed my chest. Near-naked as I was, it did not matter. The Retinue Cavalcade would sense my premise. When the Royal Attentuators began to vibrate in the Jut-Point throne room they would know. They would know, and they would be ready. Ready to rescue. Ready to bow down. Ready to armor me. Ready to fall behind in the quest for justice and conquest and revenge.

The golden hue of the cloud and their alignment in tall pillars told me it must be spring. The usual summer winds must have come early this year. No matter, I would declare and early start the the sky sailing season. Our armada would meet Astralfagar in the glories of our customary war games.

In my ecstasy and in that tumult of air, the Cavalcade song met the wind in what would be the overture of the symphony of my legacy. The History of King Epiphanies would begin today, and the mistakes of a proud prince would be washed away in the coming torrent of triumph.

There they flew. They had forgotten their ceremonial rescue formation but no matter. I would make amends for us all. Out of my journey back home, I would teach them.

Down hovered the Chariot-Craft, its beakes nose glinting, curved just above the grass. Its portoculis opened without hesitation, and my Red Guardsman emerged regal as ever. The glint of his helm framed perfectly against the erect posture of his pole axe as he strode to me with his forearm outstretched.

As he drew closer, I marked the insignia on his bicep-guard— my dear Livio’s marks! Of course he would be the one to take up the mantle of my rescue. Things truly were right again. Trust had prevailed. Healing had begun. Glory would once again stand tall in his rightful place.

I put aside the Rites of Obeissance Anticipation. Today would begin with the embrace of friends. I broke stride, nearly tripping over my joy and tears. Livio’s forearm grabbed mine, and yanked me down to all fours, just as I arrived.

The shadow of steel came down upon me as I saw my land turned upside down and falling down and down and down, onto that native grass and soil, which turned to red and then to black.

The first few steps felt just the same. I felt no heavier, the air I breathed in felt just as sufficient for my body to fuel off of, all the rules felt the same. But the giveaway was in my eyes. They moved the same way in their sockets, scanning at what felt like the same speed they always had. But the images they captured were wrong. Objects dragged together like a large brush wiping over a still damp oil painting. Streaks of colour from one building smeared and settled in with the colours of the next. When I focused they started to steady out, settling back where they belonged, but then it looked fake. I rubbed at my eyes instinctively. Maybe I had been crying, or drugged, or had some kind of strange contacts inserted in the short time I had been unconscious. But like the rest of my physical body, they felt exactly the same. I was not dizzy. My heart rate was not elevated. The only thing amiss was the visuals my eyes fed my brain. Was it me or this place? I could not tell which was at fault for the error.

Birds are chirping outside on a sunny but brisk Sunday morning. Filtered through the window pane and shades it has an almost robotic tone Xander thinks to himself.

“Have they always sounded like that?” The question pops into his mind, but soon dissipates amidst the raging headache he finds himself woken up with.

“Uuuhhhhggg… What the fuck?!” He grumbles

What exactly happened last night? Why can’t he remember anything? These questions puzzle him between the consistent hammer pounds in his brain as he tries to sit himself up in bed.

“Has my room always been like this? Did someone come and tidy up?” More questions form as he recognizes it as his room, but something slightly off. He manages to pull himself up and out of bed, although it needed a bit of extra effort, and he stumbles his way to the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet he grabs a bottle of Tynelol and quickly chomps a few. After downing the meds with a glass of water he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

“Wait… Have I gotten old enough that I need glasses now?” He stares at his reflection but it’s slightly fuzzy and almost looks like it doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the surroundings. “Guess I better schedule an appointment with the eye doc.”

He didn’t seem to realize the contrast and that everything else in his vision was perfectly in focus.

As I emerge from the wormhole, I look around. I was still in the large field behind my house. Everything was normal…okay…I stumble back to the the house, regretting the fact that mother’s going to be very upset with my dirty clothes. She always wanted everything to be clean and tidy, that’s why I’m surprised when I enter the kitchen.

“Oh, your clothes are dirty! Oh well, mine are too!” She laughed as she sowed me that her shirt is stained with sauce and food. She’s not even wearing an apron! I set to work cleaning the dishes in the sink, which were stacking up high, another unusual thing. I thought I might as well clean up a bit.

“No need to do those,” says my younger brother entering the kitchen, “I’ll do it for you.” Strange. He’s usually very messy, but his offer is something I can’t miss. I nod my head and stalk out of the kitchen.

 I sit on the bed in my room and look at the unfinished canvas. I love to paint, but I never finished the mountain landscape. I grab my paintbrush and dip it in the off white. I’m about to brush the paint across the canvas and…I realize it’s not a mountain landscape at all.

Apparently, I was painting a self portrait, but I distinctly remember the snow capped mountains and ice blue sky that was there before. I shrug it off, but then take a closer look at the self portrait. Something is off about it, something I can’t put my finger on. That’s when I realize.

My hair in the painting is in a high ponytail. It’s a beautiful ginger color, but it’s wrong. I always wear my dark brown hair down, and I don’t have the turquoise eyes in the painting.

Confused and exhausted, I flop onto my bed. When I sit back up, I look into the full body mirror leaning against the wall. No, it can’t be.

My hair is ginger brown, and in a high ponytail, just like the painting. My eyes are turquoise, too. I sigh and exit the room.

My dad is in the living room watching a cooking sh- wait, what? He always watches the football games, and there’s a big one on today. I just try to clear my head as I go out the front door.

Going to my friend Luna’s house will be normal, right? I knock on her door, and out enters…not her…Luna has always had blonde hair and blue eyes, not brown hair and hazel eyes. I slowly walk into her house and she leads me into her room.

“Hey,” she says, “you okay?”

“It’s just…everything’s weird. Our hair and eyes are different and my family’s acting weird.”

“What do you mean? We’ve always looked like this,” Luna replies.

“What? Everyone’s acting so strange!”

“How strange?” Luna asks.

“As strange as…if you decided to play a different instrument!” I say. Luna would do anything for her flute.

“Speaking of which, I’ve learned a new song! Wanna hear?” Luna pulls out her instrument after I nod my head. She-no-she…

“What is happening!” I yell, pointing at her clarinet. “It’s supposed to be a flute!” 

“Maybe your just tired,” Luna says and convinces me to go home. I sadly walk back to my house, and notice the wormhole in my backyard.

Everything’s been weird since I came out of there. I shake my head again, and when I turn around I face the real weirdness.

Everyone is speaking German, which I know I little of. People are riding around in their flying cars and animals are on their two back legs.

I back slowly alway. Maybe it was that, or maybe wrong footing, or maybe even luck, but I stumble into the wormhole again. 

I climb out. Everything’s normal. When I walk into the house, my mom looks at my clothes with disgust. My dad is watching the game, and me brother is standing with his arms crossed refusing the dishes.

I run over to the sink and look in the water at my reflection. My dark brown hair is down, and my eyes aren’t turquoise anymore. I sprint down the hallway to my room and look at the mountain landscape.

I wall burst out the front door and run down the street to knock on Luna’s door. I smile the biggest smile. Luna looks normal, too.

“Wanna hear a new song on my flute?” She asks. I nod my head and Luna leads me to her room where she plays the music.

When I go back home, I grab a few of the traffic cones in the garage. I place them around the wormhole so no one will ever stumble into it again. Then, I walk into my house and pick up my paintbrush, finally adding the much needed stroke.

RINGGGGGG!!

My 6th period was fine. I walked back to my house with my best friend Dalia. We were getting closer to her house and suddenly a worm hole appeared In front of my eyes. As i looked up Dalia dissapeard in thin air! I heard some leftover screaming from the wormhole. It must have been Dalia in there. I peeked my head in and gravity sinked me into the wormhole. It was pitch black and quiet, kinda like i was the first person to ever walk foot into this place. Suddenly I appeared in that same neighborhood were Dalias house is. No one was outside, and that’s strange because our neighborhood is filled wil noisey kids. Suddenly my noisey neighbors came out side with a smirk on their face. On the other side of my eye i saw Dalia and her parents and sister walk out with a smirk just like my neighbors. They all walked out side and started staring at me, then started following me slowly. For now I didn’t feel safe at all. I got pretty far and saw my house my a glimpse, but everyone kept following me to my house. I knocked on my door and walked inside like nothing happened.

When I squeezed through that crevice in Yosemite National park, I had no idea how consequential that choice would be. At first, everything seemed natural. The trees still stood tall, textured the same, green leaves blowing around the same way in the wind. The park still seemed just as it was on any other day of the year. It wasn’t until the walk back to the villa where everything started to seem- different.

As a solo traveler new to adventure, I felt quite astounded by my bravery and sense of ease throughout the tiring trek. As a reward to myself and a celebration of my new identity, Is made the decision to head over to a saloon down the road from the villa where I was staying. There was an “old-timey western town” making up the whole row of buildings where i was staying, to me it was a nice way of keeping this adventure alive.

Walking down the dusty, dirt road, I took a notice of the loud silence of emptiness that consumed this atmosphere. The cowboy-themed town, once bustling with tourists, adventurers, and paid actors, was now a desolate, eerie wasteland. Even the sky had turned a weird shade of navy blue, consequentially shading everything in sight a darker version of its natural identity. As I neared the saloon, I looked up at the sign, hoping for some wholesome western-themed silly name for the saloon, I noticed that none of the letters made any sense. Some were backwards-facing, some had umlauts, and some were just straight up unrecognizable. Walking through the saloon doors, I saw a robot bartender.

“Howdy partner” said the bot. It wore a cowboy hat on its shiny white metal head. A stick-on mustache coupled to further reinforce the appearance. However, this was not a clever ploy, as the robot had one large black spot as an eye, and another black oval for a mouth with obviously digital teeth. Draped around its body was a sheriffs jacket with a bright golden star pinned on it. “Which will it be, the boron brew or the photon fill?” It seemed like an odd dichotomy. Humans don’t drink boron nor do they drink photons. Something was clearly off. With a poof, the robot was instantaneously changed into a rabbit and hopped away. Okay now I knew something was afoot. Seeing this with my own eyes, I turned around to run but suddenly was eye level with the floor. In an attempt to let out a scream, all I could do was hiss! I was turned into a snake! As it turned out, everything in this dimension was constantly undergoing transformation. The bar was now a spaceship, and the robot-turned-rabbit was now a flamingo. I wanting nothing more but to get out of this building, and to return back to the crevice I had crawled through.

Finally figuring out how to slither my way out, I began my journey back through the path to the place where everything had changed. It was a short-lived moment of resilience. I had just gotten used to snaking around, the transformation happened once again and I was changed into a kickball. With this lack of autonomy, I was blown around by the wind. In this dark, ever changing environment, I was now completely lost and began to give up hope on ever making it back. That was, until I got blown over near a group of juvenile dinosaurs. They saw me rolling around and thought it would be funny to kick me into the middle of the woods where I would be stuck forever. So they did. The largest one was pitched the ball, kickball style, and launched sky-high. It was only from up here that I could finally see over the tree-tops and reorient myself spatially. Simultaneously, the transformations continued and I was (luckily) next made into an eagle. With this newfound ability and independence, I made a beeline for the spot that once seemed so inconspicuous. Instantly after passing through, I was back in my body, feeling like not a second had passed. The sky was bright again, the signs read normally again, and the people were returned to people again. It was the wildest adventure anyone had ever been on.

This Afternoon

The moment I stepped through the gymnasium doors, I thought it was going to be like our last pep rally. Short and small, with the disgustingly loud rap music bursting through it all, along with cheerleaders and dancers basically dancing like grown women. (If you know what I mean.)

But then, as I sat down with my three friends, something shifted.

You see, I’m a freshman at my highschool. It’s already crazy to begin with, (Like guns and knives and fights in the first month crazy.) so I’m used to stuff like that. But. OH. MY. GOSH.

The music was ten times LOUDER, like, louder than what I put my headphones on. It seemed that the cheerleaders outfits shrank even more! I’m not saying it’s a bad thing though, all I saw were their butts…they were facing away from me, okay! I’m not what you think I am.

Anyway, where was I, oh yes! I didn’t know half the songs, until the classic Black family reunions came on (I admit, I was singing my heart out—horribly). But other than the music and stuff, man! Let me tell you, those homecoming ladies were GORGEOUS!

I gotta find out what dresses they wore, not the fuzzy ones, but OMG. I wish I could plaster one on my wall.

My friends—I have three—we had a less than good time concerning with the MUSIC. That shit was so loud; I think they’re trying to make us deaf. But since our school is predominantly Black (yes I am Black, don’t cancel me) that that’s the trend. Now, I am what one would call an Oreo, (also a Japanese music listener) though I haven’t been called that in my lifespan and never wish to, so I don’t really understand. I didn’t know half the rap songs, Honey Bear and Diva (who are White) didn’t either. Emo seemed to know some, but she was on her phone.

Emo said that for homecoming, I was gonna be her escort. I mean, sure. She just has to get voted for (which probably isn’t going to happen, I’m not being mean, it’s just reality.) but I’ll help her if she does! We all had to shout to speak to each other—we all must have looked INSANE now that I think about it. We were giggling over stuff like a woman who’s butt was bigger than her head. Tug-a-war gone wrong when all the students decided to join in. A train line! And more people—teachers—rocking it out on the Wobble!!!

Would I do it again? Yeah, ig. It was…an experience.

One that I actually enjoyed for once.

And once I got out the gym, everything was…normal as it could be. Because Highschool is a different kind of universe in itself. Like hell and funland—we’re differences collide.

Our homecoming dance is tomorrow, and guess who’s going with her crew???

ME! And it’s a sneakerball! Thank goodness I don’t have to wear high heels!

Hope you have an amazing day and continue through anything you’re going through. Come on, it can’t be worse than it is right now, so keep on, keeping on! ❤️That’s what I’m trying to live on rn. Me and my friends—well Diva and I—are mentally unstable. 🙃 We’re all just keeping on!

Love you all—even if I don’t say it a lot. ❤️

9am. Target.

You always end up here on Saturday morning don’t you.

Saying you’re going to the gym.

But the route you usually take was under construction so you had to go a different way.

Take a sharp left turn away from the interstate and toward the lattice of one way surface streets named after dead presidents.

Lincoln. Taft. Garfield. Taft again because the neighbors petitioned to change the name from Jackson.

Drive under the overpass where the cyberpunks have their Tuesday night rave and the drifter shoot their Wednesday night heroin.

And there you are. The holy of holies. That hallowed red circle hovering above like a biblically accurate angel beckoning “Be not afraid, child. Candles are on sale today.”

The automatic doors gracefully glide open for you, specifically.

Walk past the shopping carts and baskets. You wish to live recklessly.

Start in the back of the store and work your wait to the front.

Gardening Supplies. Hell yeah.

You live in an apartment.

Run your hands along coils of grass green hose.

Feel the weight of the metal spade as you hold it in a firm grip.

Except, it’s not metal at all is it?

No!

It can’t be!

Oh my god!

It’s cake!

Crush the spade in your ungloved hand.

And the hose? Mint cake?

Run to an aisle more familiar to you.

Candles!

Waxy melty pungent candles.

No, bitch.

It’s allllllllllllll cake.

Are you scared?

Your hands are all sticky. Clean yourself up.

Run to the bathroom.

Notice as you flee, the floor is a little….spongey.

Touch the faucet. It’s cool. Metal.

Turn it on. Be not afraid, angel.

Out of the faucet, thick globules of cerulean frosting.

Wake up! Wake up!

Look in the mirror.

You’re cake.

You’re home.

Be not afraid.