Prologue

Kylse opened her eyes, her body racked in pain.

Where was she?

The last thing she remembered was gasping for breath, her chest heaving in extreme pain as she desperately struggled to get some air into her lungs. The panic and fear in her eyes as she realised she was dying.

At that moment, she didn't want to die!

She wasn't resigned to it.

Even though she had been bedridden for the past year, hooked onto tubes as her body slowly broke down. Even though she had often thought of just simply fading away and leaving this painful life.

She had thought she was ready for Death.

She wasn't.

It was so painful.

So very, very painful.

As her consciousness faded, she barely registered the constant screeching beeping noise that was in the background, and how the hospital room she was in became a flurry of activity as nurses and doctors rushed in.

Everything was dark around her, and Kylse took long, deep breaths.

Appreciating the fact that she could breathe in the air right now.

Taking in the oxygen slowly into her lungs and letting it out.

Wait.

Kylse did it again.

Taking a slower time in taking in the air and holding her breath for a while.

Something wasn't right.

This time, Kylse took several breaths, focusing on the air she was breathing in and her lungs.

There was no antiseptic smell that used to permeate the air. During her long stay in the hospital, her nose had gotten immune to the smell so she had not realised the difference at first.

But now, she knew that this was not the air of the hospital.

It was fresher. Cleaner.

Of a natural sort.

She couldn't quite explain it but it felt like how the air would be like after a thunderstorm. The smell. The 'freshness'.

Yet, there was no sound of rain outside.

The fresh air seemed to revitalise her soul in some strange way. She felt better. As if each breath she sucked in was something her body craved for.

Kylse chided herself.

Of course, her body needed the air! It was oxygen! Without it, she'd be dead!

But that wasn't the only strange thing.

The fact is, she was not in pain with every breath that she took.

It had been so long since she could breathe without the slight throbbing pain that her chest would give. Sometimes, it was a sharp piercing pain that made her feel like her heart was being stabbed with a knife.

Taking more deep breaths, Kylse's eyes started to mist with tears.

The things people take for granted were something Kylse craved for.

Being able to breathe without pain.

Experiencing it once again filled her with such intense gratitude that the tears flowed down her face. She placed her hand on her chest...and nearly screamed out loud.

Where was her chest?!

Specifically, where were her breasts?!

Although her body was unable to properly process the nutrients that the food provided, she still had some sort of development. Sure, she was underweight and her breasts had shrunk but this?

This was nothing!

Kylse patted her entire body and froze.

This…

Without the aid of sight, feeling her body did not give her much clue except for the fact that there were no tubes stuck to her. She had been careful at first, thinking it was her imagination but no.

Her skin was smooth … wait.

Smooth?!

Not gaunt and tight due to her body breaking down?

What was going on?

And why was everything so pitch black anyway?

It was so dark that she couldn't even see the hand in front of her face. The hospital would always have the night light on, so this level of darkness was not normal.

Or had she gone blind?

And it was quiet.

Not deathly quiet because she could hear some faint sounds but upon focusing on them, it wasn't the normal sounds of people walking in the corridor or voices murmuring as nurses talked.

She couldn't distinguish what the sounds were, but with everything that was happening, one thing was clear.

<Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore>

Kylse laughed to herself, after quoting Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

Despite there being so many questions and so many strange things that were happening right now, Kylse didn't feel fear.

In fact, she felt some level of excitement.

Perhaps it's because she was no longer racked in so much pain that she didn't care what was happening. What was important was that she was alive.

Everything else can be discovered slowly.

After all, she was a mature adult. The only regret she had was being so obsessed with work and career that she never found 'The One'. Which resulted in her spending her last days at the hospital alone.

There were no friends who would visit so often. Acquaintances that only came for a while and left uncomfortably. Her parents had long gone, and she was an only child. And what family she had left, were not that close either.

So, it wasn't that no one visited her, but rather, no one actually spent time with her.

In essence, she was alone.

She was used to being alone.

Well, whatever strange thing that was happening, Kylse would deal with it as it came. One thing at a time. One step at a time.

She slowly got up from her lying down position and was glad to know she could. Since she couldn't see anything, she placed her hands outstretched in front of her and kept moving it in an arc around her. She placed her foot in front of her slowly.

Instead of taking a step, she would actually slide her foot on the ground.

She did this because she was worried the ground would be uneven. What happened if she stepped on a rock? Or she was at the edge of the stairs? She could fall and die without even realising what happened.

This method of walking took a very long time, of course, but Kylse was patient.

If there was one trait of hers that she was proud of, was her patience.

It helped her in so many ways.

In studying by spending long hours reading the same material over and over again, as she only managed to learn by repetition. She wasn't a genius, but she was persistent.

In dealing with people who kept trying to push her to the limits. Their harsh words could be ignored and she was not bothered by their jealousy or hatred whenever she got promoted.

In waiting for the test results, only to be told time and time again that they did not know why her body was breaking down.

In going through each day like a robot, racked in pain.

So what were a few moments in finding her way, as she walked without pain?

Even though she was not steady in her movements. It was as if she was not used to walking.

That made sense, really, since she was usually bedridden. Her legs must be weak due to that. Lack of exercise.

In this slow method, Kylse finally touched something.

It felt hard.

Running her hands up and down the structure, Kylse surmised that it was a wall.

Well, a wall-like structure as it wasn't smooth but had a rather rough texture.

Almost like the bark of a tree.

But that was ridiculous.

However, there was no doubt that it was something solid in front of her, and as far as she could reach, it was this weird structure.

So, she must be in a building of some sort.

But did this mean she is on the outside of a room, or the inside? That is, was she in a room or outside at the corridor?

Closing her eyes, Kylse focused on the sounds around her.

Naturally, even though it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything, the act of closing her eyes somehow made her feel she could focus better on the sounds around. Listening intently, she surmised that she must be inside a room instead of a long corridor as the sounds were muted rather than having an echo. As if she was inside a container while the sounds and light were outside and not being allowed in.

So where was the door?

Should she go left, or right?

She went right.

She would always choose right, really. Maybe that was because she was right handed so she tended to instinctively go right.

Slowly inching her way, her right hand was stretched out as much as it could go to her right.

The wall really felt rough.

It really did feel like wood?

It certainly wasn't cement but it did not feel like wooden planks either. The thought that it was the bark of a tree entered her mind again but she dismissed it yet again.

This was because the bark of a tree would be rougher than this, yet saying that it was a wooden plank wasn't right either as it that would not be this rough.

Another thing she noticed was that she was going in a curve. Not a straight line, but most definitely, in a curve.

Finally, she touched something else.

Like a small hole.

Just enough for a hand?

She explored the surroundings and could barely make out a small line of sorts. Perhaps this was a door? If she had not been looking for it, that line would not be noticeable at all.

The hold was just big enough for her entire hand to fit in, so it was a big hole indeed. However, there was no way to grip it so it meant one could not pull it.

She pushed.

Nothing.

She placed more force on it.

It seemed to move a bit.

Gritting her teeth, Kylse took several steps back and then ran to it, slamming her shoulder on it.

It swung open.

Kylse found herself splat on the ground, her face covered in dry leaves and grass.

She had not expected the door to open up that easily after it was stuck earlier. So the momentum of the push, followed by her tripping over her feet, resulted in her falling spectacularly on the ground.

Her body was in pain.

The ground was not soft indeed.

Her face hurt.

Her chest hurt.

Even her private parts felt painful – which was strange, really but she didn't think anything about it at that point.

She was in just so much pain that her entire body seemed to be enveloped in it.

She brought her head up to look at what was in front of her.

Though it was still dark, it was not pitch black like earlier. It was night-time, and the moonlight illuminated the area softly.

All she could see, as far as the eyes could see … were trees.

Trees.

Her eyes widened.

She was in a forest?!

A f*cking forest?!

She pushed herself up, groaning as her body seemed to protest, and for the first time, saw her tiny hands.

She gasped.

She sat down on her butt, staring at her tiny hands.

Then, at her tidy body.

"What the f*ck is going on?!" Kylse shouted, her voice being very high pitched.

Not only was this not her body, but she was also a kid?!

No, not a kid.

Worse.

A toddler.

No, wait.

That wasn't the worst thing.

She still felt pain.

Earlier, her entire body was hurting so it didn't quite register in her mind about it but right now, she felt a throbbing in between her legs.

Why was there such sharp pain there?

It should not have been there.

An incredible thought entered her mind and she could not think it was possible.

She gulped and squinting her eyes, Kylse held the waistband of her shorts and pulled outwards.

She looked in.

Damn.

There it was.

A tiny mother-f*cking penis.

NOTE: DATE OF RELEASE IS 2 JANUARY 2023