1 New World, 1
Alex stretched his aching arms after he proceeded to send his last email. His long night, now morning, was over. His rolly chair squeaked beneath him as he got up and looked around the dimly lit office, as if to say bye. He was the only one there, his little lamp the only light in the room. He picked up a picture of his parents and his sister, they were at the beach enjoying the sun.
Alex smiled and laid it down, that was nearly three years ago. He downed what little coffee he had left and wondered if he should get more before walking home. He sighed as he remembered he had drank all that was left in the pot, and he didn't feel like making another. He picked up his bag and walked out.
He was 23 years old and fresh out of College. Being the new guy at the office meant work, and lots of it. He couldn't remember the amount of emails he sent that day not to mention that week. As he walked through the main hall of his building an old man raised out of a seat at the front desk.
"Hey kid, working hard or hardly working." Alex smiled, this was Jerry the old security guard. He was a fun old man who kept him company many of his late nights here. "Bit of both I guess, how's the wife?" He waved his hands, "Still on me like a starving dog, but she feeds me so not much to complain about."
Alex nodded thinking of all the trouble he'd get in if he stayed late like this every night. Alex didn't have time for significant others, barely had time for himself. Alex nodded, "Well, have fun. I'm going to go and sleep in my own bed for once."
The old man laughed roughly and waved as he walked out the door. Alex had spent many nights here at the office, sleeping in his chair or the break room couch. He had a day off tomorrow, maybe he would spend the day catching up on sleep. The crisp morning air hit him in the face and sent a slight chill down his back.
He loved the early mornings of Autumn, something about the chill made him feel whole. He put his bag on his shoulder and shoved his hands in his pockets. It was early morning so the town was practically dead. A few convenience stores shined their deals through old lit up boards as he walked down the street aided by the streetlamps.
He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He took out his phone, no messages. He put it back in and stopped at a fourway. He pushed the walk button but the lights never changed. He pushed it a few more times, still no change. He sighed, must have been busted.
Alex looked both ways before walking out onto the road. Normally he would wait for the lights to change, but he was tired and needed sleep. Though, it made him feel rebellious. This fool hardy pleasure was brought short by a pothole in the road.
He fell down and dropped his bag. He skinned his knee pretty bad too and he winced as he touched the wound. He felt his ankle but he could tell from the pain it must have been sprained pretty bad. Just his luck, first day off in forever and he'll be spending it at the hospital.
He tried pulling his leg free, but despite the pain he was also stuck. He tried again, but the pain stopped him. He was about to try again when he spotted two gleaming golden beams father down the road. A car was barreling towards him, and the light was green.
He pulled on his leg forgetting the pain but he didn't budge. He waved his arms, but despite being lit up by the car's lights it made no inclination of stopping. He gasped as he knew what would follow and braced his head. He said a small prayer to all his family.
He gnashed his teeth as he heard the motor and then… nothing! The impact never came, but what did was a great nastia. He felt as if his whole world had warped around him, and his head swirled. He tried opening his eyes but he was blinded.
He relied on his ears. He heard the slight rustle of leaves, and the singing of birds of many different tunes. That couldn't be right, it was early morning. There should be no birds out, and they were in the middle of town. He blocked his eyes and looked again.
His eyes were so burnt out from staring at a monitor that it took a bit to adjust. When he did, he couldn't believe his own eyes. He was sitting in a bright forest with trees bigger than he'd ever seen before. Even the grass seemed larger, but his clothes felt weird.
His clothes were baggy on him, as if they were three sizes too big. His pants were nearly falling off and his sleeves hung far off his hands. He tried to roll up a sleeve but noticed his hand looked way too small and frail to be his. They looked like a child's.
Alex couldn't help but think out loud, "What happened-" he stopped when he heard his voice. It sounded like a child's voice. He eyed a puddle and waddled to it picking up his clothes to walk. He stuck his head over the watery mirror and nearly jumped at the sight.
He looked like his younger self, with fair yet pail skin. He also found his hair and eyes had miraculously changed color. His brown hair had been replaced by a smooth white and gray color, and his eyes had turned crimson red with a gold band running around his Irises.
He plopped on the ground, "What happened to me?" He began to process all of this in his head but found no solution. Alex did think of something crazy, he may have been reincarnated.
Alex shook his head, there's no way he was that lucky. He stood up and took off his suit jacket, tightened his belt, and rolled up his sleeves and pants legs. He knew one thing, he needed to get going. He needed to find people, a town or something.
He began walking in an unknown direction when he spied a bird looking at him. He didn't think much of it at first until he really began looking at it. It was big, more eagle like with red feathers and a black underbelly.
It clicked a weird tune and Alex swore he saw small spurts of flame leave the black beak of the bird. It clicked again and flew off releasing feathers onto the ground. Alex watched it fly off and picked up one of the red feathers.
To his surprise it was warm, no, hot like fire. He put it and a few more in his pocket. As he wrapped his head around the creature his first thought drifted to the Phoenix. A mythical creature of fire that never truly died.
No, it couldn't be, its a legend. It was only till he saw the numerous other creatures inhabiting the forest that he changed his view. He saw many creatures, birds of different colors, deer with branches for antlers, and he even came upon a six legend fox.
His phone was useless without a connection, but the camera operated fine. He began taking pictures of all the creatures. One thing that surprised him was their attitude towards him. Like any animals they would walk off, but they stared at him a little before leaving.
One of the deer, a big buck with antlers made of what looked like white willow branches even walked up to him. Something seemed to draw the creature to him. He stuck his hand put and it sniffed his hand a little before moseying away.
He put away his phone and walked down the makeshift forest path. After an hour of walking his stomach growled. He had nothing to eat, and he didn't think he'd last much longer without something on his stomach. As he pushed his way through a bush he came upon a blue raccoon.
It looked at him and ran off into the underbrush leaving a neat pile of uneaten red berries. He noticed a half eaten one and picked it up. "If they can eat it, why can't I." He found a bush of these berries and picked one.
He looked at it and rolled it around his hand. They seemed ok to him. He took a whiff and it smelt sweet but tangy. He popped it in his mouth not thinking twice about it because he was hungry. They had a bitter taste and grew a little hotter with each chew, kind of like a mild pepper. He threw the small stem on the ground, "These are good, one more wont hurt."
He picked another and put it in his mouth, so far so good. He picked a pocket full and ate another. The raccoon showed back up and looked at him. Alex felt a little sorry for running him off so picked another hand full and laid them on the ground.
It looked at the berries and back at him as if for permission. He waved and it meandered to the pile and took one in its sophisticated looking hands. He put it in his mouth and made a cute little sound as he ate. Alex pocketed the berries and walked off satisfied with the outcome.
He noticed there were a number of bushes here and there all with differently colored berries. He noticed the berries all had these different shapes and patterns. It was clear these berries had been eaten on as there were multiple laying on the ground half eaten.
There were some red barriers that rounded out like an egg with two purple leaves on the stem. He also found these white ones that had a blue stripe running down the middle. He picked a few of these and tried some. The red with the purple leaves had an earthy taste kind of like dirt. The white one had a minty flavor and even made his breath smell better.
He picked a great deal more with all varying flavors but he liked the regular red ones the most. The sun seemed to have shifted and began growing orange. Alex yawned, he had been walking all day and found nothing. He sighed, "I guess I better make camp."
He gathered a few sticks and dead tree limbs and placed them in a neat pile. "OK, time to get a fire going." He sat still for a little while as he realized his problem. He didn't know how to make a fire.
He had never been one for survival shows and he rarely had the time to watch them. He remembered one show where they used the laces of their shoes on a stick. He pulled one of the laces out of his shoes and wrapped it around a stick. He was having trouble trying to find the way to do this, and it became frustrating.
After an hour of trying he threw the sticks down on the pile, "To heck with it!" He crossed his arms, he had already put his suit jacket back on and wore it like a blanket. He stared at the pile frustrated by his failure. He huffed and leaned back against the tree. He laughed, "New world with weird creatures. Mabey."
He held out his hand and imagined a flame in his hand. He did this at first just to satiate his boredom. He laughed and spoke in an evil voice, "Burn o sticks, give up to my flames." A burst of fire flew from his hand and ignited the pile of sticks. He balled up his fist to stop the torrent and jumped back against the tree scared by what he had done.
The fire crackled and popped, he stood against the tree in utter surprise. 'Magic' He looked at his singed hand, he had just used magic. He laughed nervously as he opened his hand, "Ok, maybe I am in a new world." He looked at the fire and back at his hand.
He thought of fire in his hand and… boom. A small flame appeared in his hand. It danced around and flickred. He smiled and waved his hand. He closed his hand and it went out. He laughed, "Ok, tomorrow Ill mess around with that." It was late, and he was tired. He put a few more sticks on the fire and leaned against the tree falling asleep to his new Ideas.
