“And the sky… it was so green! Like, limelight green. I mean, everything there just defied all of my logic. Not just my logic, the world’s logic! All of science was tossed out the window! Rocks floated above the ground. Wait, not just rocks, entire mountains floated thousands of feet in the air! It was incredible!”

Zach looks unamused. “I think you’re letting your grandma’s stories get to your head. You must have dreamed it all up. There’s no way that such a place could have existed!”

“But that’s the thing! It did exist. A-and I can prove it! Come by Grandma’s house after school today, and I’ll show you.” We are eating lunch in the cafeteria, Zach with his school pizza and me with my homemade ham and turkey sandwich. I’m trying to convince Zach that my Grandma’s stories are real, but to no avail.

“Jack, look, I’m pretty sure you just dreamed it all. Heck, even I wouldn’t believe it if I ever saw it.” Zach seems resolute with his conclusion. There’s no way he’s going to give it up without physical proof. “I will, however, give it a shot. I’ll see you after school. Right now, though, I need to go study.”

I was happy that he was going to give it a shot, but I was annoyed he was leaving me already. “Dude, it’s only the second day of school. What do you have to study for?” There can’t be any classes that give out homework on the first day.

“I’ve got a college English class, and I was supposed to do a reading last night. I never got around to it. I… got distracted.” Zach left.

Zach never told me he had a college class. We shared everything with each other, especially our schedules, and I do not remember a college English class there. It must have been a last-second change he made.

His absence does give me time to think about what I saw. After I had jumped past the treeline, there was a rush of warm and slightly humid air. A split second later, my feet touched the ground of an entirely different world. Everything was painted in bright colors. The trees were a neon pink, and the leaves were a crimson red. I turned around and saw the treeline was still there, but the trees were similar to those of this world. I knew I shouldn’t go too far, so I pushed through some purple bushes and found a small pond. The water was forest green, a darker shade than the sky. There was a waterfall running into the pond, but there was no foundation. It fell straight from the sky. I looked up to see where the water came from, and I saw a floating island. I looked around the sky a bit more, and I continued to see all of these floating islands, hanging in the sky. It was incredible! Even small rocks floated just above the ground in some areas.

The mountains were orange, both floating and grounded. They stretched into the sky, and I swear I saw towers jutting out of the sides of the mountains. Those towers must have been similar to the ones my Grandma told me about because even though each one was different, there were a couple of designs I could point out. One had a spiral, similar to that of a spring. One tower looked like it was built with several geometric shapes. A couple even looked like giant trees. Each one had to mark a village or town of some kind. There’s no way they were just left there by accident.

I was about to continue exploring when I remembered that Grandma would probably start to wonder where I was if I explored for too long. I decided to turn around and go back to the real world. I jumped through the tree line, felt a rush of cool air, and was back on the other side right before Grandma came out. As far as I knew, she didn’t see my jump through the tree line either way. Or maybe she did, but she didn’t say anything either way.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I’m brought back to the present by the bell. Lunch was over. I pack up my stuff and start walking to my next class.

What was that place? I assume it was the world from Grandma’s stories. Everything there matches her descriptions of the world she fought and saved several different species than ours. That means that she has to know the world is back there. How couldn’t she? She is the main protagonist in all her stories of that place. It makes sense that she would know about it.

I want to ask her about it. I want to know if she knew about this fantasy world behind her house. The only problem is, if I ask her, she’ll know that I jumped past her tree line. She’ll know that I broke her one and only rule. Would she be able to trust me ever again? I don’t know if I’d be able to bear the look on her face when I tell her the truth.

The rest of the day was spent with that question on my mind. I had a pre-test in one class that I’m sure I could’ve done way better on if I had been paying more attention. I swear I almost had a panic attack between classes because I was so worried about telling Grandma the truth. What if I hide it from her? Would she find out, or would she eventually die, never knowing what I found?

After school, I drive straight to Grandma Curtan’s house. Zach shows up a minute later, and we walk around to the back together. I’m determined to show him the portal in the tree line, determined to show him this hidden world that Grandma may or may not know about.

Grandma’s not there. She’s probably either inside or at a volunteer service. Either way, it gives us plenty of time to jump past the tree line. It gives me enough time to show Zach the world and to prove that I’m not crazy. Maybe we’ll even have time to go deeper into the world, explore it just a little bit more.

“So, we just jump past the tree line?” Zach asks.

“Yep,” I reply. “You just gotta jump right between these two trees.” I gestured to the area I jumped through. “Then, on the other side, we’ll see an amazing world that we probably have to explore!”

“Alright, if you insist.” We back up, getting ready to jump back into the world that shouldn’t exist.

”Ready?” I ask. Zach nods his head.

We run right up to the tree line. Our feet leave the ground at about the same time, and we go right between the trees. There’s no rush of warm air as we went through. There was no split-second change in the world.

When we land on the other side, I look up and around. I can still see my Grandma’s house. The trees are all still their normal green and brown. If anything, the only thing that has changed is the amount of shrubbery surrounding us.

We aren’t in the fantasy world.

We’re still in reality.

“I can’t believe you dragged me here just to jump through some trees. Well, I guess we just have to give up on it now. See you tomorrow, Jack.” Zach starts to leave.

”No, Zach, wait!” I call after him. “Maybe we just didn’t do it right! Maybe we need to jump from a different spot, or in a different way. No, I swear there was a world here, I can prove it!”

”Listen, Jack,” Zach says. He comes back and puts his hands on my shoulders. “There’s no world there, and there has never been a world there. You must have just been imagining it all, dreaming it up in your head. There’s no way such a world could exist, and there’s no way it would be hidden in Grandma’s backyard. I’m sorry, Jack, but this isn’t real.” He looks at his watch. “I gotta go. I have… homework to do. College English and all that.” He waves his hand dismissively. “See you tomorrow, Jack.”

”See ya, Zach,” I say as I continue to stare at the trees. Why didn’t it work? We should’ve been able to jump through without any difficulty. I don’t understand.

I take a step back and jump through it again. This time, I feel a rush of warm air, and a split-second later, I’m back in the vibrantly colored world that I first stepped into. What was wrong with this portal? Why would it work fo me and not for Zach?

I was determined to find some answers.

And so, like the reasonable adult that I was, I started to search for them.