Aurthor here: Hello readers, this is my attempt at a unique story with some familiar concepts. I hope you will enjoy it as it progresses, I will try and have a new chapter once a week. Please respond with any feedback or ideas that you have and I will definately address them. This is only the prologue as such only a small bit actually happens, while chapter 1 should contain a lot more exciting events. Enjoy
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Prologue:
Hello everyone, the name's John Breeze, your average 25 year old mountaineer. I have lived a relatively boring life, for the most part. Grow up in an orphanage in the southside of Chicago. Not a nice place for a white boy like me, but you deal with the hand you're dealt I guess. Besides the occasional beating for being as the other kids so affectionately called it, “So white it looks like I drank bleach instead of water” growing up in southside wasn't that bad. Also, I obviously I didn’t drink bleach instead of water as that would most likely have killed me long before anyone of my so called orphan friends could try, just wanted to clear that up. Anyways, growing up with a couple bruises and cuts was normal for me, but I still got a high school diploma which counts for something right? Though as soon as I turned 18 I left, I knew the city wasn't for me, too crowded, and I was gone as soon as I could. My plan was to live life as a nature survivalist, obviously not too thought out but hey I was only 18 at the time. The main reason was because of my environmental science class I took in high school. I loved hearing about rock formations, lake systems, and glaciers so the idea was to just live out there and enjoy life and be surrounded by the earth. Luckily I somehow was able to make it to the great state of Washington and took up the wonderful job as a sales clerk at the local Walgreens. The hitchhiking was fun, while I don’t like crowds I still enjoy a conversation with someone, learning some new things and hearing about some must visit national parks. So with a job, a dream, and zero planning i started the next 7 years of my life.
End result not as bad as you would think, currently I have upgraded from sale clerk to photographer. I learned that I could make some nice money by just taking some scenic photos while i was holded up in the mountains. The cascades are pretty fucking scenics so it wasn't that hard to get some good shots. While I still don’t have a normal house or car or anything like that I do have some pretty high tech camping gear. A water/cold resistant one person tent that has got me through some of the harshest of winters, and a water/cold resistant sleeping bag along with a spring sleeping bag insert so I am good for whatever temperature. Along with a whole slue of other camping goodies. I will say though the first couple of years were no cake walk by any means. I learned quickly the human body is pretty fragile. Falling off cliff sides, almost freezing to death, severe lack of food and water, and multiple animal attacks to name a few of the obstacles I faced to get to where I am now.
So why am I explaining all this, well it's simple when you are about to die your life flashes before your eyes. Yep, I am about to die, let's just say I might have fallen off a cliff again, but this time I’m not gonna get off with just a couple of broken bones. During my time mountaineering I have fallen off so many cliffs I became an expert at it, literally. After the first 8 times or so I started to learn how to fall and how to lessen the impact on my body. Really helped at least 20 or so times where others would have died. Well this time even with my skill I don't think it will help. I was asked to get a couple new shots from angel's landing, a popular hiking spot in Zion National Park, it’s really a nice spot, a little too easy to hike for my liking as there are chains to help you traverse the more difficult parts. So, I got there at around 7 in the morning all ready to get some nice sunrise shots over the side of the cliff when I shit you not, a squirrel tripped me. Little fucker ran right into my foot probably trying to get some food from me and tripped me right over the side. Welp for those who don’t know angel’s landing is around 5,790 feet up or about a mile high. I don’t care who you are falling from a mile up is gonna kill ya. It really is sad though dying on such an easy hike, I wish at least it would have been my mount everest climb that killed me. With the ground getting ever closer to me at least I can shift so it's head first killing me before I can feel anything. With my eyes closed shut I mutter my last few words, “hopefully there mountains in heaven”.
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Haha!, you thought I died didn’t ya?, well I didn’t, maybe. …..I am not exactly sure, when I opened my eyes after a bit of not feeling any impact, I saw trees, lots of trees and the sun shining down on me.
“Ummmmmmm….” an adauble question mark could be heard coming from me.
Where am I? I mean I know I asked for heaven to have mountains, but I dont think thats where I am at least I haven’t met any angels singing angelic songs or a God telling me that I have made it. I should be a gooey mess on the ground in Zion, not in the middle of a forest.
“Hellooooooo” maybe there's someone around?
“Hellooo” !! a response? Nah just kidding only an echo.
Well then hmm let's see…. first gonna check if my gear is all here, then maybe see if I can find a better vantage point maybe I can spot some civilization from higher up.
I could tell after getting up that I still had my backpack on, but I can’t find my camera, well not that it matters much having a food supply and camping gear is more important that a camera in this type of wilderness.
Ok with the matter of immediate needs out of the way let's see if I can find myself a view and hopefully a clue as to where I am.
With that I started walking to the nearest hill top that I could see which looked like it would take around 30 - 40 minutes to get up there.
Seriously though this forest is strange, if you ever go hiking you will notice that there is usually some type of noise going on around you. Birds, squirrels(fucking squirrels), or insects there's usually something making noise, but it's different here. While I have heard some chirps off in the distant, there is a distinct lack of ground noises, it's creepy to say the least.
Along with that even the ground feels….different…. more defined is how I would put it. Like the ground is sending more response than it should. Almost like it's trying to come with me as I walk.
After about an hour of walking I arrived at the hilltop, and found two things. One this is a massive forest, I can only see either mountains or trees until the horizon which should be about 100 miles, and it doesn’t look like it is stopping. The second thing that I notice is a clearing of trees and some smoke rising up. That could only mean some kind of campsite or ranger cabin, I unfortunately can’t tell how large the clearing is. It seems to be at the foot of a mountain, making it that much easier for me to get there though.
Pulling off my backpack I grab my compass off the side clip, “Well Shit” the compass was spinning around like crazy and it doesn’t look like it will be stopping anytime soon. “The fuck kind of forest am I in that it messes with the magnetic pull of the earth?, I’m not a scientist but this definitely shouldn’t be happening!”.
Compass more like Comp-ass…. Ya get it? Ya know like ass? Like it's shit? its puny!
Welp besides my shitty humor I am going to have to just use the sun’s position as my compass for now and just hope I can keep track of where the clearing is. Shouldn’t be too tough with it being as the base of a mountain, but without a working compass it's all that much easier to get lost in such a large forest.
The sun is already starting to drop so I should get a move on to hopefully reach the clearing before it's dark.
“And with that me, my comp-ass, the noiseless forest, and the moody earth we are off to find the wizard!”
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I hoped you enjoyed the start, please comment on anything.