As a passage was opened, underwater blocks slid greatly, and water burst upward in an impressive fountain that showered the area for a couple of seconds.

Through it, a man was blown up and tossed outward; his screams and shouts met with thuds and 'OW, OW!' as he crashed into the ground.

Despite having water in his nose and ears, Rodent blew the former and shook his head, dropping the cane and feeling his other hand. He hadn't wiped his face or opened his eyes until he felt his ring's smooth, familiar shape, allowing him to exhale and lower his shoulders.

Just then, he started to relax, breathing with a couple of coughs from the exertion. Next, he went to rub his face… his eyes blinking as they struggled to adjust. After a few more attempts, his vision opened… seeing what should have been impossible.

"What the."

Rodent sat there with water dripping from his hair, blinking as he struggled to believe what he saw. His heart started to race quicker, and his breathing became out of control.

Next, he glanced around him at the curved inside of the mountain that shaped this hidden area—which was that of a horseshoe.

Next, he looked at the ground, at the strange granite that was also smooth and ancient—the texture like nothing he had seen before. Behind him was a rectangle pond, its depths unknown as its fountain started to lower, the slabs beneath its surface starting to slide close again.

Rodent's head shook as he rose and stumbled toward the pond, but it was too late to dive in. The blocks beneath closed together to create a floor beneath the water that wasn't too deep. His head was in a haze, as he still could not accept the present he was in.

"W-What… happened… to me?"

His hand searched his wet hair for bumps or marks… but found nothing that gave him cause for worry… except when it went down to his chest next… trying to repress the beating of his heart. He pinched himself—feeling the pain.

That, and the fresh, calm wind, was also too real as it reinvigorated his face.

"I'm… not just dreaming this stuff up."

He shook out of it as he returned his ring to his finger, able to breathe easier once it slotted into place—that it wouldn't leave him again anytime soon. His other hand still caressed it as he glanced around, approaching the cliff before him, finding a few trees on the ground far before.

On each of his sides was a path that curved downward along the mountain to the ground below, a small, round valley with an exit marked by towering rock walls.

Seconds later, there was something in the air—a great flapping followed by the discharge of winds—the impression of a great weight felt in the area.

Rodent slid a foot back and became tense. He heard and felt the distant mass approaching, and the vibrations in the air caused him to almost lock up—though he did glance at the columns behind in case he needed to hide.

Just then, he looked ahead, catching a second-long view of the thing through the valley's exit. It was large—too large to fit within the valley's frame—and covered in emerald scales. It did not stay long enough for its details to be made out… but the flapping of its leathery wings stuck with the man.

Soon, the boom-boom of its wings disappeared into the distance, and Rodent felt his heart rate start to lower once more… able to breathe again. Though he couldn't look at it for long, he knew what he saw, and everything in his body was swirling because of it.

I… it… no… it… it can’t…

He looked around him again and knew even the very air he breathed was different from that of the city he hailed from. But even his time in the country did not compare to the oxygen that entered him now. Though he struggled to put it into words, Rodent knew this place to be fundamentally different from himself—that this was no longer Earth.

I…

The man walked forward… back to the edge of the cliff again… coming to take a seat as his hand felt the smooth surface of the ancient material that composed the ground… to the sides… grass and such were wild and lush. In his previous world, he struggled to breathe, but here, he could inhale a deep breath… and not choke on it.

"This is real," Rodent had to say out loud to make it real instead of some vague speculation in his head. "This… this is another world. I'm in another world."

His hand went to his chest again to truly feel how it was beating… until he felt the notebook in his pocket.

He shook, retrieving it, finding it somehow not to be wet as he turned it over… before shakingly flipping to the first page. From there, he withdrew the pen from his pocket, finding that he was almost shivering. He breathed through his mouth and could barely keep himself composed as the shaking tip of his pen neared the empty page.

I… how did… old man… what’s…

Just then.

"That's the important part, is it?" chortled an old voice.

Rodent squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, refocusing his efforts. The confusion was replaced by something else.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"You better," Flower's voice spoke inside his head. "I want real adventures that you had." She huffed. "No more fairy tales, Mr. Storyteller!"

"Real stories, huh?" Rodent voiced aloud, which helped him calm down; he twisted and played with his ring again. "But this list is for me. It's supposed to be things that I want. But what do I…"

There was a tingling in his fingers playing with his ring, so slight that it might have all been in his mind, but the man vibrated into his past. His eyes closed as a breeze rolled in… leaving him to live a few moments in his past… on a hilltop with the very same breeze.

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"This is so stupid."

"Don't like my moves?" Rodent asked, standing in the tree's shadow as he hacked the air with a stick, though not moving much. "Was thinking of throwing a spin in there, somewhere."

"No. Not that." The young lady sat and rested against the tree, a book on her lap, and stapled papers together upon that. "Well. That too, actually. You look like an idiot."

"Thanks!'

"It's not a compliment."

"Everything from you is a compliment."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Hee-hee." Rodent sliced the stick in the air before glancing at her pages. "They making you do those too?"

The girl cocked an eyebrow. "You mean you actually did this?"

"Mhm."

"That makes no sense." Her arms fell limply against the grass. "It's not like any of us will actually reach adulthood. What's the point of getting us to think of what we might be when we grow up?"

Rodent finished swinging his stick and shrugged. "I dunno. I just didn't want to give the nurses a hard time."

"What would you even be if you got to grow up?" the lady returned. "Grocery bagger?"

Rodent looked down at his hands. "Hehe! I am pretty fast with my hands."

"Again, not the point, idiot."

"Thanks!"

"GAH!"

The lady became moody as she looked aside, making a face and not wanting to say much of anything, though unable to move around or away. The boy remained as he was, quiet but there, swinging his stick and making sounds as he did so—the breeze lifting strands of his blond hair.

Finally, the lady looked back at him. "So what did you write, Rodent?"

"Hhmhm!" Rodent turned to her. "Take a guess."

"Professional idiot?"

Rodent gasped. "I could have been getting paid?"

The lady giggled at how stupid that was and started to smile as she waved a hand at him. "Hehehehe! Y-You are SUCH an IDIOT!"

Rodent closed his eyes and flashed a big smile. "Thanks!"

Her laughter softened. "W-Why… do you keep saying thanks?"

"Because everything from you is a compliment."

The lady wanted to criticize that… but instead decided to humour the boy. "And why is everything from me a compliment?"

"Because to insult me means you acknowledge me!" Rodent returned with his usual smile. "So everything from you is a compliment!"

The lady blinked, opening her mouth slightly. She felt a fluttering in her heart and a tingling beneath her skin. She was overloaded and overwhelmed, and her head whipped to the side. She then shouted angrily, "IDIOT!"

"HEHE!" Rodent nodded, giving a thumbs-up. "Yup!"

The lady pouted for a few seconds longer… until the breeze rolled on again… and she felt it on her face and how it lifted some of her hair… coming then to lower her shoulders. Looking back at the boy, Rodent practiced stabbing his stick forward in various ways.

"So…" the lady began after calming down… almost feeling ashamed for getting so worked up. "…what did you want to be when you grow up?"

"Hmm… well, you're going to think my answer's dumb… but then again, I thought it was dumb we were asked what we would be when we were dead grown-ups."

The lady wanted to tell him that's not how things worked—but held her tongue.

"And I also thought it was dumb waiting to be a grown-up to be what you want to be." Rodent lowered the stick to his side, turning and looking at the hospital behind him, far beyond the hill they escaped to. "So I wrote down 'I want to be a hero.'"

Air blew out the lady's lips, and she twisted as much as her body would allow, laughing and then laughing louder at the boy's answer. Rodent, of course, matched her in this, starting to laugh as hard and as much as she did—overall enjoying the good fun.

"HAHAHAHAHA! A-Ah… ah-ha… t-that… o-oh… that is SUCH a boyish answer!"

"Hehe!" Rodent laughter softened to just a smirk. "Coming from a girl that wants to be a princess."

She scowled at him. "Not ACTUALLY, doofus."

Rodent made a serious face. "Why not? I could see you as one."

The lady, with an open mouth, was unable to speak.

The breeze rolled in…

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…and the breeze passed behind him.

Rodent was snapped from the memory as he sat on that cliff in a world that was not his own, a situation that nobody would ever believe, alone without help or direction—a near-death sentence. Yet the man found peace in swinging his legs over the cliff and looking back at the notebook.

What would you say now?

He stopped twisting and playing with the ring as he brought the pen still in his hand to the empty page. There was resistance and hesitation in writing anything… but after a few seconds, he was able to break right through it… letting the words appear however they pleased… not caring at all how foolish or impossible the ideas were.

One idea spawned another… and one notion inspired another. The man soon found that he could not write fast enough… finding that, instead of being empty and wanting nothing, there was a tanker's worth of desires trapped and buried deep inside of him.

He laughed as he wrote, even chuckling a few times at the sillier ideas, knowing it all to be a frivolous affair… but finding himself invested nonetheless. He couldn't tell how much time had passed as he sat in this new world with absolutely no direction to go on.

But soon… the list was done… all the ideas in his heart, mind, and soul printed now upon the page… leaving him feeling depleted in a good way. Pocketing the pen, the man leaned back, enjoying the breeze as it rolled through again… living for the moment.

Underneath his hand was the notebook, opened to the first page.

It was titled Looking for a Good Time in Another World.