My eyes flashed before me, and all I could see was darkness and feel nothing.

Time is warped and distorted.

I cannot tell if I have been here an eternity or if I have been here for a measly few seconds.

However, visions of my life keep repeating and I am forced to watch.

There is not much I can take from it, so much has been blurred and forgotten.

Names come out as screeches and faces as grey blobs.

With each replay, I lose more and more before I can even process what I saw.

One thing I cannot ignore is the glow. The glows of flat surfaces.Both small and big. Objects that make travel so much easier. The constant supply of information, yet it floats away just as fast. Whoever I once was does not care for the luxuries of life, not realizing how each item made his life easier.

A sensation of falling envelops me.

My balance betrays me and a constant wind hits my exposed skin as my mind begins to spin.

“You there, you got lucky. To be chosen is one in infinity.” The voice compliments.

Light starts to creep its way into sight, growing with every second that passes.

“However, not so lucky with where you are being sent”, Followed with a chuckle.

My senses feel as if they are recalibrating, and also the nagging feeling that more things are being forced on.

Or maybe that they are once again being used.

I can feel my voice once more, yet when I try to ask this thing questions my voice does not come out. I wonder if this space is some kind of void, or am I not allowed to speak?

“Surely, I will be able to give you one gift?”, As if to question itself, or another perhaps.

“A powerful one, one that could make you complacent if you do not use it properly, but with limitless potential.”, The voice adds on.

The falling sensation heavily slows and the torrents of wind becomes a gentle breeze.

The voice slowly fades away with each word “You have almost reached your destination. The power you have been given is one that will allow you to live through time.”

Speaking in riddles, how original of a timeless being.

My eyes feel as if they cannot open, the light finally finishing it’s journey to my eyes.

I hear noises once forgotten, the breeze through the leaves and high pitched singing.

My eyes slowly pried themselves open, and I could finally process my surroundings.

A red glow that emanates across the sky.

With every second passing the thoughts of the past start to go back and forth.

I begin to connect my thoughts and realize that knowledge of this other life may be of use to me yet.

The singing coming from birds, little animals capable of flight.

The blinding glow coming from a single dot in the sky, but still so hot.

It must be summer. However, the plants appear to be darker as a signal to fall.

Strange for sure but sadly all I can do is ponder why the plants here are darker when the surrounding heat would be that of a searing sun.

I begin to check my belongings to see what I have, to decide what I shall do in the future. Luckily, I was given some simple clothes, which are more like rags capable of holding onto my body. Better than exposure I suppose.

A knife with an accompanying whetstone, the knife is primitive. Nothing like that of my memories, the only saving grace being that it is sturdy and does not seem like it will break any time soon.

“Shoot, none of the glowing surfaces are here.” I mumble to myself.

The name of them is always on the tip of my tongue, but I can never quite decipher my memories for the word.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Oh. I can speak. That's good.” I say with a little relief, being capable of communication will be very useful in my survival.

I must take things slow and process what my next steps will be.

Without information from the glow, I cannot begin to fathom what I should do next.

I rest under the shade of a nearby tree, and take a little break before I decide on my next actions.

I wonder if I can remake the glow in this world. However, I have no understanding of how the glow works. Do I just need to make a frame and it will form inside it?

Should I just explore outside the forest and try to find information on my own?

Where even am I? Why does everything feel so out of place?

I doubt this knife will help me defend myself from anything, what am I even going to be facing?

Will I have to fight other people? Am I capable of taking a life? Do I have to take a life?

With each question that I asked myself, another question arrives with it. My mind slowly being cluttered with irrelevant thoughts and my next decision becomes even more buried by the ever growing mountain of thoughts.

After an amount of time when the sun begins to set and arrives from the horizon, the biggest question that replaces all thoughts arrives, destroying all others and allowing for a clear mind.

Why am I here?

I do not wish to ponder on this question, for I have decided on my next move.

I must rifle through my old memories to find something worth recreating in this world.

Something fantastical and capable of multiple uses for any situation.

Other than the glow, there are many things I can choose.

However, many of them may be impossible to replicate using only a knife and memories. I can already strike a bunch of items off from my memories.

Accessing the past feels as if I go back to that space of non-existence, my perceptions are dulled and I cannot feel the air on my body.

I close my eyes and begin to dig through this mountain of information.

I struggle to go through my memories, barely deciphering what items I can even remember to begin with.

I ponder and ponder, the time just flies as I remember items like a wooden platform for personal use, or maybe a container made of a material that you can see through.

Every single name for these items escapes my mind, and the more I focus on the item's name then the object itself begins to leave my mind before I can give it much thought.

This blockage of knowledge, I can only believe it is internal in nature. Do I unconsciously choose to forget? Or is there something else at work?

I open my eyes and see the sun once more from the horizon, feeling mentally drained from the process.

I choose not to think of this at the moment and begin rifling through my past and once more I close my eyes.

It is best to find an item that will help me in tough environments, multipurpose, and is capable of being a weapon if the occasion so arises.

“AHA! I found it, the item that will be of best use to me”, I exclaim with joy and exhaustion.

Slowly isolating the memory, the shroud of fog that greys my mind begins to dispel and I can once again see what was forgotten.

My mind is taken to a time once forgotten, the sky is grey and drops fall.

My time on the bench has come to an end and I must depart, grabbing the item to my left. A mighty looking object capable of expanding enough to cover the sky. Protecting me from the droplets that look to ruin my day. I look at the glow and smile, feeling the tug of skin at the corners of my mouth. A joyful expelling of air, and then nothingness once more.

This item is surely one I will need. No matter the situation it will protect.

Yes, the mobile protection unit™ will work just fine, the mechanisms look easy enough to replicate with just simple material, or I could make it static. Maybe once I come across someone handy I can get them to upgrade it with metals and other trinkets.

I open my eyes and the call of birds reaches my ears and the breathing of nature gently caresses my face. The sun is still on the horizon, so as it rises I know I must begin my project before nightfall.

However, for now I must begin the process of making this item out of wood.

The timeframe for light is limited and I must make it with haste.

I begin to take in my surroundings and investigate them more closely than I did before.

The wood is still brown in color yet its leaves are red and the branches that grow from it are twisted.

The bushes and foliage look normal with green leaves, yet when the wind arrives, it is as if the wind gives it life and it begins to move strangely as if it is akin with an appendage of an eight legged sea creature.

The name is still always on the tip of my tongue but it brings feelings of teeth grinding me when I try to give it anymore thought.

It is best that I stop thinking of names of the past, it will no longer be necessary yet I know it will eat at me. I can live with that which eats at the corner of my mind if it will no longer bring this feeling.

I begin my search, this forest is quite strange no matter how much I compare it to the world of old. However the most interesting bit is that everytime I blink it is as if the world changes just a tiny bit, not noticeable to the eye, but strange enough that my mind can remark that my surroundings are different.

I enter a field where I begin to indulge my senses, the wind is cooling the heat of the sun and collects itself slowly into the centre of the field as the grass follows it in a spiral.

I see some plants of interest across the field and make my way, the wind gets colder as I move towards the centre to the point of almost freezing once I enter the middle.

I quickly escape this area of the field and finally cross, a little chillier than I had hoped.

My prize now in front of me, I found some baby trees, varying in species, some seem very pliable and easy to bend so I collect a few straight from the ground and cut off the roots that follow.

Some are thick and almost metallic in their rigidness, harder to collect compared to the others, even seeming to dull my knife as I try to cut the roots. These will do just fine for the Base

I use the thickest one as a base for my project, and the smaller ones as the support for the biggest foliage I can find.

Nearby the baby trees are some bigger trees, or parent trees I suppose.

These seem to be the adults of the rigid baby trees, so their leaves may be strong and capable of being a good addition to the MPU™, however on the parents they seem to gather near the top. They also seem to be big enough to envelop their babies.

I don’t remember much about climbing trees, or if I ever did it before.

However, life is about learning new things. Especially for someone with my circumstances. Seems simple enough, I will wrap my arms around the tree to hold myself and my trees to slowly ascend.

I wrap my arm around it but the tree is soft, far too soft to gain any grip.

I look at it a bit and I pull it towards myself as a test and the tree easily bends to my strength. I am either super strong, or this tree is made up of silly putty™ bark.

I pull it slowly to me and manage to grab some leaves and return to my harvested baby trees.

After some thought, I look at the crafting supplies I have collected.

My mind scrambles and I pick out one question from the pile, Why is the grown tree much less rigid and dare I say gelatinous compared to its much younger and rigid offspring.

“I don’t understand this place at all!” I yell into the empty field.

I calm down and sit at the edge of the field on a patch of grass, beginning to rub my temples and trying to control my breathing, everything is deeply confusing and strange. The voice was right about me being unlucky. What other strange things await me outside this wacky wonderland called a forest?

The wind only chills my spine, and I know I must begin my project so that I can begin my journey.