It hurt too much to move my right arm. My shoulder burned with intense pain and made a crackling, popping noise when I moved it. I never broke a bone in my life but I definitely felt like I’d broken one then. But it was a little weird. When I didn’t move it, it didn’t hurt so badly. But that meant swimming with only one arm, which was quite the chore. I got a few nasty side cramps from all the swimming.

I think this was some kind of freshwater lake. Thankfully it was mildly warm. The little bit I’d ingested had a mild aftertaste of something like soy sauce. I was somewhere in the middle of the lake, and was a good bit away from the shore.

I couldn’t touch the bottom at first, but was surprised to find that I could touch some sort of ground with my toes halfway to the shore. It looked like some sort of ridge made of overlapping stone shelves. In another 30 feet I could walk on the rippling ridges. I was glad for the opportunity to rest my left arm which had to do all the swimming.

I looked up and noticed the trees. Some looked like pine trees. The other trees were more bizarre. Their teal-shaded leaves fanned out in a corkscrew shape. A breeze carried a whiff of a sweet spice I’d never smelled before.

I dragged myself out of the water onto the loose dirt shore. Rivers poured from the leg holes in my slacks. My shoes were squishing, bubbles forming at the sides. I felt heavier than I ever had in my life.

It was all too strange. One minute I was suspended 450 feet in the air cleaning the side of the St. Louis arch, and the next I was thrown into the clutches of a beautiful but unknown world.

Am I the only one that made it through? I thought about my coworkers. Did they survive the earthquake? I thought about DeAnna. Shoot.

I reached into my soggy pocket and pulled out my smart phone. I tried to turn it on. Nothing. I shook it in frustration. Should have gotten it out of the water much quicker. Maybe I can still dry it out. Unfortunately my still-soaked hand was the driest part of my body, so I just held the phone.

I turned around to take in the full view of the lake. It was beautiful in the rays of twilight. I stopped when I saw a trail of billowing smoke.

Smoke equals civilization equals help. Maybe someone here can tell me where I ended up. Unfortunately for me it was on the other side of the lake. I’d have to walk around.

I started to worry. The sun was getting darker. I looked up and saw that the interlocking rings of the sun were starting to merge, one becoming hidden behind the other. It looked like it started to split the sky in two, red and darkening orange on one side, deep purples and blues on the other. I didn’t want to be stuck out here after dark, but I had a lot of ground to cover.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Something felt odd about that place too. It was the noise, well, the lack of noise that bothered me. In Missouri, by one of its many lakes and creeks, you’d hear the croaking of frogs, the buzz of mosquitos, and the chirping of crickets. But here that familiar din was gone.

The only sounds nature offered were the rustling of the trees and the call of a strange bird in erratic intervals. It looked like some kind of heron. It had a stiff, spiky mane with a crisscross collar around its neck. It gave off a punk rocker kind of vibe and made a strange noise that sounded like “Guh-guh.”

In the otherwise stillness it was unsettling. I picked up my pace, to the anguish of my shoulder. I stuck to the loose dirt at the edge of the shore. The forest appeared almost completely black.The two rings in the sky had completely become one, and it looked like a halo, giving off light like a moon.

The air became noticeably colder, and the cold started to seep through my clothes.I shook involuntarily. My shoulder ached. I walked for what felt like an hour in the deep, unnatural stillness. Even the “guh-Guh” noises of the strange herons stopped, to be replaced with a subtle sound like chittering and clattering.

I lost sight of the smoke trail. I started to panic. With no direction and no way to see the black forest looked ominous, a gaping mouth threatening to swallow me whole.

But then I smelled it. A smell like a fresh loaf of bread hit my brain like a slice of heaven. It immediately made my mouth water and my stomach rumble. I hadn’t even eaten breakfast that morning.

I made a beeline into the forest, following my nose. There’s gotta be someone close now.

Without thinking I stepped into what looked like a puddle. Instead of a splash my foot caught instantly, threatening to pull me down. It was now pinned in place. My other foot went down to push me up but that one got stuck too.

That’s when I saw it in the shadows. All of a sudden all the bugs in Missouri didn’t seem too bad. Heck, even the venomous snakes in Missouri didn’t seem too bad now. The creature I was facing had a dark, grey head like a wasp. It stood about 3 feet tall and four feet long, with ginormous compound eyes on the sides of its head. Darkness pooled unnaturally from its abdomen, which streamed out at stopped at my feet.

I heard the chittering and chattering, now closer. It had friends. Two more of the wasp-head like creatures rushed me from both sides. Giant, metallic mandibles were clacking on this pair.

With every explosive ounce of effort in me I jumped for all I was worth. My boots popped off my feet and my ankle popped. It burned. I ran faster than I ever had in my life. I ran towards the bread, screaming.

“Help, help! Bugs!” It sounded stupid as I was saying it, but I didn’t know what else to call them.

Out of nowhere a clearing jumped into view. I about speared myself on what looked to be a palisade trench.

I kept yelling and either they noticed me or my pursuers. The guard at the gate shouted something, but I couldn’t hear what it was. A man with a shaved head and a rough leather jerkin weaved a cross in the air with two fingers. A ball of brilliant light burst behind me but I felt no heat.

The creatures angrily skittered back into the forest. A rough arm yanked me inside before I heard the thick wooden gate bolt closed.