This had been one of those long days and Blake was glad when he finally reached his front door. It had started with an unusually busy day at work and then afterwards, his colleagues had insisted on him joining them for drinks after work. All he had wanted to do was get home and have an early night, but they were so persistent he gave in to their requests. He had only intended to stay for one or two, but one thing led to another, and he ended up staying out for the entire night.
By the time he had left the bar he was uncomfortably drunk, pissed even. He was still just as drunk when he got home. He staggered to the threshold and after a long moment fumbling with the keys in his hand, he pressed them into the keyhole. The lock on the door clicked as it opened. Finally! At least it’s Saturday tomorrow. He pushed the door open and stumbled inside.
The next thing he knew was he was desperately trying to right himself as he tripped on the doorstep while he had hurried inside. This quickly turned into bracing for the impact on the floor. The impact never came, but the sensation of falling persisted. He frantically looked from side to side as he tried to work out what was happening, but he couldn’t see a thing. He was surrounded by complete darkness. He flailed fruitlessly for the light switch that he hoped was to his side, but it wasn’t there. What the hell is happening to me? Then the darkness was interrupted. His eyes were drawn in front of him to a spec of light in the distance.
The light steadily grew in size and intensity as he approached it. Am I falling towards that or is it moving forward? Seriously what is going on! He noticed that he was beginning to slow as he approached the light. As he drew closer, he had to avert his gaze and shield his eyes, as the light became too intense. Then just as suddenly as he had begun to fall, he came to a halt. The intense light dimmed, and he blinked as he tried to make sense of the object in front of him. Why is there a door here? It made no sense, there was nothing else around, just an empty black void in every direction, but here there was a door, and he was floating in front of it. The door was enormous, it had to be ten meters high and five meters wide. It appeared to be constructed of dark wood and reinforced with metal strips. It looked like it belonged to an ancient fortress. I wonder if I can open it. As soon as he thought that a string of writing appeared in front of him.
POTENTIAL CONFIRMED. RESTRICTIONS LIFTED. PATHWAY WILL OPEN. SURVIVAL RELIANT ON ACTULISATION OF ALL POSSIBILITIES AVAILABLE.
The words disappeared the moment he read them. What does that even mean? He wasn’t given the chance to think on it before the door opened in front of him. Light poured out of the door, but this time the light was warm and almost inviting, unlike the dazzling brightness from before. He was pulled forward by an invisible force, or perhaps he began to fall once again, he wasn’t sure. He passed through the door in an instant and the dark void was replaced by colours once again. He looked forward only to see the green fast approaching him. Shit! He hit the ground hard enough to knock all the air out of his lungs and daze him.
Blake rolled over and laid flat on his back, while he tried to catch his breath and make sense of the situation. He gazed up at the clear blue sky above, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky and the warmth of the sun beat down on him. He almost relaxed for a moment, until he remembered what had just happened to him. No, I need to do something about this and not just lay here! He sat bolt upright and tried to take in his surroundings. He was sitting in the middle of a large grassy clearing, surrounded by trees in every direction. Is this a park? Was I that drunk last night that I woke up in a park? But this didn’t look like any of the parks in the area he knew, and the grass was too long here. It didn’t look like anyone tended to this area. It looked wild. There’s no way I made it out to the countryside without a single memory of what happened! But if that wasn’t the case, then that must have been real, and he didn’t want to believe that. He glanced at his smartphone, no signal damn.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“I’ll just have to walk out of here. It won’t be long until I get somewhere I recognise.” He said as if he was trying to convince himself.
Blake pulled himself up off the floor and dusted the dirt off his trousers. He fixed his eyes on the line of trees directly ahead of him then strode towards them. He soon reached the treeline and stepped into the shade there, quickly realising that they were more than just a row of trees. This is a forest! Concerned again, he leant against the nearest tree while he decided what to do. He looked back over the meadow he had just left. The outlook looked the same in every direction. Without checking further, the wood appeared to be just as thick on every side. There’s nothing for it. I’ll just have to keep on until I reach the other side. If I don’t then I guess, I’ll just come back the way I came and try another direction. With that he ventured further into the woods.
He had been walking for about five minutes before he came to a halt once again. There was still no end in sight. He glanced back behind him. He could no longer make out the meadow he had left behind. What do I do now? He looked to his side and there was no sign of a way out. No, if I move from this line, I’ll just get even more lost. He briefly thought about heading back the way he had just come from and trying one of the other directions but decided against the idea, at least for now. He hadn’t been walking for long, there was still the chance he would soon emerge from the forest if he kept on. With that in mind he pressed even further into the wood.
He kept on pushing forward until he started to lose track of time. Just how long have I been walking for? He didn’t know. He slowed down as his belly began to grumble and the last of his beer buzz from the night before wore off. Ugh this is no good. His head hung down for a moment, almost stopping until deciding to continue onwards, for one final push before turning back towards the meadow. He had only been walking for a minute or two when he noticed that it was getting lighter up ahead. I’m nearly out! He picked up his pace and hurried to the edge of the forest, almost jogging as he rushed to make it out into the open again.
A moment later he felt the warmth of the sun on his face once again. His happiness however, was short-lived, when he looked around. This is almost identical to the place I just left! Have I walked in a circle? It was another large clearing surrounded by rows of trees. It really did look almost identical to the clearing he had just left behind.
Blake slowly walked out into the clearing, before sitting down heavily in frustration. Just where the hell am I? He checked his phone again. Still no signal! Then his mind flickered back to the incident with the door in the void. No, that can’t have been real. He still didn’t want to accept that as the truth of his situation, but the reality was that he was somewhere in a seemingly vast forest with only the occasional clearing. As far as he could tell he could walk for hours and not find his way out. Damn it, I’m starving now. What am I going to do if I don’t find my way out soon? He looked over his surroundings once again. This place still looked identical to the first clearing, then the light reflected off something in the centre of the meadow. He hadn’t noticed the object at first because it was like a perfect silver mirror, it was only the light glistening on its surface at the right angle that had caught his attention. There was nothing like that in the first place. Now that’s new.
He decided to get up and investigate what the object was. As he drew closer, he could make out that it was a perfect cube made out of some kind of polished silver material. He stood over the item trying to work out what it was. There was no sign of any way to open it, no seams, no latches, it looked as if it had been cleanly cut out of a larger block of the material. All he saw was his own face looking back at him while he looked over it. After checking the cube over for some time, he decided to investigate it further. He leant forward and touched the surface of the item.