Either way, since he’s turned his back on me, I do the rational thing and jump out of the crib and take to running again, headed for the forest. Somehow, running feels even faster now, which is a really nice feeling.

I’d probably feel pretty good about the general situation if my adrenaline wasn’t running out fast. I’m basically going on fumes, you know?

But, as soon as I emerge into the woods, I feel a surge of relaxation go through me, draining me of the electricity that had brought me this far to begin with. I really just want to sleep, but I don’t think I’m safe quite yet. So far, I have seen a number of monsters (1-3) and no humans. Until I find humans, I am in the danger zone. So, as soon as I find a nice-looking tree, I try to climb it.

Focus on the try, because I fail. Not because I suddenly went weak or anything, no, I just, um… Went straight through it? Yeah, seriously. I clipped through the bark like a bad video game and went straight into the trunk. And the inside looks, well, metallic? No, really, the inside of the tree looks like it’s made of metal. How am I even supposed to consider that?

Now, some of you at home might be saying, why don’t I just chill out in this here tree trunk? That’s sure to keep me safe, no?

Ah, yes, because being in a hollow metallic tree trunk where I can’t see out and other things can just wander inside is a great idea. There’s a reason monkies like trees, and it’s not because they’re upright metal coffins.

The only good thing is that the interior metal is so shiny and chromatic that I can actually see my mirror image. I look like a little ball of yarn with an eye on top. Or maybe not yarn, but rather a dust bunny? I look scraggly, that’s for sure. And then the legs… I actually can’t count them. It’s just a multitude. I lean in closer, and a big eye stares back at me. I draw back slightly, but approach again as I notice some strange sigil in my iris. My eye colour is purple (for some stupid reason) and there’s a yellow-ish sigil drawn over it. It looks weird.

I turn my back on the image.

Feeling only slightly queasy, I poke my head/entire body out of the tree to take a look around. There’s nothing in sight, so I anxiously drag the rest of myself out. Okay, so, that tree was immaterial, but that doesn’t mean all of the trees are like that, right? Right. Um, I hope so, at least.

I glance nervously at another tree. Only one way to find out.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

With careful steps, making sure not to step on some plot-driving sticks, I approach the tree. It’s big. Not exactly the size of a skyscraper, but if I was a human and I fell down from the top, I would die a painless and quick death. But, I think if I fell down as I am now, I’d probably survive. See, I don’t think the world is super big. I think I’m just really, really small. The size of a squirrel, or a hedgehog or something.

And since I’m smaller, such a fall would have less effect on me than normally. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself in order to work up the courage to try to climb it. Assuming it is climbable.

I poke one of my many dangly limbs towards the trunk. I almost expect it to pass right through, so the sudden tangibility of it startles me to jerk the limb back. Once I’ve gotten over my own cowardice, I plant a few more of my limbs to the sizable trunk, almost wanting to giggle when they affix like they’re glued. Of course, I don’t have a mouth, so giggling, alongside screaming and crying, is impossible.

As easily as a spider or a plate of sentient spaghetti might, I scale the tree, emerging into the crown branches with stunning speed and a leaf-scattering pop!

Since I am apparently as light as an anorexic kindergartener, the tree doesn’t seem bothered in the least by my weight. Am I actually physically made of dust? What is even going on?

But with this higher vantage, I’m actually able to get a pretty good look at the world around me. There’s the cribs and the building blocks, of course, but also the rest of the forest. In the far distance, I can spot several mountain areas, but they all cut off suddenly. The forest likewise ends in a pretty sudden manner, and the reason why is clear. Not too far away, the forest changes into a beach bordering on a massive ocean that seems to span the entire horizon. All the way around, there’s ocean. It’s close here, but it’s further away beyond the mountains. Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure I know what this is.

An island.

And I’m not saying that I’ve never seen an island before or anything, but I feel like if this island was on Earth, I would have heard of it. Unless it’s a top-secret researching island where these monsters are bred and raised? But in that case, there should be humans instead of a bigger monster. It doesn’t make sense.

On the other hand, this doesn’t feel like not Earth either. I can breathe just fine (skin breathing?), there’s wind, there’s life, the sky is blue, there’s only one sun… Apart from the monsters and my own form, this place is clearly Earth, and not some alternate world. And, really, not even the monsters make sense. Elecmon is clearly a quadrupedal creature, built more like a bear than a man, but he stands on two legs. He has claws rather than fingers but still operates like a human. Combined with his weird colouration, he just isn’t anything that the Earth’s climate (or even a similar world) would have produced. It’s just too weird.

I have no idea how to handle this, but I’m going to decide to believe that real, true, human civilization might exist just beyond this ocean. And, sure, maybe there might be some people behind the mountains, or if I dig down there might be a hidden facility, but I have a sneaking suspicion Elecmon isn’t the only monster on this island.

…Sure, he’s not been especially monster-like so far apart from appearance, but… That can change, can’t it?

I literally look like I’m made of dust and yarn. He wouldn’t even have to want to kill me in order to succeed. Just a little poke of his claws, and I’m gone.

Yeah, my best bet is to get off this island as quickly as I possibly can.

My stomach grumbles. Um, maybe I should get myself some more food first? That ball of jelly got me really stuffed, but so much running and climbing apparently got me worn out again.

I turn sly eyes on the cribs.