My mind couldn’t focus on everything at once. I was shocked, scared, confused, and the fact

that there were so many unfamiliar faces around me, staring, did not help. It was hard to

breathe, and the constricting feeling of the scarf around my neck made me feel like I was

choking.

I moved my hands quickly inside the scarf, touching my neck, and I pulled outwards frantically,

trying to get it out.

I failed.

I tried again, pulling harder this time.

Nothing.

It didn't matter the strength that I pulled with, or how hard I tried to untie it, there was no way of

getting it out of me. I was sweating, grunting, in the middle of a busy city street, shirtless, unable

to get a green scarf out of my neck. I brought my arms down, defeated, as I tried to catch my

breath, and I did my best to calm down. Slowly, I tried to remember what brought me there,

reviewing every step.

The image of the truck flashed in my mind, raising my heart rate again. Shouldn't I… be dead? How the hell did I end up there, and why was I dressed like that? Did I faint? Was I brought to

that city by someone?

The murmuring of the crowd that slowly formed around me brought me back to reality.

Shit, I completely forgot about that.

I raised my head, and looked slowly around myself, staring into the somewhat scared,

somewhat curious faces of the multitude. Some whispered, some took a step back, as if they

tried to escape my gaze. I tried to talk, struggling to get a sound out of my mouth.

“Where… where am I…?”

Nobody seemed to hear me, considering that no one reacted. I raised my voice, as I took a step

forward.

“Can somebody please tell me where I am?”

The people in front of me took a step back. I heard some gasps. One of them covered their

child, as if I was a danger for the kid. Why…? I didn't want to hurt them! Was it that hard to

answer?

I realized that some of them shifted their gaze, looking to something behind me. I turned around,

intrigued, willing to find out what was the source of interest, and I quickly realized what they

were looking at. Not that far, maybe sixty feet away from me, there was a woman talking to what

seemed to be a policeman, pointing at me. The officer nodded, looking in my direction, and

started walking towards me.

“Sir! I’m going to need you to calm down, sir!”

It took a moment until I realized the kind of situation that I was in. I was yelling to strangers,

shirtless, with a ridiculously big green scarf around my neck on a busy street. The fear of being

arrested came to me in the form of adrenaline, and, without thinking twice, I started running in

the opposite direction, pushing away the crowd.

I heard the voice from the officer behind me, telling me to stop, but I wasn't going to. I sprinted

as fast as I could, dodging people. The fact that they were trying to avoid me themselves made

it easier for me to traverse the streets, gaining advantage with every turn. After what felt like an

eternity, I was sure that I lost him.

Exhausted, and drought in sweat, I took a moment to regain my breath, and look around myself.

It looked like a less central street, mainly residential, with some grocery stores and

supermarkets. It was definitely less busy, although that didn't keep the stares away.

The situation was confusing, scary, and definitely anxiety inducing. But I needed answers, and I

knew that I wasn't going to get them running from the police. So I got my shit together, and

imstarted to review my options.

Finding out about the scarf, its precedence and why I was unable to take it out seemed like the

most bizarre and hardest thing to do. I could definitely start with easier, more useful questions.

The first thing that I had to know to go back home was my location. Was I far? At first glance, I

didn't recognise the city, so I definitely wasn't that near, but that officer seemed to speak my

language, so, with a little bit of luck, I wouldn't need a plane to get back home.

I wandered the streets, looking for somebody that could answer my questions. Somebody that

could let me use their phone. Somebody that would help me. Yet nobody gave me more than an

excuse or a no. In fact, most of them ignored me or avoided me. I walked for hours, giving a

wide berth every time I saw the smallest sign of the police. Without food, without money, and

without water, I quickly became desperate.

After some hours of mindlessly walking, I saw in the distance what seemed to be a big, green

park, with a small shop. I approached it, willing to find out what that little kiosk had inside, and

my face lit up when I realized what did I have in front of me.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

A tourism office.

Finally, some luck.

I approached the small structure, looking at the different maps from a distance, as I was trying to

make out the name of the city from afar.

I was shocked. I didn't recognise the name of the city, which meant that I was further than I

would've wanted to from my hometown. My eyes turned to the young girl behind the counter.

She was staring at me, with a slightly worried expression across her face.

Fuck it, I've had enough already.

I walked towards the kiosk with a fast and determined pace. I could see her expression evolve

to one of fear, as she struggled to say something to me.

"Uuh… sir… is there… is there anything that I can do for you?"

Without answering, I went straight for the maps on the counter. A yell escaped her mouth. I

didn't care, I wasn't thinking straight and I didnt want to. I had to know where the hell I was.

I checked local maps, to see if I recognised any of the tourist attractions.

Nothing. None of them sounded familiar to me.

As she started calling what I could only imagine to be the police, I went for regional maps.

Not a single one of them. No towns, no cities. Nothing that I could recognise.

I started looking around the shop, hoping to see a large scale map. Unsurprisingly, I didn't find

what I was searching for. After all, they were meant for tourists.

When I was about to flee the scene, something caught my attention. The kiosk had, as a decor,

a tiny, blue world globe. The chances to see the name of the city or anything surrounding it were

slim, but I didn't have anything else. I crawled inside the structure. Terrified, the young girl ran to

the door, and escaped the building. With a quick movement, I caught it, desperate to find any

information that could give me a hint of my location.

My heart sank.

Although the general shape of the continents was pretty similar to what I was used to seeing,

the names of the countries, and the distribution of the territory was completely off.

It's from some fantasy world, or some other era. It has to be.

A light in the corner of my eye drew my attention away from the globe.

The phone! With the rush, she left the phone here, unlocked!

I rushed towards the screen, hoping it wouldn't lock again. Luckily I made it in time. I went

straight to social media, and I typed so quickly I had to correct my mistakes multiple times.

Trembling, I managed to write the username of my girlfriend.

Nothing.

I couldn't believe it. I didn't understand. My mind started spiraling, trying to find an answer. But I

didn't get much time to think. The sight of a local police car, parking not too far away, brought

me back to the nature of the situation. I had to run, and the quicker I started, the better. The

adrenaline kicked in quite fast. I crouched, and made my way slowly to the back of the kiosk.

Once there, I took a deep breath, and I started running as fast as I could. Through trees,

through worried eyes, and eventually, through the streets of the city.

I don't know how long did I ran, or if I was chased. The only thing that I know is that I stopped

running because I couldn’t deal with the pain anymore. The heat, the lack of air, food, water and

the brain fog made my thoughts blurry and incoherent. I couldn’t run, but the only thing on my

mind was that I had to keep moving. And so I did. I started walking, dragging my feet through

the floor. At some point, my ears stopped ringing, and I started hearing something in the

background.

Water, running water.

And I wasn't wrong. The sprint brought me to what looked like the outskirts of the city. The

streets were calm and silent, and although most of the buildings were pretty humble, it had a

nice, charming touch to it. It made me feel like I was in a town, rather than a city. The

neighborhood was divided by a wide river, streets built on every side of it, with small stairs for

those who wanted to get closer to the water, or walk on the grass along it.

With the energy that I had left, I made my way there slowly, following the sound of the water. I

stopped for a moment standing just in front of the river. Maybe because of the heat, the

exhaustion or because of some darker thought that I didn't want to explore, I felt so tempted to

go inside.

I walked one step further.

Cold.

And another one.

It feels so good...

I walked until my legs were completely underwater, and, when I tried to move forward, I stepped

into a stone, losing my balance.

The feeling of cold water hitting my face felt relaxing, and way less alarming than It should've

felt. I didn't have the strength to stand, swim, or resist anymore.

My body started drowning, and my mind followed.

Why bother…? Why fight? I don't have anything here. Where am I…? I miss them…

The lack of air made me start to lose grip of my consciousness.

If I die again, will I get back home…?

A dull pain on my chest brought me back to reality. I was laying down, with my head facing right.

I coughed a mix of air and water.

The view was really nice, and calming. The grass felt soft, the river was clean, and you could

see the reflection of the sunset on it. I swore I could hear the sound of birds singing.

How long have I been unconscious?

"Wake up!!!"

My eyes followed her voice instantly. Above me, there was a beautiful young girl, with a really

anxious expression and her eyes shut, as if she didnt want to see what was in front of her. Her

reddish brown, wet, shoulder lenght hair was cascading down above my face.

A drop of water fell right in my eye.

Did she…?

It wasn't until that moment that I realized that she had her arms up, with her hands clasped in

front of her. With her eyes closes, she didn't realise that I was already conscious. I tried to talk

before she did it.

"Wait! That's not how you…"

She brought her hands down towards my chest, knocking the air out of me. It sent me straight to

fetal position.

"...do it… fuck…"

She opened her eyes, understanding the situation.

"Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry I didn't mean to do that! I just didn't know how to… but you're alive!"

"Barely… were you trying to finish the job…?" I complained, with the air I had left.

The silence didn't last long. After a couple of seconds, she started laughing.

"I almost did, didn't I?" She said, still trying to repress the laughter.

I turned towards her, a bit upset. "What's so f–"

The sight of her face made me stop talking mid sentence. Although she had a big, wide smile, I

could see the reflection of tears forming on her eyes. All my anger faded.

This was a lot for her, wasn't it?

And, for a second, I completely forgot about the confusion, the hunger, the exhaustion and the

pain. I just layed there, caring for someone I didn't know.