Ugh….

Simon’s eyes opened as he stared up at the clouds above, the sun shone brightly causing him to bring his hand up to shade himself. In doing so the youthful flesh of his memories came into sight.

“It's normal!” His excitement and relief overflowed as he bolted upright, looking down at his body he sighed aloud in relief. Despite still being naked his appearance had returned to normal, his skin was smooth and youthful and the muscles he had spent years working on were present as well, though he noticed they appeared to be slightly larger than he had remembered.

I look like I put on twenty pounds at the gym…

Looking at his surroundings revealed he was no longer in the stone filled area with the workers, he now found himself in a wooded area, the trees were not too dense, and the knee-high grass was soft as it swayed around him. Standing up he looked around the area, seeing no one.

Did someone carry me here? What the hell’s going on?

After some debate he finally picked a direction and began walking, though in all honesty he simply chose to walk away from the sun to avoid having to stare into it as he traveled.

Where the hell am I?

Although he had never been an expert on plants or local wildlife he knew enough to recognize that the trees with long spiky leaves and black fruit certainly weren’t native to the USA. He had also found himself particularly disturbed at the rabbit-like creature with 6 legs, its frontal pair had small claws that it had brandished while hissing in his direction when he had startled the creature as it foraged in the grass.

I’ve never seen shit like this…is…is this Australia?

Although he had seen the odd nature show he couldn’t recall ever hearing of a six legged rabbit, but if any country had something like that he would wager it would be down under. Though the grass and shrubbery was still fairly green, and the heat of the day was hot but not excessively so.

Is all of Australia a desert? Wait…they have wet seasons.

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It had been summer when he left work, seeing that this would be the other side of the world that would make it the opposite of summer here.

Right?

Cursing himself for not paying more attention in school he continued his trek, though where he was going, he had no idea.

Crack.

The sound of a small branch breaking made him freeze as he looked around, his lack of attire now making him feel very vulnerable. Looking ahead he could make out a deer slowly walking out from some shrubbery, it was smaller than the white tail deers he was used to seeing and the white spots on its brown fur gave it a pleasant appearance.

That’s gotta be an Australian deer, I remember hearing they’re smaller than North American ones.

Now that he knew where he was he just needed to figure out why and how he had gotten here. He smiled to himself as he toyed with the thought that maybe he had been whisked away on some sort of prank game show. Who else could afford to send him across the world for no reason?

With a slick slurping noise the deer's chest split open, revealing a pinkish blob of muscle, it uncoiled itself revealing a long tentacle appendage with a sharp bone-like structure on its tip.

What…

Simon’s mind blanked momentarily as the tentacle shot out, piercing one of the six legged rabbits that had scampered into view at that time, with a loud squeal it thrashed about, desperately trying to free itself. The tentacle expanded slightly as a loud slurping noise sounded out from the rabbit, Simon watched in horror as the creature began to deflate, its innards being sucked through the tentacle and into the deer’s chest.

Turning on his heels he felt his heart rate accelerate as he willed strength into his legs, with a burst he began running as fast as his legs would allow, the trees around him seemed to blur as his vision funneled ahead.

THAT’S NOT A DEER. THIS ISN’T AUSTRALIA.

With images of a spiked tentacle sucking his innards out passing through his head he squeezed every ounce of speed his legs could muster, within moments he cleared the tree line and a vast yellow plain met his vision, inwardly cursing he pressed onwards into the field, the waste high grass seemed to blend into a sea of yellow around him, the individual stalks being lost as he ran through it.

Nowhere to hide…

He might not have known much about animals, but he was not naïve enough to believe he could outrun a deer on open ground, praying that it took its time with the rabbit as he continued his feverish pace. Looking straight ahead he did not dare look back, as if avoiding seeing the creature would help him evade it.

The seconds rolled over into minutes as he listened to nothing but the sound of his heart throbbing and the relentless wind that now seemed to blow against him. He cursed again at his luck, as the wind roared against him, creating a noticeable resistance.

Finally feeling like had covered enough distance he allowed himself to glance back over his shoulder, only to find a new wave of confusion rolling over him. Stopping his legs suddenly he felt himself whip forward, his upper body still carrying the momentum of his run. With a muffled crash he unceremoniously plowed into the ground face first, feeling himself drug along for several feet as if an invisible hand was pushing him along face first.

Grinding to a halt he pushed himself up from the ground spitting out the mouth full of dirt he had picked up when he fell.

Brushing the dirt off himself he paused, looking back in the direction he had come.

“Am I going fucking crazy?” speaking to no one in particular, he simply stared off into the distance.

A sea of yellow grass as far as the eye could see.