Benjamin and Isabelle clutched their hands tightly as they fell from a great height. The winds hit their faces as they descended at an accelerating rate. Benjamin tried to open his eyes and look at how far they’d fallen, but his blurred vision couldn’t pick up on the details. He glanced at Isabelle, but she didn’t pay attention to where she fell; she just closed her eyes and tried not to scream.
From the corner of his eyes, his wand flew out of his pocket. Benjamin grabbed it before it got too far out of his reach and pointed it at the ground. To his dismay, nothing came out of his wand, not even a light spark.
Isabelle squeezed his hands and prayed, while Benjamin tried to do the same. As the two continued falling, Benjamin looked around the magenta area around them. That was when he knew they were getting close to the bottom. The rough patches of the leaves scraped against their skin as they pulled each other close, preparing for the worst. The fall seemed inevitable, yet it took longer than they thought.
As they descended closer to the ground, the two noticed some vines nearby, giving them an idea. Benjamin pulled Isabelle close as he grabbed hold of a vine. The burning sensation lingered in his hand as he tried to slow down their momentum. Eventually, their descent stopped as they both reached the end of the vine. As Isabelle opened her eyes and looked down, they hovered slightly above the ground.
The two let go and landed on the soft ground, dust emanating in the air as they cleared their throats.
“Hey, are you alright?” Benjamin asked, extending his hand towards her. She grabbed it and pulled herself up.
“Uh, yeah, I think so,” Isabelle replied, glancing at his other red hand. “What about...?”
“Oh, this? Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.”
Looking up, the forest was immensely tall and spread out throughout the area.
“Hey, do you recognize this place?” Isabelle spoke up.
“Huh?” Benjamin glanced at her. “No, not that I know of. Why do you ask?”
“I mean, you’ve been in this abnormal world longer than me, so I figured this place would be somewhere in the history books.”
“I’ve never seen a place like this before.” his eyes perked up. “Do you think we’ve discovered a brand-new region?” He noticed her scowl and changed his tune immediately.
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“Sorry, got carried away there.”
Isabelle bit her lip as her eyes shifted to the ground. “Well, we haven’t checked the place out yet, so there’s no telling.”
With nowhere else to go, the two pressed forward. As soon as Isabelle took a step, a sprain hit her in the leg, causing her to bend over and massage it in pain.
“Isabelle, what’s the matter?”
“I don’t know. My leg aches for some reason. Maybe it was from the impact earlier?”
“Yikes. Hang on, I got an idea.” Benjamin took his wand out and pointed it at her, but nothing came to fruition. “Huh? Why isn’t it working?” A bright lightbulb clicked in his head. “Of course, this is similar to when I fell into your world.” He glanced at Isabelle. “Sorry about what happened before, I don’t think I’ve—”
“It’s fine, water under the bridge.”
“Anyway, I just need to think of something simple that we need to help us in our dire time.” He concentrated on his thoughts about what to create. However, when he opened his eyes, everything was the same. “What the devil? How simple does it need to be? Come on already!” He shook the wand in frustration, shutting his eyes tighter as he kept thinking. Eventually, he shoved it back into his pockets and sighed in defeat.
Every time I need it the most…
“Benjamin, what do we do now?”
“Ok, I got a Plan B for this.” He got down on his knees and turned to her. “Here, hop on.”
“Eh? Are you sure?”
“I can handle this. Don’t worry about me. Come on, we’re losing daylight here, and we don’t have all day.”
“Ok, if you say so, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
With Isabelle on top of his back, Benjamin set off to find a way out of this place. Or at least, find a shelter to stay in before nightfall. He did his best to avoid pits, trees, and branches without brushing them with his hands.
He trudged past the shrubbery; the sunlight hit him in the face as he stepped forward against the rocky terrain. The red sun emanated against the violet sky above, contrasting with the dark grey dome around them. A long, rickety bridge was attached to the bottom end of the dome as it extended past the fog. Down below was another bottomless pit with fog and mist covering it. Benjamin’s heart sank as he swallowed hard, deciding it wasn’t worth going over.
Screeches nearly erupted their eardrums as strange bird-like creatures flew out of the forest as they soared through the skies. Benjamin stumbled back, but didn’t fall, as he stared at the horizon from afar. He lost track of time, but he took a detour somewhere else.
Benjamin’s stamina slowly drained from his body as his leg muscles strained. Isabelle’s grip around his neck almost gave way and nearly slipped. A nearby cave caught his eye as the magician walked over to lay her down and rest. Isabelle hugged her knees as she watched Benjamin stretch his arms and legs before resting against the wall. He glanced outside as the sun began to set. The duo huddled next to each other and shivered. Benjamin handed Isabelle his jacket, then got up and headed out to retrieve firewood while she waited for him inside. Isabelle clutched the jacket as her glasses fogged up, and she got misty-eyed.