Panic was about the only feeling she could pinpoint at the moment, and it was not helping her collect her thoughts or discern her surroundings. It also definitely did not help her in the breathing department. Which at this point was less breathing and more akin to suffocating than breathing.

So, with a will, she wasn’t entirely certain she had. She started taking steps to back off the cliff she would call her certain panic attack. This, of course, took a few minutes of trying different strategies but eventually, she managed to make it to a state where she could start thinking rationally or at least partially.

With this newfound clarity, she took stock of the area around her. From what she could see it was an oddly lit forest filled with lavishly large trees twisting with power towards the sky. And below the trees was all manner of glowing mushrooms and other fungi.

“So definitely not the United States then,” She thought to herself. The only place on Earth that she could think of that would have even a small chance of the flora and fauna of this forest would be the Amazon. But she can't remember ever reading about blue glowing moss or sparkling roses.

So that begged the question was she even still on earth? She couldn’t fathom how that would even be possible, but it was not like she was any stranger to the fantasy setting. She did work in a library so of course she has read her fair share of those books but reading a book and living it was a completely different story.

What finally broke her train of thought and her idea that this was still earth was the oddly pale nature of her skin. She would normally attest this to the panic attack she had earlier, but it seemed almost too pale, almost like she was covered in moon dust or something.

But no amount of brushing or movement showed signs that it was some kind of dust or paint but more like it was her skin. Which made her question what else could be different, so to the best of her ability she started working on accounting for the different changes she could find.

The next big change was in what she was wearing. Her normal graphic tee and skirt combo she was dressed for work in was gone. Replaced with some sort of long cloak with an undershirt and pants. But more concerning to her than the change of her skin and clothes was when she went to feel her face and found that her ears had a weird long-ness to them that was not normal or natural for her.

The only logical conclusion she could make, and she did find the irony in the word logic, was did not only do she somehow leave her town and maybe even earth but also left her species to what she can only assume from the features to be an elf.

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This, of course, was completely off the rails; she was just some college librarian not even a very high-level one. If this was really like a fantasy novel then why did she get chosen and not some hero or even a more intelligent person. And for that matter, it's not like she died in a super tragic or weird way from what she can recollect it was mostly her fault for wandering in the road.

So, it just left her with the question of why her, if it of course wasn’t a dream or coma. But she figured if it was a dream or coma there was no harm in treating it as real for the time being, considering the problems that occur happen if it was real.

With most of her thoughts finally settled she decided it was finally time to start exploring the surroundings. In the hopes of finding drinkable water and food.

All around her was an unfamiliar fantasy-like forest, with trees upon trees so thick it was hard to tell the time of day. Causing her to in a bit of hysteria she pick a random direction and started walking.

So, walk she did and for the first hour, she was feeling pretty good about her decision. But as she kept walking and the forest scenery did not seem to change in more than just patterns of trees, she started to get worried. What was she going to do for food, water, or even shelter? She was in the middle of an unknown forest how was she even supposed to know what to eat.

As these different thoughts flashed through her worried mind, she failed to notice the break of the tree line in the distance. Until she passed the threshold and was greeted by large crumbling stone ruins.

And for the first time since she woke up in the forest, she could tell what time it was. Above the glistening stone ruin was the blinding white of the moon hanging in the sky. But not her moon, not the same moon that caused the space race. It was too big almost magical in its size and brightness.

It was mesmerizing to look at like it took all the fear and exhaustion from her earlier journey and wiped it away. But she knew she couldn’t stare at it forever, she needed to explore the ruins for a place to stay and hopefully find some food or water.

So, with some sadness, she looked away from the brilliant moon and started towards the ruins. As she got closes, she realized that it wasn’t just the moon that was a magical sight. The ruins themselves seemed almost alive with the way they glowed in the moonlight.

The marble of the bricks was as white as freshly fallen snow, and the intricate designs of the marble work seemed almost impossible.

She walked along with the ruins in a trance from the quality of the buildings she could still make out from the decay. That was until she made it to the most intact building, she had seen yet.

It had a giant archway supported by marble columns of similarly awesome design. Past the archway was a human-sized statue in the middle of a dome-shaped building. The statue depicted a womanly figure sitting atop a crescent moon. The woman had a serene and kind look that of a mother looking at her child.

With it already being night and being entirely exhausted from her long walk, Alice decided that she would use this room as a shelter for the moment. So, she could converse some of her energy for finding food and water tomorrow.

Sitting back against the wall of the room Alice dosed off wrapped in the warmth of the cloak she had on.