A huge burst of wind hit me, forcing me to close my eyes shut. My ears popped. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to move around, only to realize I couldn’t. I was in free-fall.

Now I was tumbling through the air from my previous movements. I tried assuming the pose they did in the movies when they were sky diving: arms out, and legs bent back. Even after the immense energy I put into doing that, I continued tumbling. After a few tries, though, I eventually steadied.

I gathered up some courage and finally opened my eyes up again, squinting. In the short time I had my eyes half open, I took in what I could. A lush green forest covered the land. The sunlight reflected brightly off a steady river in the distance, which disappeared into an unfamiliar horizon.

For a moment, I was relieved that I was out of that damp, cold world covered with dead trees earlier. But I started tumbling again, so I turned my mind back to trying to steady myself. It was only after a few times of losing and regaining stability when I finally forced myself to think about the question: what am I supposed to do now? I was falling through the air to the ground. Even if there are trees below me, I’d be severely injured after my fall. Plus, what would I even do if I did somehow survive? It didn’t look like there were any human settlements nearby. Should I just follow the river? How would I get food?

I slapped myself, causing me to go back into a violent roll through the air. Why was I wasting my time thinking about all this? I should focus on surviving this fall, not on whatever I should do after! And there I go wasting all that time up and now it’s only a matter of seconds before I hit the top of a tree.

I fumbled around to try to get out of my roll.

Estimation: 3 seconds left.

I gave up and curled, hugged my knees, and braced for impact.

2 seconds left.

I closed my eyes, letting out some tears after all that time with the air hitting my naked eyes.

1 second left.

The howling sound of the air blowing past my ears stopped. In its place was the sound of leaves rustling. Birds and insects sang unfamiliar songs. An animal quietly trotted past.

A soft breeze blew by, and a blade of grass touched my cheek. I jolted awake from my fetal position and sat up, feeling over my body for any wounds. There was nothing—no bleeding, no broken bones. I was fine.

I looked up through the vibrant green leaves of the trees around me. Sunlight shined through, lighting up the underside of the forest. Did I really just fall from the sky and through those leaves? I couldn’t remember much of it, and it all felt like a dream.

More importantly, had I actually transported myself through time? Was that how time traveling felt? I tried doing the same thing again, moving that same muscle I had activated before, but nothing happened. I sighed and laid back down onto my back.

So I guess I had really left my old home behind. Was Angel still okay? Was she still stuck back in the 1800s? Well, maybe that was for the best. It would be a better ending than Arthur’s.

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I shook my head. It wouldn’t be any use dwelling on the past. I would need to find what I should do next to stay alive myself. The first thing that came to mind was the river I saw. I stood up and looked around. Which direction was it again? All the trees were blocking the view of the landscape, so it was hard to tell. However, my head was attracted to one direction, and hidden in the trees was an animal—a deer.

I instinctively took a step forward. The deer didn’t move. I took another step. Still, nothing. Then, like a naive child chasing an innocent-looking butterfly, I ran after the deer. The animal turned and fled. I ran faster. It was probably guiding me, right? I mean, I don’t really have anywhere else to go, so what’s the problem in chasing a deer?

The chase went on for a while until I dropped down in a small clearing. I laid down on my back to catch my breath. What started as a small chuckle turned into a hysterical laugh. What was I doing here? This isn’t even my home now, and I’m still going! What the hell, god, what are you doing with my life? I think I’m going to go insane from all this torture you’re putting me through. So what now? Am I gonna be eaten alive by this deer? I calmed myself down and sat up. My breath was still short—partly from the running but also from the laughing.

There was another small chuckle, and I sat up straight, startled.

“Interesting… humans are interesting…”

The voice was coming from behind me, though I couldn’t tell if it was a woman’s voice or a man’s. I swiftly turned and came face to face with the deer.

“Enjoy… Did you enjoy your time chasing me…? Laugh… Your laugh… it tells me so…”

I shifted back a little and let out a soft, trembling laugh. I wasn’t going crazy, was I? Now the animal seemed to be getting smaller. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. I guess anything can happen now… even a talking, shrinking deer. Its body started changing in shape and its fur started changing color.

“So predictable… humans are so predictable… Always… those curious… those curious minds, no? They see something interesting… and just follow aimlessly… My, you guys are just so… so irrational! But so predictable yet unpredictable at the same time! Wontcha tell me? Why you were laughing like that? My, you peeps are always so dummy serious coming here.”

I stared at the talking deer—no, not a deer anymore—it had just morphed into a rabbit right in front of my eyes, and its voice had a higher pitch now. I started backing away on my rear quickly. Seriously, I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore, and here I am, adding “morphing” to the list of adjectives of this deer-rabbit monster right in front of me.

“Hey, you’re scared of me?” the creature continued, “Hmm… I thought you’d like rabbits. All humans like ’em, right? Bunnies are cute, dontcha think?”

I turned around and tried to stand up, but I tripped over the tall grass.

“Come on, boy, I shifted all the way over to these animals you’re familiar with! Seriously, you came here to ask me for something, did you not? Are you going to give up now?”

I finally stood up and began to run, but a hand grabbed my arm, making me turn back to face the rabbit. But it wasn’t a rabbit anymore. Now it was a woman. She wore a large white hat, with long blond hair flowing down her shoulders and her back. She had a long white dress littered with small green jewels, which showed her slender and tall body. Although her face was sharp and mature, she had large, round eyes that looked directly into my own. I stood there, mesmerized.

The woman sighed. “So predictable…”

No. This person, no matter how beautiful she looked, was not human. It was a rabbit, and before that, it was a deer. Who knows what else it could be? But what would I do if I were to run away? I need to get back to my current time period, but how would I do that? Now that I look at this person, she doesn’t seem too hostile. What if she could help me? What if she could get me home? Or maybe just go back and save Angel?

“I—I do have a request,” I stuttered, answering the woman’s question from earlier.

She smiled. “Finally, we are on the same track again. Shall we go somewhere more comfortable to talk?”

She didn’t wait for an answer and let go of my arm, walking away gracefully.

Maybe it was that she just looked like a kind person. Maybe she looked similar to my mother. Or maybe she resembled Angel. I’m not too sure what captivated me about her, but I followed the stranger out of the clearing back into the woods, entranced with her beauty.