He walked towards the door. Still numb, but his heart had somewhat calmed down. He yawned as he walked. He grabbed the door lock and opened it, stepping out with the same momentum as always.
Never expecting anything, so he instinctively let go of this side of the lock and went to grab the other side, but before he could do so, the foot that was supposed to land on the living room floor—of the same height—seemed farther down.
It took longer for his foot to touch the ground. And somehow, he felt rain pouring on his foot and also heard the sound of it. Like he was deep in a forest.
Before he could fully register what he was hearing and feeling, he slipped. He instinctively tried to grab the lock but missed. He skidded down a small hill.
He couldn't comprehend what was going on.
He didn't slip for very long and soon came to a stop. Looking up, he noticed that up on the hill, there was a door. Standing alone, without any wall or anything else.
Just the door—as if it was part of the space itself. The door carried his momentum when he slipped and slowly closed. It shut with a click and a thud. It wasn't loud.
Not with all the rain noise around him. But to him, in that moment, it was the loudest sound in the world. As if the closing of that door had sealed his fate.
And after that, the unthinkable happened.
The door disappeared like a mirage. Quickly and soundlessly. As if the space around it had consumed it.
He stared at the spot in silence, wide-eyed, mouth open, trying to make sense of what had just happened. He couldn't. It felt like another dream—one of those vivid ones that hit like a truck. But the cold rain said otherwise.
He stood up straight with slow, shock-enticed movements. Turned around. Looked up.
The sky poured down rain. It was gray—so gray it made the world seem black and white. The terrain was uneven, with tall grass here and there. On his right side, he noticed a slope that connected to the land below—massive mountains that pierced the clouds, and a river flowing through them like a snake.
The sight was ominous yet mystical. And the lack of thunder made it even more so. In this kind of weather, one would instinctively expect low thunder rumbling somewhere, but there was none.
On his left side was a forest, thickly packed with trees. Tall and dark. So dark that the green leaves looked black.
And then came a sound from a few meters in front of him.
He looked towards the source, and his eyes widened in horror.
A few white tentacles, resembling octopus limbs, slowly revealed themselves, and with them, a bush was lifted—blooming like a flower. But from what seemed to be the creature's mouth, a dense mass of smaller tentacles wiggled. It looked like a colony of worms trying to reach the sky.
And the creature made a sound.
Haaagh.
It slowly began to walk towards him.
He stared at the creature with a mix of terror and disgust.
He hated tentacles.
And the creature didn't lack them.
His mind instinctively imagined what would happen if he got caught. His thoughts wobbled, his stomach churned with disgust. He reached—
He took a deep breath—and did the most logical thing.
'Run.'
He wanted to get as far away from that creature as he could. So he instinctively chose the forest. He started running, the sound of grass pressing beneath his feet.
Seeing him run, the creature hissed again.
He didn't look back.
His mind was in chaos.
'What was happening? Why was this happening? Why am i here? How am i here? Was this real or a dream?'
His thoughts raced.
He ran through the forest. It was even darker in here. His heart hammered against his chest. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and into his brain so intensely it started to hurt.
But he didn't stop. He didn't know if that creature was following him. He ran like his life depended on it.
His limbs felt numb. He was breathless. His body no longer felt like his own. It was on autopilot.
He ran for what felt like an eternity. Rainwater splashed under his feet as he went.
One thing had become clear.
This was real.
He noticed a dead tree blocking the path. And before he could process it—
The same thing happened again. A nearby bush shifted.
Same type of creature—but bigger.
Seeing it, he stopped abruptly—and slipped.
He didn't care. He turned around and started to desperately run back.
"Aah, aaahh."
He screamed as he struggled to get up, slipping a few more times. The panic attack made it worse. But he used his hands to claw his way forward even just a little, since he couldn't properly stand.
He grit his teeth. Tears leaked from his eyes. After much struggle, he finally managed to get up.
And just moments later, a tentacle swiped the spot where he'd been.
He looked back and saw the creature—way too close.
"Heeeeeeh!"
He shrieked and ran with all his might.
'There are more! I need to run. This forest has more!'
Right now, he couldn't think of anything else except escaping. He had to go back the way he came. He couldn't trust any other path—any bush could ambush.
Even though the bush had been there before, waiting to ambush, he decided to head for the other side of the hill. To climb down through the slope that connected to the land below.
He came out of the forest.
There was no ambush this time.
But that didn't matter—he knew it was still there.
He ran toward the other side of the hill—towards the slope—but stopped.
Not because he wanted to.
Because he had to.
There was no slope. Only a cliff.
He looked to his left and saw that only that part had a slope now, and it seemed like some kind of landslide had happened.
He briefly considered going through that slope but discarded the idea immediately.
He didn't want to see that creature again. Just the thought of it sent a tingling rush of terror from the soles of his feet to the tips of his hair.
He looked to his right and noticed that trees didn't grow near the cliff there, leaving some open space.
That calmed him a bit.
He took a few deep breaths and started running again, slower and more carefully this time. He didn't want to slip and fall off the cliff. He maintained a safe distance from both the forest and the edge.
After running a bit more, he stopped to catch his breath—but he didn't let his guard down. His adrenaline had calmed down a little—just enough to notice how thirsty he was.
He brought his hands together, gathered rainwater, and drank. He kept doing it until his thirst was quenched.
His breathing calmed.
But every time his mind tried to process the absurdity of the situation—it hurt.
-To Be Continued