My ears caught a running water’s sound only after a few minutes of walking. That was a real music to my ears, because my throat was killing me. I quickened my pace to reach it faster. Pushing my way through the bushes, I found myself at the bank of a small river. I gasped. The water was so clean I could see even the tiniest rocks at the bottom of it. I dipped my hands to get some water to drink.

- ‘Beep.’ – a strange sound echoed into my ears.

“Huh?” I stopped to look around, turning my head to the sides. I couldn’t see anything, so I pulled my hands with the water up to my mouth. “Aaah…”

I felt like I was drinking an elixir of life. My throat felt a soothing sensation and my head cleared, dissolving my headache as if it never was there. I dipped my hands into the water again, wanting to drink some more, when suddenly, a small animal jumped out of the bushes just a few feet away on my right. It almost startled me, stopping my hands midair before I could drink again.

When I turned my head to see what it was, the first impression was of a rabbit, or at least it looked like one. It was a size of a rabbit, had a fluffy, grey fur, but somewhat short ears. The creature’s mouth had a weird shape, though. It looked to be too wide for such a small creature, but it had a cute nose and big, black color eyes that were staring at me curiously. I assumed it had a tail too, but I couldn’t see it.

“Hmph, thirsty?” I smirked, lifting my hands with some water to my mouth again.

It was amusing to see such fluffy creature pop out of nowhere. I figured it must’ve been thirsty too and hopped out of its cover to have a sip of this refreshing water I was drinking. Surprisingly, the small, fluffy creature didn’t drink any water. It was simply staring at me intently. I grimaced, giving it a look back.

“You’re quite brave, aren’t you?” I spoke to it loud enough this time, thinking it will spook the rabbit away.

But it didn’t even flinch upon hearing my words which I found rather strange. Maybe I was the first human the small, fluffy creature ever saw in its life. However, I was still much bigger in size which would be quite threatening to a small animal.

“Are you deaf?” I asked half-jokingly, but the creature had no reaction again. I somewhat frowned, feeling unamused my joke didn’t fly then instantly dropped my head, feeling dumb. “Yup, I’m talking to a rabbit. The hell was I drinking last night? Sigh… Ok, shoo!”

Feeling I should act like a grown-up adult man I was, I finally tried to shoo the fluffy creature away. I waved my right hand towards it to scare if off. The rabbit’s reaction was one I would’ve never expected to see even in my worst horror dreams. As the motion of my hand closed in towards the fluffy animal, instead of running away, the creature jumped at it, opening its big mouth wide and sinking its sharp teeth into my flesh, just below my pinkie.

“WHAAAA!” The pain was excruciating. I instantly pulled my hand away, but the creature wouldn’t let go. It sank its teeth into my hand even deeper.

“Let… gooo! Fuuuck!” I shook my hand, dangling the fluffy creature that was biting on it really hard. “Damn! Damn! Damn! AAAAH!”

I screamed like a baby, but it was too painful to bear. I could feel the creature’s teeth sinking into my palm’s bones, increasing the pain I was feeling tenfold. Not knowing what to do, I quicky sank my hand under the water, painting the stream with my blood which was gushing out of the wound. It didn’t help to ease the pain, but I hoped the monster rabbit would let go when it was deprived of oxygen. It was a monster in my eyes at this point, even if it was cute and fluffy.

My plan was probably successful and the monster rabbit didn’t appreciate ending up under the water, but then I felt a deeper bite of its teeth. The fluffy monster was gasping for air, kicking its feet frantically under the water. At the same time, it didn’t want to let go. With the way it was kicking and biting, a horrific realization flashed in my mind. The creature wanted to get out of the water, but it also wanted to take a chunk of my flesh together with it.

“You damn monster rabbit! Die!” I pulled out my hand out of the water, with the creature still hanging on it, biting on my flesh. It was almost a reflex, but I grabbed a stone from the bottom of the stream with my other hand and smacked the rabbit with it. I didn’t care if I hit my other hand with it at this point.

It helped. The creature’s bite loosened a bit. I smacked it again and it let go, dropping itself on the ground next to the stream. I could see the monster rabbit was dizzy from my hits, but it wasn’t dead. It really creeped me out when the creature shook its head a few times, then licked my blood of off its face, fixating its black eyes on me again.

“Why you freakish…” my hand with the stone moved on its own. I smacked the monster rabbit on the head with it. It squeaked after the hit, but I wasn’t about to stop. I hit it again and again, and again. I was smashing the little animal with the rock like a cook would smash boiled potatoes until they turned into a soft mash.

I would’ve been smashing it non-stop for who knows how long if not for the creature’s body dissipating into a sparkling mist just before another one of my swings was about to land on it. It almost looked like it exploded into some fairy dust.

“Eh? What the…” I was stunned to see that happen.

Before I could think about it, I heard an emotionless, mechanical, almost robotic, male voice speak into my ears.

- “One experience point gained.” – I thought the voice was in my head, but it was too loud and to clear for that.

“What? Who said that?” I jumped to my feet, but couldn’t see anyone anywhere.

I stood there, waiting for someone to say something again, but the pain in my hand reminded me of what has happened just a moment ago.

“Ah, shiiit…” I gripped my hand with the other, tightening my grip on the wrist, just below where the wound was in order to slow down the blood flow. It was bleeding bad and I had to do something fast. I plunged my hand into the cold water to numb the pain, panting and gritting my teeth as I did so.

I had to bear it. The wound was deep and I could see part of my flesh being loose, which made me a little sick at the same time. I remembered the tie in my pocket and instantly reached for it, still keeping my bleeding hand under the water. I wrapped the wound with the tie, covering it fully and tightening the wrap extra hard to stop the blood pouring out of it. It helped. My hand started to feel numb from the pressure which meant I did a good job bandaging it.

“This is just…” my mind was still in shock. I couldn’t believe what just happened. I turned to where I have killed the monster rabbit, furrowing my eyebrows. To my yet another astonishment, a piece of a fine cut raw meat was laying right at the spot where I have killed it. “The hell?”

I honestly thought I have lost it this time. I stared at the raw piece of meat, not knowing what to think of it. After a moment or two, I stepped closer and poked it with a finger. It definitely felt like a piece of a raw meat, if I ever saw one.

- ‘Beep.’ – Again, I heard a weird beep in my ears.

“Huh?” I lifted my head, but then turned to look at the meat again. “Shit, is this real? Where… where the hell did this meat come from?”

I poked it again, but didn’t dare to pick it up. I then washed my hand in the water, like I was afraid to catch some disease from touching the meat. Suddenly, I remembered a weird voice talking just a moment ago.

“Hey! Hello! Anyone there?” I raised my voice, then quieted down to listen for a response, but it was quiet. I threw a glance left, then right, then rubbed my eyes with a healthy hand to try and think about it rationally.

I must be hallucinating. Shit, I need some answers about what’s going on. There was nothing rational in my thoughts, however. Even if I wanted to believe I was hallucinating, the pain in my right hand, and the piece of a raw meat next to me were very, very real. The forest and the water I drank felt very real as well. I let out a deep sigh and went to look for a way out of here.

I walked for some time upstream, thinking I should find a settlement, or a path of sorts which hopefully would lead me out of here. If I could find someone, I would be able to ask for help and then find my way out of this forest. I kept a normal pace, not straying away from the small river. After a while, the grass and the bushes started to grow too thick and it was almost impossible to pass, but I wanted to have the water in my sight. I pushed the branches and advanced forward. My pants caught a branch and I heard my clothing rip when I forcefully made another step.

“Ah, shit. My suit…” I clenched my healthy hand’s fist. “It’s… it’s ok. It’s just a piece of clothing. I… I have another suit at home…”

I tried to keep my focus and not lose my head over a piece of cloth. I advanced through the bushes, kicking my legs to push away the branches, so I could pass. Unfortunately, and since I couldn’t see where I was stepping, I placed my foot too close to the edge of the tiny river and slipped. I lost balance and was about to plunge my foot into the water, which I certainly didn’t want to happen. With my quick reflexes, I quickly reached to grab onto the branch of the bush, but had forgotten that my right hand was injured.

“Aaargh!” I gritted my teeth as the pain forced me to let go of the branch.

The next thing I knew, my butt was in the water. It was deeper than I thought it would be too. I could only gasp as I couldn’t stop my fall. The water splashed as my body plunged face down under it. It was almost up to my waist in depth. I pushed myself up hastily with my healthy hand, coughing the water out of my body which I manage to gulp some when I dove down with my mouth open.

“You have to be freaking kidding me!” I cursed out loud standing up, water running down my soaked clothing. “That’s just great. Fuck…”

I rammed my hands at my waist, remembering to be gentle with my right hand. Water was dripping down my wet hair, ears and nose. I sighed, trying to keep it together again. It was just some water, so there was no need to get fussed over it. Or so I was telling myself, but I was fuming inside.

I’ll just… dry myself out and… I grimaced, pressing my lips tight, so I wouldn’t say anything out loud or else I might lose it.

After a few deep breaths, I made my way forward again, walking in water this time until I found a more open ground to walk on. Finding my way out of this forest became my second priority. I knew I had to dry myself out, so I wouldn’t be hit with hypothermia or get sick. It wasn’t that cold, but being First Aid trained I knew I shouldn’t take any chances. I was convinced that making my way upstream was my best bet for some reason, so I plucked along. Fortunately, there was enough space to walk close to the stream now.

I strolled through the forest, picking up my pace and occasionally stopping to stretch in order to help my blood flow keep some warmth inside my bones. After a while, the chill from wearing wet clothes was starting to set in and my body was having a hard time keeping itself warm.

Another half an hour later, I finally came out into a small meadow. The stream was becoming smaller and I knew I should reach the area where it started sooner or later. The sight that opened in front of me was quite serene. To my biggest astonishment, the stream I was trailing was flowing out of a giant tree’s trunk. The water flow created a small pond next to the tree’s roots before spilling over and running away towards where I came from. The tree and the stream aside, the area looked like a well-kept front yard, only this one was surrounded by other trees and bushes.

“Wow,” I scratched my cheek, mesmerized by the view.

When I spoke in my mind about the tree being huge, I really meant it. It was definitely tall. However, just like with the rest of the trees, I couldn’t see how high it grew. The biggest amazement was how wide the tree in front of me was. If I had to guess, it was well over twenty meters in diameter, if not more. The tree’s roots were hugging the small pool from one side and a portion of the meadow from the other, creating a half-shaped moon cover. It almost looked like it was protecting the place. A cold shiver ran down my spine, reminding me that my body was losing the warmth and the battle against my wet clothes. I took the hint and decided this would be a perfect place to dry myself out. Having a fire to warm myself up would help as well.

“Ah, right,” I scrambled to check my pocket. Fortunately, the leather casing dressed lighter was still there. The leather case was wet, but the lighter was dry, allowing me to start a fire.

I quickly hunted for some dry branches and in less than ten minutes I had a fire burning. I made sure the fire was safe distance away from the huge tree, or any other trees for that matter. setting the forest on fire wasn’t my way of helping my body become warm.

I undressed, leaving myself only in my boxers. They were also wet, but I didn’t feel like being butt-naked in the middle of the forest. I came closer the small pond to wash myself. I also wanted to check and clean my wound, intending to wrap it with the same tie afterwards again. I was glad it didn’t hurt as much and the bleeding seemed to stop too which was a surprise really.

“Woah…” I gasped aloud after uncovering the injury.

I knew I’ve done a good job wrapping and tightening it, but I didn’t expect for it to stop the bleeding completely. I inspected it closer. The marks of the monster rabbit’s teeth were still there. The skin was ripped on the side with part of the muscles wide open to see, but at the same time, the wound was somewhat closed up, showing signs of starting to heal up. If I didn’t know better, I could’ve sworn that wounds like these take several days, if not weeks, to heal to the point it was healed now. It looked unreal.

But I was yet to believe what happened to me being real in the first place. I was partly hoping I was locked in an overly realistic dream of sorts, or hallucinating at worst. I was seriously blaming all the drinks I poured down my throat last night.

I shrugged and dipped my injured hand into the water to clean off the dried blood around it. A pleasant, soothing sensation tingled my skin around the wound. I held it down for a few moments to enjoy it for a while longer. I washed my tie inside the pool too. My eyes have caught an interesting thing happening. The blood that was washed off my wound, and the bits that were stuck on my tie, dissolved into the water, leaving it as clean as it was a moment ago. I didn’t want to think too much about it, so I simply shrugged, dismissing as my mind playing tricks on me and went to catch some warmth next to the fire.

As unrealistic, or as hallucinating as I thought my environment was, my stomach’s rumble felt very much real. My clothes were nearly dry and my body felt warm. It probably took over an hour to dry myself and my clothes out. I was mulling over at what happened, trying to put my situation in perspective. I tried to remember what happened during the party last night, but no new memories revealed themselves to me.

“Ghmm…” I grumpily gurgled, trying to win the growling competition against my stomach. I tried to dismiss it at first, but my growing hunger felt very real. “Shit. From finding myself in an unknown forest, to being attacked by a fluffy bunny monster, to starving to death. Quite a development.”

I tried to be funny, but I wasn’t laughing. A dream or not, I had to eat something. So, I dressed up, put out the fire and went to look for some food. I was in the forest, so I thought should be able to find something to eat. Some berries, or worst case, some mushrooms I could try and cook on the fire would be fine at this point. If I was lucky, I may actually find a way out of this forest too, but that option was slowly slipping away from me.

 

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