I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar landscape. There were trees as far as the eye could see and towering mountains with their peaks shrouded by white clouds. The air was fresher and richer than what I was used to, and I could feel a cold, rough sensation in my palms, which had considerably shrunken in size for some strange reason. I looked down to assess the mysterious object, only to find something that resembled a wooden branch.

Is this supposed to be a bow? I asked myself, ignoring the 101 other questions I had for my sanity's sake. I began to thoroughly inspect this "bow," if I could call it that, to distract myself from my dilemma. "No strings, huh? Makes it look like a boomerang," I muttered to myself. My voice was several pitches higher than usual, but again, I didn't want to dwell on that. How did I get here? I wondered, and as I recollected my thoughts, I started remembering all the events that led up to that moment. 

I was a twenty-year-old college student. My parents were divorced, and I was the oldest of three siblings. We had to fend for ourselves, doing whatever it took to survive. Of course, I also remember doing some things I'm still not proud of, but I tried to be an upstanding citizen most of the time. Besides, my heart was in the right place, so I guess that counts in the grand scheme of things, right?

I had taken up a job at a nearby fast-food establishment to earn some extra money for that month. Although I hated the job with every fiber of my being, I needed all the money I could get for my rent, as I was already receiving threats from the landlord. So, I flipped burgers, mopped the floors, and dealt with annoying customers all day. That was the usual routine, yet that day was different. 

I remember walking back to my miserable apartment after an exhausting day at work. I stopped at the traffic lights, and whether it was by fate, chance, or some old man upstairs, I happened to notice a hole in the sky. My eyes widened in shock, and I tried to alert everybody to the looming threat that towered above us, but it was like they had all gone deaf. Stranger still, they couldn't even see it, or me, for that matter. The next thing I knew, I was floating at ever-increasing speeds toward the hole. I tried to scream as it was sucking me in, but my voice would no longer come out. Then, I lost consciousness and woke up in this body. 

As my situation dawned on me, I suddenly felt an urge to bawl my eyes out. Luckily, I managed to stop myself. What would crying solve anyway? I tried to be brave, but it wasn't working. All the signs pointed in one direction, a direction I was familiar with already from all the novels I read. I have been transported to another world, I thought, In a different body...

It was quite clear, really. My line of sight was much lower than it used to be. My hands were smaller. My voice was different, and I couldn't feel 'it' down there. At this last thought, I felt the tears bubbling up from inside, and this time, I didn't fight it. I mourned the death of my lil buddy that day as I set out to start exploring my immediate surroundings.