Forest scene

A Story by Dragon17

character accidentally stumbles through a portal while backpacking into a beautiful fantasy world

The world was an inky black. One moment Liam had been walking through the woods illuminated by the flickering of a campfire and the dying rays of the sun, looking left up the slope of the mountain to the camp his father had gone ahead to set up; the next the world had gone dark and silent. Well, not totally silent, he realized. He could hear the chirping of crickets and the wind through the trees. He reached his arms out and felt the cold stone pillars to either side of him, at least they were still there.

Slowly, his eyes began to adjust. He felt the ground around him with his foot. It was uneven and spongy. He could feel roots protruding intermittently from the ground and loose sticks. The wind sighed through the trees, the cold refreshing against his cheeks. The summer’s night had been hot, so Liam was very glad to feel the cold air on his cheeks. He could now see the stone pillars out of the corner of his eye, and the vague outline of trees. They seemed more gnarled than before, like what you’d expect to find near the tree line on a mountain.

Liam felt fear prickling in his stomach, but also awe at the world around him. He heard a tiny pop behind him and spun around. He saw no movement but a small, glowing mushroom caught his eye. It was cute--a smell slender stem topped by a slim hat. Not at all like the button mushrooms he saw at grocery stores. The mushroom emitted a faint green glow, and now that he was focused on it, he could see other tiny clusters of mushrooms illuminated by its glow. He heard another pop, and out of the corner of his eye, saw another mushroom light up. Pop. This one was behind him.

Pop-pop. The mushrooms started lighting up at a regular pace, one every few seconds. The sounds were tiny, but they soon built into something almost like rainfall. The forest seemed to come to life and Liam could finally see.

The popping left as it had come, slowly declining until the gaps in between pops stopped ending, but the forest was now illuminated. Liam had hardly moved, his hand still touching the granite pillar, so in awe was he. The forest was made up of twisted pine trees, the greenness of their needles amplified by the green hue cast by the mushrooms. The forest floor was covered in rocks and a thick layer of moss. He swiveled his head admiring the beauty of the forest. But then he snapped back to reality. As beautiful as this forest was, he had to find his camp. The air had gotten much colder and he felt on the verge of shivering. How had he missed all those mushrooms when there was daylight? The thought that he had crossed into another world flickered across his mind, but he dismissed it. Another gust of wind blew through the forest, but this time it was cold and painful.

He unwrapped the hoodie he’d had around his waist from the summit and put it on, shivering. The forest around him looked totally alien, but he had been heading back towards his camp. Maybe he had gotten turned around? No, he was sure that had been the right way, he’d seen his campfire just before it went dark.

Liam trudged delicately forward. There was no path, so he walked carefully to avoid destroying the underbrush. He walked for at least 10 minutes, well past what should have brought him to his camp, calling out all the while, but found nothing. He turned around and walked back the way he’d come all the fast. He was no longer cold, his breathing and heart rate were up, but it was not just from the uneven terrain and heavy backpack.

I’ll go up. We passed over the mountain peak so if I get to the highest point, I’ll find the trail.

Liam adjusted his pack, then turned to his left and started hiking up the mountain