Stuck in a Fantasy

Chapter 2

The woman had carried me for a few miles while I pretended to be unconscious. I didn't let my helper know that I was awake, so I could avoid the questions that she must have. Once we got to her village though I knew I could only evade her curiosity for so long. I still took it as far as I could though. I waited to reveal that I was awake until we were inside. Only once I felt the coolness that can only come from an AC unit inside a more modern home and heard the woman walk away after setting me down somewhere did I open my eyes.

My eyes glanced around the room. It had the design of being in older times, but it had the technology and comforts of those that were more advanced. There were no televisions or telephones that I could see, but there was a fridge and freezer. The roof had multiple vents on it and blew cool refreshing air into the room. The room had large windows but the decorations were mostly wooden furniture. There was the occasional animal pelt that had been turned into a rug or a makeshift blanket laying around. I continued to stare at the odd house, unable to place how advanced their society was.

"You're awake," the female said happily as she walked in from another room. Only three doors were connecting to the room I was in. One was the door that led to the outside. So I'm assuming that she came from either a bathroom, a closet, or a bedroom.

"Where am I?" I asked her as I played up the part I had decided to play.

She smiled at me and sat down on the ground next to the bear pelt I had been placed on. "You're in my home at Shire. Right outside the King's castle," She told me.

Shire? What a dorky name. I held back a snort and looked away so the woman wouldn't see my smile. Once my facial features were completely under my control I turned back to her. "How did I get here? Who are you?" I questioned her with faux fear.

"I'm Taylor. I found you in the woods a few miles from here. Looked like you had been attacked. Do you remember what happened?" Taylor replied.

I made a show of thinking then lied, "I remember running. I don't remember why though."

"Well you're human," Taylor told me, "Humans aren't usually here for very good reasons. Especially pretty ones like you. Not gonna lie, you were probably running away from something bad."

She thinks I ran away from a kidnapper of some sort. Probably a sex trafficker. "You're not going to give me back to whoever I ran from are you?" I asked her with genuine fear this time.

I can't go back to that. I had never been forced to do anything since I would jump into another dimension as soon as someone kissed me, but the constant fear I had lived in during that time was enough to make someone go insane.

Taylor instantly shook her head and answered, "Oh heavens no! Those people are awful."

"What are you going to do with me?" I inquired.

"I'll fix you up then send you to the king," she said.

I don't want to meet the king. Especially not a king of dragons. Oh Cara, I never should have agreed to do this! I had a comfortable thing going in my last dimension."Why the king?" I asked her.

"Oh don't worry. The king is a good man. He takes human escapees and refugees and gives them homes. I've even heard of cases where he got them back to their original towns. Amazing that any human would want to go back to the human towns though. They're constantly at war with each other. Honestly, King Drake should just take out their rulers and be done with them. Oh, I'm sorry! I don't really go out much. I'm rambling. I'm sure you don't want to hear about my political views," she apologized slightly embarrassed.

Great. Living peacefully among the humans for the entirety of this month doesn't seem like an option.

"No, it's alright. I actually enjoy it," I reassured Taylor. Hopefully, she'll keep talking and make my job a lot easier.

"No, it's fine! I'm sure you want to shower and change anyways. You're a bit taller than me but I think the majority of my clothes will still fit. I wouldn't mind having those few extra inches you have though. Makes you look just absolutely gorgeous. Though you don't really need the height to add to your beauty too much. Your hair alone is enough to make men fall on their knees and praise the ground you walk on. Then there are your eyes! I just wish I had some of the colorings you have! It's like you're a walking goddess. Oh, I'm doing it again! I'm so sorry! Just ignore me. The room you saw me come out of is the bathroom. I'll rummage through some clothes and find an outfit for you," she rambled. She then gave me an awkward smile and went through the door that must have led to her bedroom.

I swayed from foot to foot as I waited for her to come back. It was only a few minutes, and when she did she handed me a bundle of white clothing. "It's a dress. It's supposed to be like a sundress but it's a bit too long on me. So it'll probably look fantastic on you. I put some clean underwear in there too. Those probably won't be too comfortable, so I could wash what you have on and give it back to you once you're done," Taylor suggested.

I nodded and said, "That would be amazing. Thank you."

She nodded her head and led me to the bathroom. I was shocked to see an actual shower. It wasn't as nice as some of the other showers I've seen in my life but it was a real heated shower.The shower was also a bathtub at the bottom and the white tub was connected to the walls around it. The shower curtain was a light pink and seemed to be made of cheap flimsy plastic. Her bathroom mat was also a light pink and was right by the shower. The sink and toilet were a few feet away from the shower and seemed perfectly clean. Almost like an OCD person had cleaned them three times before I ever stepped into the room.

After walking all the way in Taylor turned and looked at something behind me. I turned too and saw that the wall next to the door was made up of large wooden cupboards. She opened the cupboards and revealed two large washing and drying machines that were yellowing from age. The large machines were stacked on each other and had two shelves beside them. One shelf held laundry detergent, or what I assumed to be laundry detergent, and the other shelf had about ten folded towels placed neatly on it.

"Towels are right here. Use as many as you need. I'll just wash them when we wash your clothes," Taylor informed me. I gave her an appreciative smile and she walked out after returning it.

I'm lucky Taylor is the one who found me. She's a very nice woman. No! No thinking thoughts like that! I agreed to try out one more dimension. Not two. I'll have to leave Taylor's home soon or I'll end up jumping.

Now with a new sense of urgency, I began to strip off my dirty clothes then turned on the shower. As I waited for the water to warm up I thought of all the times I had nothing to bathe with but a cold bucket of water from the nearest stream.

I remembered the way my arms would shake as goosebumps covered them. The way my hands would be so numb from the frigid temperatures that I feared I would get frostbite.At these thoughts, I started to feel cold and decided I wasn't going to wait for the water to heat up. I got into the shower and immediately almost slipped in my haste. I managed to save myself from gaining any new bruises as I caught myself leaning against the wall. I stiffened as I carefully moved under the water once again. This time I kept my footing.

As the warm water continued to fall down my body I let it ease my muscles. Once I wasn't so tense I searched for some soap to clean my sticky body with. Thankfully it didn't take long for me to find the three most precious items of my life. A strawberry body wash, a strawberry shampoo, and a strawberry conditioner.

I didn't particularly love the smell of strawberries but I didn't have a problem with it either, and right now strawberries were a whole lot better smelling than me. I grabbed the three bottles and greedily applied them.

It took washing with the body wash seven times for all the dirt and grime to wash away. It took even more time of washing my hair to get all the blood out of it. By the time I was done Taylor's extra clean bathtub was no longer clean. Instead, it had mud clumps and random patches of blood on the bottom of it. Feeling slightly bad about the mess I used my foot to force the excess into the drain and out of sight. Once all traces of my shower were gone I turned off the water and dried myself off with the towel.I changed into the dress and underwear she gave me and put it on. The dress fit perfectly, but the underwear was a bit too tight when it came to the bra. But hey, something is better than nothing. I looked for something to see my reflection in but quickly found there was no mirror in the bathroom. So instead I went out the door and faced this new reality