Different.

Chapter 1: Discovery

Chapter 1

Discovery

It was almost like another world. Away from the smog and rushing cars and angry, rude people. Away from the shouting and laughter and shoving. Away from the love and betrayal and hurt and lies. Away from it all. Away from humanity.

It was like my secret little nook.

It was quiet there. The only sounds were the birds gleefully chirping and the river bubbling. The wind had seemed to cease. The darkened sky broke and lit up, light filtering through the leaves and illuminating every breathtakingly beautiful detail of the forest perfectly. Something in the air had changed. Something about this place just felt...familiar and strange, safe and mysterious, magical and mischievous all at the same time. With each step I took, my sneaker clad feet practically sunk into the soft red-brown soil.

This place was different than other parks I'd been to. There there were bums and squatters living in every bush, kids around my age getting high or even hooking up, trash floating around and clogging up the waters...in a word, dirty.

But this place...it was almost like someone didn't want it to be found. Almost like they purposely made the weeds become overgrown to hide this little haven from the rest of the world. And I didn't blame them. Who would want to corrupt a beautiful place like this?

Moss clung to the bases of a majority of the tree trunks, making this place seem old and long forgotten, yet that only added to its elusive charm.

My feet lazily strolled down a small path that seemed endless, while my eyes grazed over the beauty that was before me.

It was almost shaped like a valley. The cobblestone bridge was at the top, and from that level it gradually curved down into a giant river.

I was waltzing down the path and observing the enchanting scenery when I heard a noise come from behind me. It sounded the soft padding of...footsteps?

I whipped my body around, turning on the balls of my feet in the spongy ground just in time to see a figure dash into the bushes. My face fell. My palms grew sweaty. Suddenly it was freezing cold. Someone was following me.

"H-hello?" I stuttered, my hands shaking at my sides as I peered in the direction they had fled.

The only response I received was a rustling of the bushes. My heart began to race, and my mind traveled to all the places it shouldn't have. Deranged homeless men. Serial killers. Rapists. Sociopaths. All waiting for the right victim to stumble into this seemingly gorgeous place.

Head snapping from side to side, suddenly the colors seemed too vibrant, the light too bright, the birds too ominous, the ground too forgiving, the stream too loud. Suddenly everything seemed to be alluring the way a Venus fly trap is. Pretty...until it closes you in and digests you, alive.

Without a single shred of hesitation, I turned sloppily on one foot and ran. Again I was running. But this time it wasn't pain that tore at my heart with each panting breath and landing footstep.

This time it was fear.