𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫

Chapter One: I Traveled...?

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Key:

Bolded dialogue: Japanese

Italics: Thoughts

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     Your eyes blinked open, the chirps of hundreds of birds filling your ears.

     Wow... I don't remember there being so many birds outside my window... you thought, still a bit disoriented. Wait...

     Sitting bolt upright, your sleepiness fled out the window. "Where am I?!"

     Your surroundings were most definitely not your bedroom, and you were most definitely nowhere near your house. Looking down, you took in your outfit. Nothing you didn't recognize.. It was all your own clothing. Instead of running off into the wilderness like the wild side of you wanted, you decided to be cautious. You began thinking about how you got here.

     "So.. I'm in the middle of the woods. Alone. I don't see anything around me that looks familiar.." You said aloud, sorting through your memories Then it hit you.

- flashback -

     Night.

     Rain pattered down, forming rivulets on your window.

     You and a couple friends were driving along a mountain road, chauffeured by one of their parents. It was nearing the end of a vacation for you, having spent a couple weeks up in the mountains. And whenever it rained, it was your favorite time. The sound was relaxing, but it also made you want to drink hot beverages and lounge around in your pajamas all day. Smiling to yourself, your thoughts focused on the idea of hot cocoa when you got home.

     But it would never happen. A bright light shone into your eyes, and you looked between the front seats to see the source of it. There was a car, going in the wrong direction.

     The driver swerved to avoid it, but the downpour of rain caused them to skid over the barrier and over the edge of the mountain. Time seemed to slow. The world spun, and as your senses got disoriented, your vision soon faded into black.

     - end flashback -

     Panic set in.

     You looked around for the wreckage of your car, for your friends, anything that would tell you what happened. Why had no one called the police?! Where was everyone else?!

     Sprinting around the forest, you soon realized that the car crash was nowhere near you. In fact... you had simply been transported somewhere else.

     "Well. This is something." Your own voice sounded strange to you, the sound of it echoing in the forest. "What to do now..? In the movies, they always seem to have some sort of survival pack or skills. But for me.. Where I have neither.." Pausing here, you began sorting your thoughts out.

     They always try to find the nearest source of water, right? And then establish a campsite of sorts. But.. I'm not here to do that. Granted, I probably will if night comes. Before that, I should try to see if there's anywhere I can go first.

     Climbing up the nearest tree, you poked your head above the canopy. In the near distance you could see some smoke, and you figured that some help would be better than none, even if you were dealing with some nasty people. You had your phone for that.

     Wait a minute... Where is my phone?! Eyes widening in shock, you patted yourself down frantically. No phone. Now you went back to where you first awoke, sifting the dead leaves around.