STARGAZING

Travis sped through the forest, dodging the usual rock or two being thrown at him. His feet ached from running in his Sketchers— off brands,— and he was already running out of breath. But his tormentors wouldn't cease, so he wouldn't either. The rain made the earth below him start to slip, and before he could regain his footing, the earth titled him forward, down a ginormous hill. His bullies skidded & stopped before they could share his fate and turned around, leaving the young man for dead. Travis eventually stopped rolling down the hill, and when he opened his eyes to keep running, he was astounded.

He could've sworn he just got out of school, but it was already nighttime! He called out to someone, anyone, but nobody was there. Suddenly, a flower, small & puny, lit in front of him. Travis crouched down to investigate. It looked like a small glow-up stick, contrasting against the dark, muddy grass. Then he looked up. The neon colors spread everywhere. Leaves, trees, moss, flowers, grass: everything was glowing.

"Shh! Don't let it hear you!"

"Who's there?" Travis called out, stepping quietly through the neon forest. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. What kind of a magical forest was he in? But a glowing light interrupted his thoughts. "Human, be quiet! Do you wish for death from the beast?" Travis wiped his eyes in confusion and stepped back. "Who-what are you?" The glowing light scoffed, floating around the boy. "I'm a faerie, young human. What are you doing here? No humans have any business here."

Travis stammered, walking back the way he came. "I was running from these bullies at my school, and I slipped down this hill, right, and-". The faerie stopped Travis in his tracks, moving frantically but speaking calmly. "From a human school? That's odd, there aren't any human facilities nearby..." The boy nodded, stepping over a fallen log. "Boy, how long have you been running?" The faerie asked, confused.

"Uhm... like two miles..ish." The faerie edged closer to the young human. "Are you okay, human? You're unusually thin for your age." The faerie moved much slower, staying next to Travis. "I'm alright, thanks. What's your name anyways?" Travis asked, laying against a tree. "Volt, I think."

"You think? How do you not know your name?" Travis asked, grabbing a compass from his backpack. "Look, human. This accursed forest has no time for names. The chimera that rules this forest has terrorized its inhabitants. You're lucky if I can get you out of this forest in one piece." That made Travis gulp before he moved his gaze back to his compass. His eyebrows scrunched. "What's wrong?" The faerie asked.

"The compass is broken- take a look!" Volt flew over to see the compass whirling out of control, like a spinning top. "Ah, right, the magnetic field is more unstable in this realm than in your Earth. That compass is useless here." Volt searched Travis' backpack, throwing his books out of the way. "How does this get its glow anyways?" Travis asked, sitting down. "It's a chemical called oxyon. It gives life to our realm, and certain concentrations make things glow." The faerie explained, before exclaiming in glee.

"What happened?" Travis leaned closer to Volt, who had found... a battery? "Oxyon holds this realm together. But I've noticed that energy sources that enter the realm get drained, rather slowly. But it also has another use." The fae put the battery into a tree, and slowly, the tree melted a small hole back into the real world, before spitting back out the battery. "That's your ticket out of here, but there's only one place big enough for a whole that'll fit you." The faerie cut a drawing into the tree, inscribing what resembled a giant tree, on a hill chock-full of trees. "The beast's throne."

Travis slept lightly, and when he woke up, he spotted a wild boar, short and stubby. It brushed dangerously close to the river, now a normal shade of liquid throw-up. Travis could've sworn yesterday wasn't real, that he was just dreaming before Volt tapped on his shoulder.
"Sorry human, you're not dreaming. We have three days to get you out of here before your batteries die." Travis yawned, walking over to the river. He washed his face, looking at the reflection in the gray, rushing river. And then, he spotted a little man, short as a garden decoration, next to him, smiling gleefully.

The next thing he knew, he was blasting away in the white rapids. He knew how to swim, but he'd never been in a situation like this, where one rock would mean certain death. "Hack- Volt, help!" Volt jetted over to Travis to find the little man pushing his head down under the river, jumping on his head. Volt shoved the gnome off Travis and steered him back towards the edges of the tiger, brushing against the grass. Just as he was about to thank him, two more little men came out of nowhere, throwing huge stones straight at his head.

"What the hell- how are they that strong?!" Travis dodged two stones, barely scraping his shoulder. "They're gnomes, little creatures with extraordinary strength- WATCH OUT!" Volt pushed Travis onto the grass, dodging a huge tree trunk being pushed onto them. "Why are they tryna kill us?" Travis yelled out, catching a stone thrown above them. Volt saw a distinct symbol in the back of a gnome and gasped.