The Mercy of Fate

Chapter 1: Straw Hat

Many dream of being a great hero. Dream's of being remembered, of being known. To become the hero one must simply defeat the villain. Who's to say the villain isn't wrong? Why must the villain be evil to the eyes of the world? Can a dream become reality, when the black and white become gray? What does one do when the world in front of them becomes blurred. What's right, and who's wrong? Can one simple person bring about the light while using the darkness? Who's to say, fate works in way's one cannot see. Fate will break you down and build you up again. Those unrecognizable when faced with change fate thrusts upon them. Unrecognizable to the past but never the future, the future knows better. Destiny brings upon the test to all. The test of whether light or dark overrides them, that is the test of destiny. The journey is never decided left unwritten, the journey determines who is viewed as a savior and who is viewed as a malefactor. The outcome however was written long before time. Who fulfills the roles written left blank? Chapter's of lives written in an instant to fill the blanks and then disappear to time. Time will always be against mortality no matter how long. Death always comes for all. That is the instantaneous way of fate. Fate's only mercy is one of choice.

Shifting my weight I'm alarmed to feel firm ground instead of my soft springy mattress. Deciding I'm too tired to care I start to drift off when I suddenly snap to attention. "Why am I on the ground?" I don't remember passing out on the floor. The earthy smell of bark and pine needles rushes through my nose. Blinking to clear my vision I notice the scene that surrounds me is that of a lush forest, not my bedroom. The branches hanging from the trees are brimming with colors of green, yellow, blue, and purple. Etched patterns glowing on the tree's bark. It's like something I would imagine in a dream. The air around me seems to glitter and glow and it's not from the sunlight. This forest brims with energy, it's almost comforting. Almost. I scoff sarcastically and say "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" Pushing my callused hands back for support I sit upright after finding comfort in sitting criss-cross applesauce. My brown hair settles on my shoulders falling just below them. "I must be dreaming" I stretch my right arm out bending it at the elbow so it's halfway tucked to my body. Using my left hand I pinch my right arm. "Ouch!" Okay not dreaming.

"Where the hell am I?!" I shoot up from my position on the rocky moss covered ground my brain finally processing I'm in an unfamiliar place. The world spins around me for a moment. "Okay think back to last night. I was out with friends, hanging out at a party, and then took a cab home." Racking my brain I try to fill in the blanks, I made it home that's for sure. "I remember petting Ruby, she slobbered all over me." Ruby, my fluffy lovable golden retriever. A gift from my mother when I moved out a couple years ago. One of the few good things that came my way from her. I seek a little comfort in knowing I took care of my precious fur baby before somehow waking up in this strange world. The comfort doesn't last very long however. My brain isn't visualizing anything that happened after that one specific moment. "After that" After that blank, nothing, nada. 

A rustling noise uproots my train of thought. The noise coming from the oddly purple colored bushes that surrounds the small clearing I'm settled in. I stare blankly while my brain catches up to reality. "Shit." I mutter. I brace my back against the nearest tree snatching a branch leaning against it. The bark was rough and firm against my hand, The etching even more prominent in my grip. This branch quickly became my anchor of protection, even in my clammy hands. "Please be a squirrel or a cute harmless chipmunk" I shout-whisper. I repeat this mantra several times. Quiet thunders through the forest as the noises suddenly come to a halt. It's very unsettling when you're alone. My heart begins to beat so fast I worry that whatever was just in the bushes can hear it.

This is it. My doom. I'm gonna die before I get to live out my fantasy dreams. 

"Thunk"

Something charges at me so fast my jumbled brain is unable to form a thought in time.