Consciousness returned by degrees. David could feel the warmth of the sunlight capping his face. The solid earth beneath him felt uncomfortably warm. The blinding light from the sun greeted him as he opened his eyes.

The aroma of wet dirt and floras lingered in his nostrils. David wondered how long he had been asleep. His body felt fully charged like he could run all day. Maybe it had to be the best nap he had in a year.

Wait a second... where was he? The weird experience while riding his bike popped into his mind. David quickly got to his feet and gasped at what he saw.

He was surrounded by trees and a variety of colorful shrubs. The floral plants were well looked after; they buzzed with insects.

Curling braches made for its disorderly leaves to let the sunlight peek through the gaps and cast shadows atop from a hodgepodge of flowers and bushes from the ground.

His white shirt was matted with guck but his denim pants and shoes looked untouched. His bike was nowhere to be seen so was the bag with his jerseys inside and some other stuff too.

David observed the surrounding. The unfamiliar trees varied in their height and group of flowers and bushes all over the place. Mississippi was a heavily forested state and Greenville was shaped with greenery areas.

David thought that maybe he was knocked off while strolling on his bike. But how could he be sent nowhere in the middle of this woods? Had he been kidnapped? Or maybe his friends wanted to prank him, but it went against their plan after they mistakenly made him unconscious and thought he was dead, so they sent him somewhere else to hide their crime.

He felt the urge to shout in the hope that his friends might be somewhere hiding in a place, maybe waiting for his reactions. But the forest was silent in a very weird way.

There were no strong winds. No sounds of a fight over dominance between animals. No signs of other living entities other than the mishmash of butterflies adoring some splendid flowers. Let alone other people in sight.

His strange memory after being swept away by darkness had to be a dream! He was just imagining this. David crouched and scooped up some soil, then pressed it together with both hands; he produced a mud ball. It felt real and unmistakably tangible. He threw it and watched as it landed behind the trees. He punched the air and alternated kicking his legs. It felt normal. He pinched his cheeks. That felt normal too.

David could hardly believe what was happening. He had just ridden a bicycle and woke up to learn he was lost somewhere. He bit his lips and held back the tears that threaten to flow. There had to be some way to figure things out.

He looked around and noticed a cave behind him. It appeared to be at the foot of a hill where he gazed upon a dark, steep and surreally tall mountain stood at the top of it. David didn't notice it at first until he studied the cave with genuine interest.

Suddenly, all around him felt magical and spellbound as if the trees, flowers, and scrubs were all radiating a certain aura. A calm and peaceful note reached David's ears. He couldn't tell what words were being sung or said. It was more like a humming sound, but David could tell there was a faint message-something he could not comprehend.

David tried to listen attentively. He closed his eyes. And he felt an odd sensation. He could tell his body was also radiating a certain force as the trees and plants. But it was a different feeling. It felt pure and mighty.

The force inside him was coming from a particular source, but he wasn't sure where exactly it could be found. He opened his eyes, and the peculiar sensation was gone. The trees looked normal again. The shrubs and blossoms were all seemed steady as if the power emitting inside of them never happened.

He looked around; the stillness of the forest did not seem relaxing. He tarried towards the nearest shrubs; he felt wet mud on his sole. Could it be an undiscovered wood at Greenville? Jackson?

David had no idea about the geography of the city where he was currently residing. They just moved to Mississippi three years ago. And he had no interest plotting places on some maps. All he wanted to do was to play basketball with some friends. Most of his time in school had been spent practicing with his team or messing around with Joe.

David walked through the nearby timbers. The vegetation became smaller at this part but looked more flourishing. A patchwork of ferns all vied his attention. David enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

This forest though looked odd and outlandish, it would be a tourist attraction to many. No forest on Earth could match up the sublime appearance of every tree standing in perfect unison, colorful bushes, and flowery vegetation: a perfect asset of a paradise.

This wasn't anything that could describe Earth. The heat from the sun grew warmer. He looked around and went under a nearby tree. David felt drowsy but not tired.

The beautiful surrounding was like an image of a perfect fantasy. It was calm and peaceful. He tried the grass; it felt warm and squishy. He laid down, using both palms at the back of his head as pillows. Maybe he was just dreaming, and when he opened his eyes he would be home again.

As David began to close his eyes, he heard a ruffling sound from the nearby trees and bushes. He went up straight, feeling alarmed. Up ahead, a figure emerged behind the shrubs.