Forest of Dreams - Chapter OneA Chapter by aj milton Human man transported to an alternate reality where he meets a beautiful Dryad girl Forest of Dreams Copyright © 2016 by A.J. Milton
Chapter 1 (approx. 2000 words) 2nd Edit 4th January 2017My head felt groggy, and my heart was pounding. I could hear leaves rustling in a gentle breeze and the faint sound of birdsong in the distance. I opened my eyes to find a canopy of branches and green foliage hanging above me. My brain was trying to figure out where I was and how I came to be here. I turned my head gingerly to either side and realised that I lay in the middle of a small clearing in what appeared to be a dense forest. I rolled onto my side and cautiously sat upright. My head was still swimming and for a few moments everything became blurred. I closed my eyes again and tried to remember what had happened. Yes… I was driving home late at night… A deer had leapt across the road in front of me and I braked hard and swerved… I can’t remember anything after that. I must have had a car accident and ended up in these woods; it was the only thing that made sense. When I reopened my eyes, everything was clear again and my dizziness was fading. I felt in my pockets: no car keys, nothing else. My clothes were a bit damp and dirty from lying on the ground, but I couldn’t feel any injuries. My cell phone was still in its case on my belt so I grabbed it eagerly. It powered on OK, but had no signal and the clock said 04:26, yet it was clearly broad daylight. What the hell? Without a signal, I had no hope of calling a tow truck if needed or letting my wife know what had happened, and who even knew what was going on with the clock. I tentatively got to my feet and looked carefully around. The sun was fairly high in the sky above so I could approximate which direction was south. But knowing that didn’t really help, because I had no idea which way to go to get back to my car. Wandering around the clearing, I found what seemed to be a faint but noticeable trail leading into the forest. It was the best option I could see, so I set off through the trees. The undergrowth was quite dense but the path remained clear enough to follow. The impenetrable canopy prevented direct sunlight from shining through, leaving the forest quite dark and also very silent. An earthy, mossy aroma clung to the air that indicated that nature ruled here. Some of the trees were so tall and broad that they must have seen many human generations pass by. What is this place? I couldn’t think of any large woods near where I had been driving, let alone a deep forest. I must have walked for nearly two hours when the terrain changed and I came upon the edge of what seemed to be a steep valley. Here was a fork in the trail, one way leading up through the hills and the other down into the valley. A difficult choice, as down might mean a river to follow and water to drink, whereas up might provide a vantage point to offer me a better view of where to go. I chose up. Still no signal on my cell phone… very strange. I had all sorts of crazy thoughts in my mind"alien abduction, wormholes, and the like"but surely those things don’t just happen in reality to ordinary people like me. Gravity felt normal; the sun looked normal. I wasn’t so sure about some of the trees which I couldn’t recognise, but then I wasn’t exactly an expert, either. And yet another couple of hours passed and the forest stretched on and on. The upward path led to a forested plateau much like the area I’d just left, but the trail here seemed more defined so I decided to carry on. At last I caught a break. A small stream crossed the trail, and the water was cool and clear. I drank eagerly, wishing that I had a bottle to carry some in for later. By then it was starting to get dark as the sun got lower and the towering trees accelerated the onset of twilight. Although hidden from my sight, a few birds chirped and trilled in the trees, presumably announcing the arrival of evening. The normality of the birdsong reassured me that my wild imaginings were unfounded. This place seemed less dark and threatening than the deeper forest from which I had emerged below, and with water close by I decided that I would stop here for the night, as I clearly wasn’t going to get much farther before darkness fell. I found a sheltered spot near some large rocks and gathered dry ferns to make a resting place of sorts, which would hopefully dissuade the bugs and insects from feasting on me. I settled down, but although it was getting dark, it was only the early evening and there was no way I was going to sleep just yet. I suddenly realised that this wasn’t all just about me. My wife, Joanna, would be expecting me home and wondering where I was. She had only just returned home after a serious operation in hospital to remove a tumour and was still quite fragile. Her sister stayed over when I was away on business, but even so, they would worry if I just disappeared. My mind bounced between worrying about my family and the events that had taken place since I’d been involuntarily tossed into this strange forest until I finally drifted off to sleep. ~~~ I woke suddenly. I thought I had heard a scream… had I been dreaming? In a mixture of breaking dawn and moonlight, the forest was lit clearly with a gentle glow. Nothing caught my eye as I looked around. I got to my feet, stretching to ease the stiffness, and went to the stream to drink. “!!***!” Again, a scream or cry for assistance, and yet it somehow seemed that it was in my mind. I felt an adrenaline rush and an urgent need to scramble to give help. But where and whom? I leapt onto the trail and began to run, pausing every few minutes to look around and listen. There! I heard a voice and the sound of growling and snarling, like dogs fighting. The urge inside me would not be denied, and I turned off the trail and plunged down a steep slope towards the noises, slipping and tumbling through the undergrowth. I burst through some bushes laden with dark berries and then stopped dead, frozen to the spot in a combination of amazement and pure fear. A small clearing opened up in front of me, perhaps the result of a landslide in the past as the ground was littered with stones and debris. Caught in a deep crevice between several stones was a woman, surrounded by three vicious-looking animals, the likes of which I had never seen before. They were covered in mottled brown fur and looked something like small hyenas. They growled and slavered and lunged at the woman who bravely fended them off with a knife in one hand and a broken branch in the other. But with one leg trapped she could not easily move or turn, and I could see blood and scratches marring her body. She was slim and willowy, her skin a soft golden hue and her plaited hair pale blonde with a faint greenish tint. The woman snarled at the creatures attacking her, her face contorted with fear, and her features strained. I continued to stand there, transfixed and stunned, when she twisted to defend herself from one of the hyena-like creatures and instead slipped and fell. “!!***!” The cry for help in my mind unlocked my frozen muscles. I leapt forward, grabbing a sharp stone and a thick stick before screaming my own incoherent, animalistic battle cry and charging into the fight. One of the creatures turned to attack me and I clubbed its head with my stick. It yelped and cowered away and I swung to follow up. But my focus on it allowed another of the creatures to sink its razor-sharp teeth into my leg. I slipped and fell from the pain but managed to bash the creature’s head with my stone, drawing blood. Its grip loosened and I hammered it again and again until it finally let go and stopped moving. Blood seeped from my wounds and I could hardly stand, but I forced myself back into the fight anyway, close to the woman. The adrenaline kicked back in and I landed some heavy blows with my stick while she gouged one with her knife. Caught in a standoff, the two remaining creatures retreated to the edge of the clearing but continued to pace up and down, growling at us. Taking advantage of this moment of respite, the woman spoke to me in a strange, melodic language, but seeing that I did not understand her words, she pointed to the rocks that were pinning her leg in place. “***??” I felt something again in my mind, but this time it was a question, not a cry for help. Between us, with the help of my stick, we managed to free her leg. She tested the limb before limping away towards the edge of the clearing, watching the hyena creatures warily as she went with her knife still drawn. I grabbed my stick and followed after her. As we entered the forest I saw the creatures lose interest in us and instead move forward to set upon their dead or unconscious companion, ripping into its body with their powerful jaws. I shuddered in relief, knowing that could have been either of us. We limped and hobbled for about ten minutes until the sound of the creatures feeding faded away. Then she paused and gestured for me to wait. She moved into the undergrowth and after a few minutes she returned with a handful of the same berries I had seen before and some large leaves. She pulled me down so that I was sitting and then squeezed juice from the berries over my wounded leg, the dark liquid staining the skin and stinging only slightly before some of the worst of the pain began to fade. Then she wrapped one of the large leaves around my leg and tied it with a leather cord pulled from a small bag at her waist. She spoke to me again, but when I merely shrugged she looked deep into my eyes. I was mesmerised by her eyes, large, almond-shaped and golden, with very little white showing. I felt that flutter in my consciousness again, this time of reassurance. She broke the link and attended to her own leg and wounds with the berry juice and leaves, then without a word she got up and continued walking. We walked in silence for at least an hour. I followed, watching her easy grace despite her injury and her tattered leather skirt. My mind had gone into meltdown again. Now I was certain that this was not the world as I knew it, but where? When? How? I was unable to answer any of those questions. Following this strange, beautiful, but not entirely human woman seemed to be my only option, as I had no idea what other dangers this world might hold. The forest started to thin and sunlight filtered through the canopy in places before we came abruptly to a steep, rocky hillside, and she led me through a narrow ravine. I had to stop and gape at the sheer beauty of the valley that lay hidden beyond. The sun shone brightly, illuminating a huge waterfall in the distance that fell between two massive trees and was the backdrop to a sparkling blue lake, with a small river that flowed away through another canyon. Wildflower meadows stretched on either side of the lake, bordered by a variety of trees adorned with many shades of green and golden leaves. Tall, conifer-like trees lined the higher slopes of the valley. She watched me serenely as I drank in my surroundings, then wrinkled her nose and spoke to me again in her lilting language. My mind sensed impressions of warmth, safety, perhaps even ‘home’. She led me along the shore of the lake towards the waterfall. On a smooth stone ledge, she unashamedly shed her clothing and dived naked into the water of the lake. Surfacing, she beckoned to me. The idea of washing the blood and grime from my weary body seemed pretty damn good, so I slipped out of my dirty clothes and splashed into the water with considerably less finesse. The water was cool but refreshing, and after rubbing myself all over, I emerged clean and rejuvenated. I quickly put my undershorts back on and let the sun dry me before pulling on the rest of my clothes. I watched my companion as she played effortlessly in the water. What could she be? Perhaps a wood nymph or a water nymph? Either term seemed to suit her.
Finally, she emerged from the lake, giving me a strange look and saying a few words to me. When I looked baffled, she just sort of shrugged and scooped up her clothes and belongings and set off towards the waterfall without bothering to dress. I felt my body responding to her naked beauty and was glad I had put my clothes back on! I chastised myself for the desire that I felt, as I remembered Joanna and my life in the other reality that I had been unceremoniously torn from. © 2017 aj miltonAuthor's Note
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aj miltonHampshire, United KingdomAboutI read mostly fantasy and sci-fi, but as an author I write mostly Adult Romance / Erotica fiction. I enjoy reading poetry which touches my heart, but I'm not a poet, so don't expect me to critique .. more..Writing
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