Hall of Infinite Doors
Lungs burning for air, you dig your fingers in the mud and heave yourself upwards with all your might, a strangled scream forcing itself past your lips as your head clears the water.
Yours eyes snap open and you gasp as the sound of your own cry wakes you from a fitful sleep. You're lying face down in the dirt, your body drenched with sweat while disorienting images swirl in your brain--a monster child and a strange map and a bird and burning clothes and something about a long, dim hallway.
Like most nightmares, however, they quickly fade and lose their substance when faced with the harsh light of reality. And in your situation it's a harsh reality indeed.
Rising slowly to a sitting position, you stare about, bewildered. Much like in your faintly remembered dream, you're in a thick forest or jungle. Your mouth feels like cotton and your arm throbs in pain. Wincing as you pause briefly to examine it, you see several deep scratches and the raw, irritated red of a nasty rash forming. Glancing about you see that just to your right is an impenetrable looking thicket bristling with wicked thorns and stretching for as far as you can see.
You have no idea where you are. And, more troubling still, you have no idea WHO you are. Adding urgency to the situation, you can't help but notice that, judging by the slant of the light that filters through the leaves, evening is coming on quickly. An inhuman howl sounds in the distance, and you shiver as you wonder what sort of predators lurk about.
Yours eyes snap open and you gasp as the sound of your own cry wakes you from a fitful sleep. You're lying face down in the dirt, your body drenched with sweat while disorienting images swirl in your brain--a monster child and a strange map and a bird and burning clothes and something about a long, dim hallway.
Like most nightmares, however, they quickly fade and lose their substance when faced with the harsh light of reality. And in your situation it's a harsh reality indeed.
Rising slowly to a sitting position, you stare about, bewildered. Much like in your faintly remembered dream, you're in a thick forest or jungle. Your mouth feels like cotton and your arm throbs in pain. Wincing as you pause briefly to examine it, you see several deep scratches and the raw, irritated red of a nasty rash forming. Glancing about you see that just to your right is an impenetrable looking thicket bristling with wicked thorns and stretching for as far as you can see.
You have no idea where you are. And, more troubling still, you have no idea WHO you are. Adding urgency to the situation, you can't help but notice that, judging by the slant of the light that filters through the leaves, evening is coming on quickly. An inhuman howl sounds in the distance, and you shiver as you wonder what sort of predators lurk about.