And Through the Portal They Fell

Erin rushed into the house, leaving the front door open as she entered. She had a large amount of homework on this day. She dropped her red and black checkered book bag in the kitchen. After retrieving her iPod from her room, went back to the kitchen to do her homework. Before getting out her pencil, eraser, pencil sharper, books, and paper she would need to complete her work she stood in the doorway trying to decide whether or not the door should be closed. She decided to leave it open as the weather was rather quite pleasant since the recent cold weather was overtaken by a warm front that had decided to make its way through the area as spring was trying to break its way through.

She got a cool bottle of water from the refrigerator and sat at the wooden table to get her homework done. She sat at the table for an hour or so working her way through the questions and worksheets and problems assigned to her. She listened to her favorite songs as she got her homework finished.

After a while of flipping through pages, answering questions, writing definitions, and working her way through math problems that she was not quite sure how to do, something odd happened. A swirling, dark hole emmiting a dull purple-red light, opened up underneath her chair. She let out a scream from the surprise of her the sudden drop. She continued to scream as she dropped. Erin gripped the chair with her fingers and closed her eyes tight. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She did not know when she was going to stop falling but she was sure that she would be dead when she hit whatever ground when she stopped.

She did stop though. Erin stopped with a hard thud. When the wooden chair met the ground the force of her and the chair falling hit the ground the back legs of the chair broke sending her tumbling backwards and lading on her back. "Ouch!"

When Erin opened her green eyes, she noticed that the sky she was staring at was not the familiar open sky that hung above her house. It had treetops covering much of the view and the dim light of the setting sun was the only light. The clouds she could see were purples and pinks, and if she was correct, it was nearing night time. Normally from her yard she could always hear the sounds of dogs barking a few blocks away or cars going down the road. Here she heard no cars and no dogs. In fact, she heard no animals at all. The only sounds that surrounded her was her own breath and the slight breeze rustling the leaves of the trees. She forced herself to stand even though her back and head were both aching. She looked up at the sky and decided to thank whoever or whatever kept her from dieing. But there was two questions that was bothering her, "Where the hell am I? And How the hell did I get here?"

She picked a direction and walked. Erin decided to keep going until night fell. She found that here time moved very slowly. She had no idea how long she was walking since as she soon found out her digital watch, cell phone, and ipod were not working. She knew the batteries could not be dead (she had charged the cell phone and ipod earlier that day) , but none of the devices she had with her worked. The lack of sound bothered her. Not to mention she was not use to walking for long periods of time. Normally, any where she went she drove. She soon got very tired and decided to stop.

She gathered some sticks and rocks and leaves and tried her hand at starting a fire. She hit two rocks together, but try as she may she could not get it to spark and to start a fire. It was more difficult than she thought it would be. Erin thought from watching survival shows on tv she could do this as easily as they. She found out she was very wrong. She curled up on the hard ground next to the pile of sticks and leaves that should have been a warm fire. Erin thought of her home and how she would get back to it. She had left the door open which would look like someone kidnapped her. She wondered what her mother was doing right then. Probably worrying her head off and trying to find her. She was probably calling the police and was crying. Erin worried about her mother. Her father would have no idea and Erin really did not mind. She only saw him a few times a year on holidays so it was no real loss. She cried and cried and cried until she fell into a sleep that took her away to a place where she was in her home finishing homework and laughing on the phone with a friend. This dream was soon shattered as the cold air made her begin to shiver until she woke.

It was now night time in the strange place she was now in. Just how long she slept she did not know, but since she was awake she figured it would be no use trying to go back to sleep. She hugged herself, rubbing her arms, trying to get the goosebumps to disappear with no luck. Erin found herself wishing for even the lightweight black jacket that she had left in her room. Anything would have been better than the short sleeved tee shirt she was wearing at the moment. She did not particularly want to walk through the woods at night time but she saw a little glimmer of light in the distance and wanted to go to it in hopes someone was there. Besides she had the hope that maybe walking a little would warm her up.

She stumbled and tripped over roots and and tree limbs but she kept walking in hopes she would get to the light soon. Once Erin got close she saw the light was getting bigger and was not just one light but there were other glowing lights in the trees behind that one. It was a small town in the middle of the woods and more than a few of the houses were tucked up in the trees. The different houses in the trees were connected by bridges and some areas of the bridges had ladders to allow the people who lived there to climb down. The houses blended in well with the forest surrounding them. She was sure this meant they must have been hiding from someone or just really liked privacy. She decided to take a closer look. As was almost in the town she heard some music being played. It was light and fun and nothing like the alternative rock that she normally listened to.

It sounded like a flute and a small string instrument that she could not put her finger on was being played. A steady quiet drumbeat backed them up. The music quickened and some figures started to come out of the houses. Many of the figures jumped down and found what she guessed were their friends or family and they started moving in patterns that she assumed was dancing. There was much twirling and changing of partners. It reminded her of some movies set back far in time. The kind about princesses and there true loves. It made her remember how she had dreams about that stuff throughout her childhood. As the music quickened so did the movements of the figures. They looked off though. More like animals than people. Some were actually on all fours.

Erin was nervous about trying to go see if any of the figures in the small town would help her. They could, after all, be hostile and not like outsiders. They could hurt or kill or do any number of things to her. She was scared but if she never tried to get help she could be stuck in the woods for a long time. Erin was not familiar with the way the outdoors worked. She had no idea how to tell what was good to eat and what could kill her. She had no survival skills to help her out here. Especially since she reminded herself that she was some where completely unfamiliar in the first place.

She decided to go ahead into the town. She stepped out of the forest and walked in the torch lit town before her. She walked only a few steps into the town when the lighthearted music and dancing stopped. All motion ceased and a low whispering came from the creatures before her. She found herself being stared at by numerous glowing eyes one set of which began to approach her. She had no idea what these things were but she did know she wanted to get away. Everything in her was telling her to leave but she did not. Erin was frightened and wanted to run, but she stood her ground and decided to wait for the the figure to get closer. Each of the figure's step was carefully and purposefully placed. It walked straight and proud, and had an air of confidence surrounding itself.

The figure said in a low and commanding, but feminine voice. "How did you find our village?"

Erin was about to answer but she found herself unable to speak from the fear building inside her. Somehow the voice intimidated her. It commanded a certain degree of respect and she was not sure how to answer.

She noticed the figure tap its foot impatiently. It asked in the same voice, "Are you going to answer or stand their and gawk or perhaps it is you can not speak?"

Erin shook her head no and began to tell how she came upon the village.