𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙠

The old white oak stood in all its glory with an army of daisies surrounding the root collar of the trunk. The sea of milky ray florets gave off a distinctive aura of spring, a rare absolute in a world of ever-shifting seasons. The horizontal ridges of the furrowed bark were rough against my fingertips, letting a piece of bark crumble from my nail.

I stood under the shade provided by the thin foliage, taking in the glistening beams of amber sunlight streaming through the tree's branches.

A loud sound resonated in the air like a deafening crack from a rifle. A flock of starlings bolted into the cloudless sky, launching into a triangle formation as they took off in a panic. I staggered backwards from the blast, frightened by the sudden noise, and lost my footing on a fallen twig. I fell flat on my bum, wincing as the dampness from the grass soaked through the thin material of my leggings.

"Do you have a death wish?" A mellow voice came from behind me. I turned around, coming face to face with the same boy from my previous encounter.

"What's it to you?" I wiped my wet palms down my thighs and plucked up the courage to stand up, fearing the damp patch on my buttocks would gain his mockery. "You never answered my question."

"What question would that be? You ask many." He furrowed his soft-angled eyebrow with curiosity and a hint of a smile on his lips.

Jeez, this boy is impossible. 

"How about you tell me who you are and how you know my name?" A hot flush spread across my cheeks as I pulled my jumper down, thankful the hem covered my backside with the damp patch away from view. "Oh, and for the record, it's rude to sneak up on people. A simple 'hello' would suffice."

His perky lips upturned into a smirk as he combed his fingers through his beach waves. He extended his hand for me to shake. "Ethan."

I dismissed his palm and folded my arms across my chest, replaying his name in my head like a loop pedal.

Ethan. He's strangely attractive and has a cute name.

"And as for how I know your name, we can call that an educated guess." He knelt on one knee and picked a dandelion from its stalk, twirling it between his thumb and index finger.

The dandelions sporadically covered the pasture, emitting a vibe of happiness from the vibrant colour.

I watched Ethan with suspicion, wondering what his game plan was. "What is this place? You know a hell of a lot more than I do."

Ethan stood up, brushing the knee crease from his blue denim jeans. "You're in Shadowbrook. It's your average town with the usual blah blah blah."

Shadow what? Did I hear him correctly?

"I know the United Kingdom is an island, but I've never heard of this town before. Whereabouts are we? South East, North West, North East?" As I listed the different regions, I expected Ethan to tell me the rough location, but his brows drew together in confusion.

"I have no clue what you're going on about. To get to Shadowbrook, you have to pass through Duskville and Ravenfield." Extending his arm, he pointed to the far right. "Embervein is that way, and Darkhaven is to the south."

"I'm guessing you made that up on the spot," I scoffed, flailing my arms in the air. Somehow Ethan was turning this into a joke.

"I didn't." He shook his head, extending the yellow flower towards me. The mild smell of Listerine clung to his words as he spoke in a playful tone. "I picked this for you."

Waiting for a second, I contemplated if I should take the flower from him. If I did, that would mean I trusted him. "Keep it," I said, aware of my defensive demeanour. It was something I did every time someone was a step closer to understanding the inner me.

Clearing my throat from the awkward silence, I changed the topic, bringing it back to the beginning. "How can I leave?" The sun seeped through the branches, exposing me in the shade as the warmth spread across my cheeks.

If it's as simple as clicking my heels together and chanting like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, then I'm willing to try anything.

He picked another flower, breaking the stem with a snap. This time it was a fluffy, white dandelion. The yellow dandelion represented life, a new beginning, while the other portrayed the end of the flower cycle. I couldn't help but wonder if that was a sign, showing contrast in my diagnosis. I was a young girl in the prime of my life, struggling with a disease that threatened my future.

"There's only one explanation as to why you're here. An invisible force is pulling you into this time dimension through your dreams." Ethan blew at the dandelion as the feathery seeds floated through the air. "It's impossible to fight it. Whatever you do, you'll end up back here."

What does a place like this want from somebody like me?

By weaving around the dotted flowers as a distraction, I had to keep my mind occupied from the overload of thoughts. "Why me?" I demanded as I pulled my sleeves down to hide my shaking hands. "If this can happen to anybody, why is it happening to me?"

His loose checkered shirt started flapping in the wind. "I wish I knew, but I'm as clueless as you are."

I snorted, a bad habit I desperately wanted to stop since I was a kid. "Oh, come off it. You're pretending to act dumb. Do I need a magic lamp to summon a genie to get three wishes? Or perhaps I need a magic carpet?"

Bottling up my emotions from the past day, I had become an irritable mess, letting the cork pop free as the contents poured out.

Ethan tossed the stem on the ground and ran his hand through his hair with the odd strand sticking up at an angle, giving him an edgier look. "Did you not listen to what I just said? You can't come and go as you please."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the woody scent of cedar in the air. "I heard you, but I ignored what you said."

"Why aren't you afraid of me? I'm a stranger to you." Ethan was testing me with his warm breath on my cheek, kickstarting the fear within, daring me to run. At the same time, I was curious to know more about him.

I bit my lip, fighting the urge because that was what he wanted. "Sometimes the reality is scarier than our dreams." I reopened my eyes to see a perplexed Ethan, wondering what I had meant by that. Cancer was like a kick in the teeth and a realisation that I was a ticking time bomb.

His body language changed from a confident stance to someone who was on edge. His plump lips pursed into a single line as his gaze fixated on something in the distance, curling his fingers into fists.

I spun around to see what was behind me, working myself up into a sweat. My eyes zoomed between the trees, trying to pinpoint what Ethan was looking at, but all I could see was the row of shrubs. When I turned back, Ethan had vanished with no explanation. I called out his name, unaware of the strangeness within my voice.

The more I thought about it, the more I swore I heard a snap of a twig embedded deep within the forest.

A/N

Word Count: 1,280

Ethan has finally revealed his name. The question still arises, how does he know Erika's name?

What force is Ethan talking about?

Have a fangtastic day!

(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)