I stand in complete shock, not knowing what to do. The gateway is real, the forest is real, it wasn’t an illusion. I slowly look at my surroundings to see where exactly I am. The forest is all around me with the leaves slightly blowing in the wind. I stand there for a while, in shock and amazement that I am in a different place.

After looking at the surroundings in front of me, I turn around to see the archway. This side of the arch is blue, like it was on the other side before I activated it in some way. I then focus my attention on the interior of the arch to see the room where I once was, is on the other side. So, it looks like I can go back and forth whenever I please.

With the knowledge that I can go back, I took a closer look at my surroundings. I seemed to be in a circular clearing in the forest with the archway in the middle of it. There are no signs of the forest reaching into the circle as all of the branches that have some chance of going into the circle always go immediately up or down. It seemed as if the ground is sacred.

Intrigued about this oddity, I move towards the tree line to see what exactly is going on. As I move towards it, I also notice the roots of the tree also stop at a certain point. Arriving at the edge of the clearing, I look up at the leaves to notice that even they don’t go into the clearing. I notice one of the leaves fall off its branch, seemingly heading towards the clearing, only to bounce off of some invisible barrier.

What the hell is going on? First a portal and now an invisible barrier?! Taking a step back I look at my surroundings once more. It’s a lot to take in. Half of my mind tells me that this is all a dream and the other half quietly tells me that this IS real.

I want to go past the barrier, but I don’t want to push my luck. I already went through the gateway, I am not going to go past that barrier. Plus, I need to do the homework that was assigned to me.

I turn back to the archway and head back to the dilapidated house. Right as I am going to walk through the archway, I stop. Why would I want to go back? There really isn’t anything there for me. In this place, I could do whatever I want and live a peaceful life!

These thoughts creep into my head like water rushing into an empty canal. No, I can’t stay. If I do, then I would surely perish. I would not have any source of food or water to live off of. Plus, if I were to try and search for food and water, I would have to go past the barrier.

I need to go back to the house, I am too dependent to ever survive on my own. I re-enter the house, knowing that this dilemma will come again in the future if I choose to further explore that world. As I walk through I realize that the candle on the stands are still burning. I look at the two candles, head towards them and blow them out.

Right after I blow out the second candle, the portal starts to distort. Oh no… what have I done? The air distorts again, the rift closes and the stone of the arch returns to its shiny blue. Odd, so maybe the candles activate the archway? I need to think upon this later, right now I need to head home and do my homework.

I pick my bag containing all of my school belongings up, leave the house and head on home.