Heather does make a point, are we on Earth?

“Um, I don’t really know. Should we check our phones to see if they have any signal?”

I look at the top of the screen to see if there is a signal. Alas, no bars and the provider’s name aren’t there.

“So, what? Even if I don’t have a signal, that doesn’t mean that we are on a different planet. It could mean that we are somewhere very obscure in the world.”

“Cameron, how do you explain the four-winged bird then?”

“Maybe it has never been discovered yet?”

“Cameron, I understand why you are trying to rationalize this, but basically everything has been explored. If this bird was on Earth, then it would have been discovered decades ago. We are not in a tropical jungle where the bugs are being found, this is a forest with the conditions of somewhere like Redwood.”

“We have to be on Earth! There is no way we traveled light-years in the span of a moment!”

“You know what Cameron? I think we have been here long enough, lets just head back to the rift and go home, okay? We can decompress and relax there. Besides, I need to starting cleaning up the house.”

We must be on Earth, we must be on Earth, we must be on Earth. Its just scientifically impossible to travel that far, that fast! But, I agree with her, we do need to head back. Though I don’t want to head back to relax, I want to head back because my parents might worry about me not getting home before they get home.

“Fine, lets head back then.”

We start our trip back. Since we didn’t leave a trail behind us, we get easily lost. We stumble and constantly look at the trees to see if we are getting any closer. After what seems like hours of stumbling, we get back to the circle and head back to the house. Reaching the other side, I blow out the candles and the rift closes. After closing the rift, we walk to the front door where we say our goodbyes.

“I’m going to head back to my house okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure Heather, I’m going to stay a little while longer to look at the books in the library.”

She gives me a suspicious look, thinking that I’m only staying because I want to explore the other side some more.

“I’m serious! I haven’t read most of the books in there, so I want to take some home and read them!”

“Okay then… you can see yourself out then.”

She walks out the front door and leaves. Seeing her leave, I head to the library like I said I’d do. The books look as organized as before, with the different languages labeling different books. Looking at them, I decide that I should read the English ones first, since I’ll be able to read them with ease. I walk around, grabbing the ones that peak my interest.

As I walk around, I notice that there are some dressers in the back of the room. I had never noticed them the past two times I was in here. My curiosity peaking, I put the books that I have grabbed on a nearby desk and walk towards them. On closer inspection, the dressers are all engraved with symbols. I recognize some symbols like fire, water and earth. Though there are others that confuse me like an arm and multiple stars.

After looking at the symbols, I decide to open one of the dressers. The doors open, with the hinges not squeaking a bit, as if they were brand new. Inside the closet are some weird looking sticks and some books. I don’t dare grab any of them as I find it odd that they were put in the dresser and not on the shelves.

My curiosity satisfied, I close the closet doors, grab the books that were on the desk and head home.