(continued)

 “Wow…” Marsh gasped. He spun around to look at his new surroundings. The oddly grown trees encircled them, now accompanied by birch and purple maple trees. The moss was speckled with blue lights and the water reflected it so.

“This is amazing,” Jaiden whispered. He bent to a crouch and listened to the water but all he could hear was the buzz of the forest. The falls were silent. Marsh bent down as well but he took it all in by dunking his head in the pool of water.

“Marshall!” Jaiden spat. He grabbed his shirt collar and pulled up.

“What’s the matter with-”

“The water isn’t wet,” Marsh patted around his face.

“Marsh, we are not having this conversation again.”

“No, I mean I’m still dry,” he announced. Jaiden patted his brother's head.

“You’re… right. That's weird,” He cupped his hands in the water only for it to slip off his skin as if there wasn’t any water to begin with. Marsh felt around his head in awe.

“It even got the rest of the egg out. My hair’s so soft!” He stuck his arms in the water, sleeves and all, as he watched the mud cloud away on its own.

“Okay, where do we go from here…” Jaiden said to himself. The tree’s bark was smooth as it shifted in hue. They were wide and they had bristles instead of leaves.

“Maybe its something in the trees we need to find…” He said, brushing the bark of a birch tree.

“Or maybe, we have to wait for a magical creature to tell us its riddle three,” Marsh mocked. He grabbed a muddy rock and dipped it in the water and it became a wonderful blue stone.

“Check out what happens when I put the rocks in the water! Like it makes it into something new…” Marsh began to make a small pile of the stones.

“Or maybe it was like that all along… ” Jaiden said sarcastically. Marsh groaned and put one of the rocks in his pocket.

“Come help me look for a pattern,” Jaiden was trying to figure out the ratio of birch trees to maple trees. He tapped his finger to his chin as he scanned the area for anything off.

“I doubt the way to get to this fantasy land is by some boring old trees,” Marsh remarked. He tossed a stone into the pool and continued, “I bet it's something with the rocks.”

Jaiden looked to his brother and gestured to the area, “Okay then, what do you think we should do?” The trees leaned in as the wind picked up, spinning loose brown leaves into the water.

Marsh grinned and climbed up on boulder. “Look at the swirls,” He said. Jaiden crossed his arms.“What swirls?” He asked. Marsh beckoned his brother to the boulder he was sitting on. He pointed down and around in swirling motions on its side.

“See?” He said as he slid off.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?” Jaiden leaned in, seeing nothing particularly peculiar about the rocks. They were tall, sure, but it wasn’t anything that warranted a search.

“The swirls! The rings on the rocks! They’re on all of them,” Marsh’s face turned with frustration, but Jaiden still looked on, confused. He stomped passed him and slumped down by the water and mumbled to himself. He picked up another rock and dropped it into the pool and watched the ripple. It crossed paths with the lapping waves from the waterfall. Jaiden sighed and sat next to Marsh and looked into the water.

“Are you sure there were ‘swirls?” Jaiden leaned in to suggested.

“Yes!” Marsh barked. He crossed his arms and scanned the water as if he was looking for something.

“Okay, okay I believe you. What do you think the swirls meant?” Jaiden awaited a response but marsh only shrugged and continued to stare.

“Hey… shouldn’t we be able to see our reflections?” Marsh finally said. Jaiden directed his attention away and squinted at the water. He saw the trees and the moss reflecting upon the pool but not themselves. He waved his hand over the water to test his reflection but nothing appeared below it.

“That is… odd,” Jaiden stood up and began to study the falls from the rim. The water was clear for the most part but the light glow became a deep teal just where the water fell.

It tempted them to investigate closer. Jaiden scuffed the ground as he stood, then took a weary step into the water. Marsh followed behind, only slightly annoyed by his brother's hypocrisy. He was too distracted to care.

The further they went, the higher the water climbed up their legs, still only reaching right below Marsh’s knees. They were silent and watched the mysterious teal shape pulse. It could have only been the rippling water that made it look like it was moving but it was captivating none the less.

“Weird,” Marsh gasped. He slowly reached his hand into the water and in a breath, it dragged him down under. Jaiden’s eyes widened with worry. He then lunged forward but only managed to grab the cuff of Marsh’s sleeve.

“CRA-” Jaiden slipped on a smooth blue stone and stumbled backward into the silent falls.

They fell through the water and disappeared from Ollen.

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