The sky is red, blood red. It should probably freak me out more than it does but the colors are amazing, instead of fluffy white clouds the red seems to swirl in places and the sun is white, like someone colored a canvas with red paint and left a cup on it so they just painted around the cup resulting in a giant white circle. It kind of reminds me of the bleeding tooth fungus. The red is just as bright as the red on that fungus, although the bleeding tooth got it’s name because it’s white with red spots that look like blood or berries. Another name for it is strawberries and cream although it isn’t edible. But the sky doesn’t hold my attention for long.

“You having a Wizard of Oz moment too?” I ask Raylen.

All the colors are slightly off on everything. The leaves aren’t quite green more like a teal but almost close to a green but there are other colors of leaves also, as if falls already upon this forest. There are yellows that are lighter than normal, pinks that are trying to be red, an orange brighter than the sun, back in our world at least, and even leaves that are so black they look like shadows. But the leaves aren’t the only unnatural feature of this forest…

Everything is huge! It’s almost as if we’ve shrunk. Not just the trees that rival the tallest mountains, but the leaves, the bugs…everything. I stare at a black creature that resembles an ant as it crawls up a trunk with what looks like a dead cat on it’s back. It’s got to be larger than a golden retriever. And then there’s a caterpillar…at least what resembles a caterpillar dwarfing a tree nearby, happily munching on a leaf the size of my bedroom back home.

Its Wonderland meets Narnia meets Pandora meet’s steroids. I glance down and realize that we’re up in the air, the shed having somehow nestled in a giant tree. We’re so far up I can’t even see the ground below. And it dawns on me, the shed looks different because it is. This shed is part of the tree, both the walls and tree trunk are a dark mauve, and our fire pit is gone, in it’s place a handful of stones placed intricately around the drawings on the floor. They look like a Celtic knots wrapped around a large dragon.

I’m fascinated at the same time that a strong apprehensive feeling seeps through me. I feel chilled from the inside out even though the humidity is already bringing sweat to my brow.

It’s not just that we’ve somehow transported to another place, or even to a different building, what’s freaking me out the most is that everything seems…alive. As if the very trees are breathing. It’s so…otherworldly…some of colors are pulsating, and a few change, alternating shades darker and lighter than their original.

And did I mention the veins? Everything is covered in veins, veins similar to the ones in my arms. Spidery veins…or maybe their just very slender vines, they’re wrapping over everything. Some are bright blue, others blacker than night, there’s a piercing yellow, and a red that matches the sky, there’s a tree wrapped in veins every shade of orange. And another tree that’s a dark umber has veins that are a icy white as if the tree’s are older than the rest.

The veins don’t just trail up the trees, they’re in the leaves, and even some of the animals that I could see from my position in the shed. And the shed too…there are veins entwined around the door and along the walls, just proving again that this isn’t our shed. It’s as if the forest is a larger part of some freaky giant.

I feel like Dorothy again, but there isn’t a yellow brick road in this forest or friendly little village people to sing and dance us in the right direction. Or even a direction that I can place.

“Raylen?” I turn to look at her. She’s gone green. She backs away from the door and sits down on one of the Celtic knots. She closes her eyes and lays back down as if she’s going to go back to sleep.

“Ummm…Raylen?” I ask moving towards her. She shakes her head.

“I’m still sleeping. I’m still sleeping. This is a dream. Just a dream.” I step closer to hear her muttering to herself.

“Raylen! Come on we should explore. Look outside!” I say shaking her slightly. She shoves me away with such force I crash into the wall. She finally opens her eyes and stares at me.

“You’re here too.” She says in a strange mechanical tone that would be funny if the wide-eyed look she’s giving me didn’t make me wonder if I should give her a bag to puke in or move away in case she starts throwing things…again. This shed doesn’t have logs in it…but there are those rocks which would probably be worse.

“Why are you in my dream? Why am I still dreaming. Did you poison me Aether!? Did you?” Raylen’s finally stood back up and is in my face. Usually our height difference would cause her to look up at me but I’ve yet to move from my position in the floor, afraid that like a wild animal Raylen might attack if she sees the slightest movement.

“Aether…” Raylen says slowly and softly as if I’m the one panicking. “I’m going to look out the door again. And then we aren’t going to be here right?” Not sure what she thinks is going to change but I wisely decide not to argue. She stands kind of like a robot and moves stiffly to the open door. She stands on the threshold, takes a giant breath and holds it. I’m about to ask about her lung capacity when she releases it through her teeth and continues taking in large gulps of air. She doesn’t move. One hand clutching the doorframe, the other over her stomach as if she might let lose what little she finally ate in the night. After about five minutes of watching I feel it’s safe to get up and I join her. Making sure I’m far enough in that she can’t push me out since I don’t have a grappling hook with me.

“There are veins and giant ants and the caterpillar!? Did you see the caterpillar!” I say pointing in its general direction, it’s still munching on the same leaf.

“I bet if we found a butterfly we could ride it! Ooh and we need to find some mushrooms! They could feed us for weeks!” The more I say the more excited I’m starting to get. The excitement about this crazy new land is pushing away the raw terror that I felt at first. It’s just a new place. Sure we don’t know why we’re here or what might happen but at least we’re together in this. But Raylen is close to hyperventilating and even I realize that I’m not helping the situation.

“Aether…Just. Shut. Up!” Raylen says and I immediately stop talking. Raylen’s still staring out. The hand that was over her stomach is now pinching her arm so hard that I’m pretty certain she’s cut off circulation to that part of her arm.

“Raylen what are you doing just standing there! You seriously need to snap out of it.” Okay, I’m probably being inconsiderate but I don’t really know how to help her…

”I mean look…this is just so…just…I’m speechless.” This seems to bring her back and she turns and stares at me as if I’ve sprouted mushrooms all over my face.

“If your speechless then why are you still talking” She takes a breath looks back out of the door, a giant blue ladybug looking thing flies past her and she scrambles back. “This…seriously…this is real?”