//------------------------------//
// Lost 
// Story: Run 
// by MonkeyNinja 
//------------------------------//

     At first, we were attacked.  Wisps of... something, came at us  from all sides, trying to worm their way under my skin and into my bones.  The hazy shadows were white hot to the touch and each one clung to me like Velcro, scorching my flesh.  They surrounded us like antibodies attacking a virus, but something drove them off.  A pulse emanating from my chest sent the specters away like roaches fleeing the light.  
     I tried.  I tried so hard just to call out to her.  Yet I still could not make a sound.  Agonizingly, I was forced to watch as my little sister was dragged away from me, off into the distance.

     It was no use.  My course was set as was hers.  The next thing I knew, Emily was gone.

     Now horror stricken and alone, I was left with nothing... Nothing but the incredible show unfolding before me.
      My still petrified body was flying at an incredible speed, brilliant streaks of light and smooth waves of darkness flying past in the blink of an eye.  All the colors, even some I can't comprehend when I think back on it, danced around the light and darkness, bringing the two together.
     It was perfect harmony.
     Then, I was going left.  Looking to my right, another figure was flying in the opposite direction.  At the time, all that mattered to me was that whatever it was, it wasn’t my sister.
   I took in the amazing scenery, and for a brief moment, all of my troubles were forgotten.  I could spend an eternity in this bliss and never have a care in the world.
     But of course, the moment passed.  
     Another tear in space appeared out of nowhere, and I was approaching it fast.  The instant my body had passed through, the rift closed just as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving me hurdling through who knew where.



     Inhaling, I could smell the sweet scent of grass and trees.  The force of an endless wind lashed against my face.  This was a sensation I was very familiar with.  It was one I experienced every day, running or leaping from tree branches.  It was freedom.  At least... It was until I decided to open my eyes.  Then it was right back to my old friend, terror.  My fragile form was still flying at an incredible speed, only now there was ground below me, trying to pull me into a painful embrace.  I screamed, the sound instantly lost in the wind.
     
'Wait... I screamed?  I screamed!'  

     On my own power and everything.  Of course, this was hardly the time to celebrate.  The jealous maiden of Gravity, was angry with the sky for taking me, and she wanted me back.

     'Maybe this will be one of those injuries, where you don't feel the pain until later.', thought the optimistic side of my brain.  The logical side of my mind knew better.  This was going to hurt.  A lot.
     I rolled onto my side, bracing for impact, then everything went black.



     "Ugh...", I grumbled as the morning sunlight clawed its way under my eyelids.
     With great effort, I sat up, rubbing the back of my head and trying to remember what had happened the night before.  I could remember briefly not being in control of my body, a sharp pain, and the feeling of flying through the air… And then....  The last thought that resonated with my memory, was the blood chilling scream of my baby sister as she was tossed into the rift.  After that, darkness swallowed my consciousness.  Trying to recall more, I rapped on the top of my head, then froze.  With a start, I extended my arm, flexing it at the elbow.  It moved when it was told to.  With that weight suddenly off my shoulders I collapsed in a nervous laughter, terrified for her safety, yet simply relieved to have my body back under my own control and still in perfect condition.

     A stab of pain rocketed up my right shoulder causing me to wince.  Alright, not perfect condition, but close enough for my liking.
     With the gentlest of hands, I reached up and clutched the joint, fairly sure that it was now dislocated.  It could've very easily been much worse, so I thanked my lucky stars for being born left handed and tried to get a better handle on my surroundings.

     After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I was able to finally see just where in the hell I was.  The soft earth beneath me stretched into a lush field, just yards away from the treeline of a massive forest.  Looking to the left, I could see intermittent gashes in the grass, where I had likely bounced and skidded to a stop upon landing.  The grass itself was a thing to marvel at.  So full and green.  It was long too, at least four inches, but it didn't seem to grow much higher than that in this particular area.

     There was something else that kept nagging at me, but it took some time to place the feeling.  I stared at my feet for few minutes before realizing exactly what it was.  Unsure of my assumption, I rifled through the grass beneath me.  All there was to find was grass and dirt.  No litter, anywhere.  Not a single cigarette butt, nor coffee cup, nor scrap of artificial material had polluted the pristine earth on which I had landed.  That was not natural.

     'Where am I?', I mused, pulling myself to my feet.  Maybe the whole thing had been a dream?  Had I merely sleepwalked into a field last night?  The stab of pain in my forearm said otherwise.  Carefully, I pulled up the torn sleeve of my right arm to reveal a bright red gash that still hadn't fully stopped bleeding.  This was definitely real.  Wherever this place was, I had been brought here by that... that thing that had possessed me, and Emily was out here somewhere.  Gritting my teeth, I rolled down the bloodstained sleeve, hissing as it tugged on both the wound, and my shoulder.

     There had to be somewhere I could get patched up.  I turned on my heel, scanning the hilltops in the distance for my sister.  Next, I looked for my house.  Pretty soon, I found my search had changed from the house, to any sign of life at all.  Preferably, a hospital.  After over a minute of staring at nothing but grass and trees, I was on the verge of just picking a direction and walking.  However, before I could take my first step, a glint caught my eye.  There stood a few glittering spokes of something rising over the crest of the hill, like points on an enormous silver star.
     The next thing I knew, my legs were carrying me towards the star, a strange feeling bubbling in the pit of my stomach.  Not fear exactly, more like a vague trepidation.  It was like I had a vague idea of what I was looking at, somewhere in the back of my mind, but my brain wouldn't allow me to comprehend it.  

As I slowly drew near, I began to notice three things.
     Number one was that the star was actually the top of a HUGE FREAKING TREE.  The thing had to be at least seventy feet tall, and contained (To my complete and utter confusion), a damn castle nestled between the branches.
     Number two was that the tree was blue.  It seemed like the branches were crafted of shimmering crystal, rather than wood.
     Number three was that the tree was stationed in the middle of a small village.  The entire thing couldn't have been more than a few miles from one end to the other, but it seemed oddly cozy.

"Welp, that settles it then," I decided out loud, "I'm dead.  I've died and gone to heaven and found the magical blue tree house in the sky!".  Yet another stab of pain shook me out of my little monologue. 

     It took me at least fifteen minutes of walking before reaching the edge of town.  Immediately, I noticed how strangely the buildings were crafted.  Each one bore rooftops made of nothing more than thick branches and hay, like cottages.  Also, most of the houses were shaped in a somewhat more ergonomic way than the usual box-house you'd expect.  I didn't know of anyplace near home that had craftsmanship resembling this.  How far had I gone exactly?  Wherever this place was, the streets were mostly dirt road, an occasional wooden cart sitting beside the path.  hoof prints littered the ground.  It was immediately apparent that horse travel was popular wherever I was, but something about them wasn't quite right.  There weren't just hoof prints.  There were only hoof prints.  The longer I looked, the more stumped I became at the lack of any kind of human footprint.  It felt... significant, in some way.  

     The town as a whole seemed like a quaint little village at first, but walking through the empty streets I couldn't shake the feeling of unease.  Something was wrong here.  I stopped beside what struck me as the center of town, and looked around.  Bags full of produce lay strewn in the street.  A cart filled to the brim with apples resting beside a stand in what looked like a farmers-market, was tipped over, sending the fruit tumbling across the ground.  Somebody had left this place in a hurry.  Craning my neck around, I inspected the buildings.  All of the windows had curtains drawn.  Out of curiosity, I stepped over to a public looking building and gave the door handle a tug.  It was locked.  I turned just in time to see a pair of curtains in the building opposite me flutter closed.  That's when it hit me.  These people hadn't deserted the town, they were hiding.

     'But hiding from what?', I asked myself.  There didn't seem to be anything threatening nearby.  The sky showed no sign of rain.  All in all, it was a perfect day.
     A thought struck me out of the blue.  

     'Are they hiding from me?'

     But why would they?  I looked like any normal high schooler; by all accounts, I was as nonthreatening as possible.  If anything, it was me who should've been afraid.  As of recently, I had been possessed, taken on a joyride through a dark forest, gotten stabbed by a demon, thrown through a freaking hole in the sky, lost my sister, and slammed into the ground in who knew where!
     Something else continued to bother me.

     A few minutes of walking later, I ended up at the base of the crystal tree.  Marveling at the incredible size, I was just about to check and see what it was made of, when I finally noticed the doors!  There was a set of double doors, at least ten feet tall, seemingly carved right into the shiny bark.
     Seeing no better option, I shrugged and walked up the golden steps to the entrance, careful to avoid the large mud puddle in the front yard.  
     As I raised my hand and prepared to knock, the thing that was bothering me made itself known.  I felt two points in my brain connect.  This place was familiar, and I had mentally connected my sister to it.  

'But where?' I asked myself.

     Letting loose an exasperated sigh, I dropped my arm down onto the shiny surface and knocked.  A few moments later, footsteps could be heard from behind the door.

     "I'm coming, I'm coming!", called an agitated voice as the footsteps grew louder.  Finally, the door began to open.
     It was in that split second that one more synapse fired in the back of my head.  I suddenly realized exactly where I was.  I had seen this place before, not in real life, but I had seen it!  The most bizarre part was exactly where I’d seen it.  The answer to which being every few days on my sister’s television.  The creature that stood behind the door was revealed to me before it even had the chance to open.
     With a dull thud, the door was left agape.  Very slowly, my gaze drifted downward.  
There, standing not three feet away, was a very surprised, very purple, pony.



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