The mid-winter breeze flows through the small town of Spring Hill, Florida. With it is the faint scent of the sea, and the chill of the current. The trees flow in perfect synchronization with the wind, as if the two were joined by a melodious dance. That one time of the year when it wasn't miserably hot or humid.
"Bus 234 arriving at Pinehurst and Cobblestone intersection. Any departing passengers must wait until the bus has come to a complete stop."
The intercom blared with an unnerving static. Marcus, who was sitting a couple rows behind the driver, stood up to leave the collection of his fellow low-class citizens. Marcus proceeded to the front of the bus, passing the monotonous faces of unfamiliar strangers as they gazed upon him. Upon exiting the bus, he reached into his left pocket to grab his cheap MP3 player.
"Same routine as always... Once more, with feeling."
Marcus continued to untangle his earbuds, ever curious as to how they ended up in such a twisted manner. Once he managed to arrange the cords into straight, sleek lines, Marcus placed the small buds into his ears, contemplating on a tune that would perk him up, and remove him from the rut that he felt was his current life.
"9,000 Miles... haven't heard that one in a while."
The music began to play. As his mind began to become soothed by the familiar noise of various synths, drums, and guitars, Marcus began to walk down the street alone, as always.
"It's 9,000 miles back to you, now
I still feel like home is in your arms..."
The song bounced around in his head like a rubber ball on a hardwood floor. The tempo started to pick up, just the way he preferred. As the speed of the song started to shift, Marcus picked his walk up to a run. The lines in the sidewalk began to rush past him faster and faster with each step.
The feeling of no limitations also began to rush through his mind. To be able to run freely, with no obstacles or other nuisances. What made the moment better was the selection of music that he chose for the occasion. Drum and bass was perfection for these sprints.
Minutes passed, as Marcus found himself several blocks away from his starting point. Home was getting nearer, as he sprinted even faster than before. Yet, even though he approached his living place, Marcus was reluctant to arrive. The feeling of a permanent routine once again entered his mind, killing the mood of his imagined freedom.
From a walk, to a run, to a sprint, then back to a walk, Marcus depressingly approached his house, less than eager to walk in the front door. Despite his feelings, Marcus entered his home once again, greeting his relatives.
"Well, you certainly got home fast. Bus come early today?" Marcus' aunt asked curiously.
"I guess so. I knew you'd miss me, so I didn't want to wait around." Marcus wittingly replied, trying to muster up a weak laugh.
"Bringing home bacon today, Mark?" Marcus' uncle abruptly interrupted.
"Nothing today, Uncle Rick. I should be getting paid tomorrow."
"Ya' know, you really should bring money home more often. It's not easy around here with three mouths to feed."
"What do you want me to do? Play Jedi mind tricks on my boss to increase my pay?"
"You'd be surprised how often that works, boy. Ask your auntie over there, she'll tell you a story or two about my charm."
"...You're drunk again, aren't you?"
"That's none of your business, Mike. Shouldn't you be getting off to bed now anyways?"
Marcus quickly glanced over at the livingroom clock, noting that it was only 4:45 p.m., more than enough to convince him that his uncle was more than slightly under the influence.
"Might want to fix your watch. Or wait to sober up so you can read it." Marcus frustratingly responded.
Marcus' uncle quickly brushed off the comment, resuming his everyday routine of drinking, eating, and watching football reruns.
Marcus walked into his bedroom, which felt more like a box to him than an area of comfort. He began to think about his life, trying to find something that would boost his mood in the slightest.
"Alright. Marcus Prescott. 17 years of age, born on October 11th, "6'3, high-school graduate..."
Once again, nothing. Marcus knew that he was going nowhere fast, just like every other day he thought about this. He stood up to stare at his bathroom mirror, which also seemed to greet him with a bland look.
He looked deeply into his own reflection, wondering if any life was still sheltered inside his hollow casket of a body. His eyes reflected back at him with a lifeless look, as if whatever had previously lied inside had packed up and left, leaving nothing but dust and cobwebs. It seemed that all life, and even optimism itself, had left him, leaving him feeling utterly alone, with no hope of finding anyone that would understand him, let alone accept him.
Marcus walked back into his tan-walled prison, and opened his laptop. A couple hours passed as he browsed popular time-killing websites, mostly YouTube and Soundcloud. Along with his internet surfing, he also toyed around with his music-creation software. He never created anything mind-blowing, but his music was one of the few things that he could take pride in.
Before Marcus had realized where time went, dusk was already upon him, as the sun slowly descended into the thin line of the trees and homes on the horizon. Now it really was necessary for sleep, as he'd been working long shifts for the past couple of days.
"Finally some rest... maybe tomorrow will turn out differently."
Marcus laid down in his twin-sized bed, trying to obtain at least a few hours of sleep before restarting the cycle. Aided by the subtle rhythm of the falling rain outside, he was fast asleep in a matter of a few minutes.
*VOIP*
"Gah!"
With an abrupt jolt, Marcus quickly shot out of bed from the mysterious sound. It sounded like it came from outside, just below his bedroom window. After quickly getting dressed in his everyday clothing combo of dark jeans, an abstract green t-shirt, and white Adidas sneakers, Marcus grabbed a flashlight, and went through the back door to investigate.
Nothing had looked out of the ordinary, or at least it had seemed. Marcus began to walk around the backyard in the fresh wet grass, trying to identify the source of the unnerving noise.
Without warning, a bright blue flash of light shot out from behind him. He quickly rotated his body to see what had happened. A couple of steps behind him, a large hole had appeared floating above the ground. The levitating void glowed with a blue mist of light, and the inside showed streams of multicolored light swirling around in a circular motion through what looked like a transparent tube.
"Well... that's definitely different."
Marcus was shocked at the occurrence, but was intrigued by curiosity, as he started to approach the hypnotizing strobe. He was now standing directly in front of the portal, gazing inside of it with a confused, yet amazed look. He started to lean inside of the portal, trying to investigate further as to what this object could be.
After leaning in too far, Marcus' sneakers slipped on the wet grass. He found himself starting to fall into the mysterious void. His efforts to regain balance had been in vain, as his body was falling through the abyss of light.
Minutes passed, as Marcus kept falling and falling ever further into the unknown. As he descended, he had started to pass out from the constant fall. A couple seconds later, Marcus had no control of his body as it tumbled further through the luminescent void.
"..Ugh, my head..."
Marcus began to awake from his recent faint, as he found himself lying in the middle of a dirt road. His head felt like it was 10 pounds heavier than before, as he started to rub his forehead with his palm. After sitting upright, Marcus started to survey the scenery.
Along the dirt road he was sitting on, there were countless trees that seemed to keep in perfect order alongside each other. In these trees were many ripe apples, that looked bigger than any that he'd seen in his entire life. He couldn't see any signs of civilization in either direction of the road.
The only sign of any population was a castle that was suspended on a mountainside off in the distance. The castle rested near the peak of the mountain, high in the clouds which streamed multiple rainbows in several different directions.
"I'd better make my way to that castle. Maybe there's someone there that can help me."
Any attempt at finding civilization was paramount to Marcus, given the unknown terrain and area that he was currently in. Someone that could give him answers, including how he arrived in this place, was something that had to be found.
As he walked down the dirt road, Marcus began to think deeply about what had happened. Most of his memories were foggy, probably due to the experience that previously occurred.
Three small creatures that looked like horses began to walk towards him from the other direction in the road, one with wings, an orange body, and purple mane, another with a horn, a white body, and purple/pink mane, and another with a light-cream body, and a cherry red mane wrapped in a bow.