The Woods of the Lost

"Mom!" I rushed downstairs to the kitchen to see my mother cooking with her apron tied on her waist and her hands washing the dishes we used a while ago for breakfast. "Yes, honey?" she asked, looking at me while still washing the dishes between her hands. There are bubbles and it seems she is delighted playing with them. I just rolled my eyes. "I will get going. I will find a job for now." "Be careful on the streets, honey." "I will!" I went to the front porch to get my doll's shoes from the shoe rack and went outside. I am wearing a simple blouse and jeans while matching them with a beige shoulder bag. I greeted every familiar person I could greet. Some are new and some are just passing by, but it's not bad to give them a good morning for their benefit. I proceeded to the nearest station I could find and hopped on a bus for my trip. The conductor asked me where I would go and I said the exact location where. I paid one dollar and I received no tip back. I listened to my ear plugs while looking outside the bus until I felt myself sleeping. "Miss? Miss. Miss, wake up!" I woke up with a sudden shout and found myself in a lying position. A man with a top hat and a suit is looking at me with, I think, his assistant. I sat up with widened eyes, confused about my situation. I looked around and saw trees, a mansion, fences, the road I was lying on, and the bus which was down the cliff. Wait...The bus? I looked at the bus with confusion. How did I survive the accident? Am I in a dream? Have the two men who saved me from the fall? Are they also passengers? But if I can recall, I didn't see them get on the bus when I entered it or was I asleep when they did? I don't know. Confusion and curiosity are killing me right now. I looked at them with confusion in my eyes. Their brows met as they looked at me. I think they are concerned about my situation, but that is none of my concern right now. My concern is how I survived the fall and how I ended up lying on the road. Are there no other vehicles coming around? "Pardon, misters, but...how come am I not in the fall? The last time I know was I was on the bus which is now down the cliff. Were you passengers also of the bus I was in?" I am panicking. I don't know what to do. I don't know them and I just wanted to find a job for myself and for my family. "Pardon, miss, but...What bus?" My brows furrowed when the assistant asked me. "We saw you lying around my master's mansion." That's when I gulped. I looked over the fence and the mansion to the two men in front of me. "What?" I asked. "Down this cliff is a bus. Can't you see?" I pointed at the cliff with my right hand and the man with a top hat looked down the cliff before shaking his head. "How?" I whispered to myself. I felt doomed and thought about what route I should go to go back to my home. "Is your head hurt? Do you want us to call for a doctor?" the assistant asked and tried to touch me, but I slapped him. "Don't even try touching me, young man!" He looks around my age. A nineteen-year-old boy touching my head? I would think twice before I allowed anyone to touch me! I would feel molested if I let him! "William," the man with a top hat called out to his assistant and shook his head. The young man then stood up and just bowed to me. "I am sorry for the inappropriate action of my cousin, miss. He was just trying to help you." He took his hat and placed it near his belly and bowed down to me. My brows furrowed more as I was more confused. Why are they so formal? "One." "Pardon?" said he, and it was obvious he was confused by my response. "One. You may call me One. It's my name," I said. "Well, One, that's a unique name. It sounded like what my father had named me," he responded with a chuckle. "What is your name, by the way, the man with the top hat?" I said without thinking twice. His eyes widened because of my question, but he laughed after. "My name is as hilarious as yours. Aeiou." "You are vowels?" He was no wrong with his name. I am also confused how it was pronounced. "No. It's pronounced as Eiyo." "Just that?" "I am afraid it is, miss." "Pardon again, Mister Aeiou and William, can you tell me where am I?" I asked. "You are in the Woods of the Lost, miss." My brows furrowed more and I could hear my own heart while my brain was thinking of the place they told me about. Woods of the Lost is a legend for my people and mine. To meet the top and assistant of the woods will be bad, and I am now talking to them as I was nervous because I knew I am doomed. As their names replay to me, they are William Fedelin the Savage and Aeiou the Joker.