Green City | New Worlds Journal

I didn’t know who I was. Not sure how I got here, much less how to explain it to you. I guess I just need to start from my last memory. Deep in an unknown world, without what I needed most. My mind. ______________ I opened my eyes, the sudden light from the sun causing me to blink rapidly. I lifted my hand up to block out the light as I slowly sat up, bracing myself on my elbows. Looking around I saw green, green everywhere. There was some brown here and there, with the occasional odd color from a flower, or are those fruit? I look up again, the sun not as harsh as my eyes had adjusted. These trees seemed to go up all the way to the clouds. I must be dreaming, only…. “Where….” The rest of my words wouldn’t leave my throat as confusion set in. ______________ I didn’t remember dreaming. Did I remember my name? No. The world seemed so big as I took it all in with a fresh mind. The leaves moving in the wind, the birds singing their songs, a butterfly flying above me before being caught by a tree frog. It was all so strange. Could I remember who I was? Would I ever go home? Did I have a home waiting for me? ______________ The thoughts racing through my mind were too loud. My heart was beating in my throat as I sprung up, my legs shaking causing me to fall sideways into a tree. Getting up again would have been easier had it not been for my rapid breathing. I took off, running as fast as I could, hoping to find anything that could help me. I ran past trees, nearly tripping over multiple roots and large blue mushrooms, just a little bigger than my foot. Swatting large dark red fern leaves out of my way as I ran, ducking under vines and branches before sliding to a halt at a river. I knelt, my knee sinking into the stony riverbank as I looked into the running water at my reflection. Touching my cheek lightly, not sure if I’ll ever remember who I was. “Would I…. ever find who I was before?” My voice cracks at the unanswered question as my eyes turn glassy with tears, my throat tightening while my head bowed. My head jerks up at the snapping of a twig, looking across the river at something amazing. “What….?” Right across from the river was a magnificent creature that stood tall on all four legs, pearly white hooves contrasting greatly with it’s dark brown fur and dark green broken lines spread all over it’s body. It had a magnificent fur mane that goes down in a thin but fluffy line from the back of its head, down it’s neck before splitting at the base of it’s neck and going around it’s shoulders to it’s chest, collecting in a puff of soft fur. My face was in awe as I looked at the creature, my breakdown short lived once my eyes saw it eating some berries with little care of it’s surroundings. It lifts it’s head and turns it’s gaze in my direction, revealing antlers on the side of its head that point back, curving down slightly before curving out to the side, the majority of it’s antlers being like messy tree branches. I come back to my senses, wiping the tears off my face and standing up. ______________ I had to hold myself together. Breaking down in the middle of a jungle in a world I don’t know isn’t the best decision to make when you don’t remember anything. ______________ I kneeled again, cupping my hands together in the river and scooping up some water for me to drink, the cool liquid a soothing calm to my current situation. A hum leaves me as I take a better look at my surroundings compared to when I first woke up, seeing how open it was around the river and how there were more of those large blue mushrooms growing on the edge of the forest touching the riverbank. Standing up with a small grunt of effort I started walking along the river, going along with the flow of the river while looking at my surroundings with a clearer mind. “Those blue mushrooms again…Are any of those fruits good to eat? So many frogs…” My words were absent-minded as I walked, the smooth riverbed stones messaging my shoeless feet and the fresh air tickling my nose. I reached out to a vine from a branch that stretched far over the river, plucking a dark red berry from said vine and having a look at the fruit just a small amount larger than my eye. Giving it a sniff made me perk up, it smelled familiar and sweet, putting it into my mouth and biting down made it pop and explode with flavor. This tasted amazing! I immediately paused and stepped back to the vine, grabbing a couple more berries before continuing my walk down the river. ______________ Walking along the river, while peaceful, wasn’t easing the emotions I was feeling. Regardless of whether I had my memories or not, I was in an unfamiliar place, seeing things that I could just tell weren’t normal. Call it a gut feeling or paranoia, but fruit should not taste this good. ______________ I bit down on another berry as I walked at a slow pace while looking around, the trees no longer seemed so tall. My face twisted in confusion as it was the middle of the day just a few moments ago, yet the sky was already orange as I only now noticed the sun beginning to set behind me. “But everything was bright?” I walked towards a tree and looked up at the canopy of leaves to see — “Frogs…Of course they glow.” I let out a groan at how easily I was fooled before looking around for something, not sure for what, but I was very determined to find it. I picked up sticks as I walked around, pulling at vines to reach and collect more of those delicious berries when the vine snapped and I fell flat on my rear. I let out a breath and laid back onto some of those large blue mushrooms, confused and unsure of what I really needed to do. I laid there for several seconds, simply staring into the cooling sky with a blank stare. “Soft….warm.” I suddenly sat up and looked down at the blue mushrooms to my left, right and back. “Their warm.” My eyes widened in realization as I smiled. I reached for a mushroom and plucked it out of the ground, it’s color almost immediately fading as the warmth went away with it. I tossed the dead fungi aside and looked at the largest pile I laid my head on just a moment ago. “This will do.” I smile as an idea forms in my head. I stood up and reached for more of the vines, intentionally pulling them off the branches, eating the berries I could while throwing the vines into a pile. My head turned to face the forest, spotting the large red fern similar to the ones I ran past earlier. With a collection of vines, I laid them out neatly to make a place to sleep on, grabbing two of the largest red ferns I collected and laying my head on the mushrooms. I let out a comfortable sigh while placing one fern over my legs and the other over my upper body. “Goodnight me….” I slowly closed my eyes, hoping tomorrow will hold better discoveries.