The Other Side.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?”

My brother’s voice was hesitant. Laced with something; fear perhaps. A chill charged down my spine, turned at my feet and crept back up, lifting every hair as it crawled through my body.

Gary was big, strong, never afraid.

I looked around. We were in a forest. The trees were gnarled and twisted, covered in moss, a thin layer of golden powder covered the ground. I kicked out and watched the fine golden dust curl upwards and settle back down.

“Is this real? Are we awake?” I whispered.

“I don’t know. All I remember is a blue door. Do you remember the door?”

I thought for a moment. “I remember.”

“You opened it,” he said “we went through.”

I nodded.

A branch snapped and both of us jumped. We spun around. A creature stepped out from behind a thicket of thorns. I didn’t have to look at my brother to know he was in shock, probably frozen.

I couldn’t quite comprehend what I was seeing. The creature in front of us was clearly feminine. If you asked me to put it into words, I’d say a fairy.

“Is that a…a fairy?” Asked Gary.

“Yup.”

“Dude, this is a strange place,” he said.

Strange didn’t begin to explain what I was looking at, but I couldn’t speak, so strange would have to do.

She pulled an arrow from a quiver, set it in a bow and shot at Gary. Things were happening in slow motion. I reached out and caught the arrow.

A dull thud to my chest woke me. Gary was there.

“Hey jerk, you’re yelling. I can’t sleep.”

He turned and went back to his bed. I tucked the arrow under my mattress. Gary was right, that was a strange place.