The Bookwyrm

Paul awoke to something jabbing at his side.

What the hell?

He opened his eyes to find he was not home in bed.

Paul jolted aware, adrenaline coursing through him. He rapidly rose to his feet, rocks crunching underneath his hiking boots.

Rocks?

Yes, rocks. A field of gravelly rocks, some of them tinted orange and red. A particularly large and pointy one was on the ground near where he’d been laying. That’s what had woken him up.

He looked down at himself. He was wearing his sturdy hiking boots, a pair of sturdy light tan pants, his favorite red hiking shirt, and a familiar looking modern jacket over that.

A jacket he hadn’t seen in years.

“What is going on…?” he said to the empty landscape.

He was on the side of a mountain. A mountain overlooking a wide valley, filled with trees and a river off in the distance. There was no sign of civilization at all.

Panic started to stir inside Paul. He thought frantically. Was he dreaming? No, that wasn’t possible. This impossible experience had the unmistakable solidity of reality, against all reasoning. It didn’t feel like a dream. It felt as real, as tangible as the day before, spent in his house, and the night before, spent in his own bed…

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He’d figure this out. Somehow.

Paul paused and looked around, only to find his hiking pack, completely filled to the brim with his standard gear and supplies. Disbelieving, he walked over to it and crouched down, unzipping various pockets and pouches. Indeed, it had enough supplies to last him a week, at most.

“Seriously, what the hell is going on here?” he shouted. There was no answer from the silent, beautiful landscape.

He sighed and slung the pack onto his back, unlatching his walking stick from its little carrier on the side of the bag. He looked to the sky. A few flimsy white clouds drifted above, but the vibrant deep blue was the primary color. The sun was relatively close to the horizon; it was probably ten in the morning. Or four in the evening? He didn’t know which way was north.

Paul pulled out his compass and identified north; it was slightly to the right of the peak of the mountain he was on. And as the sun was to the right of him at that time, in the east, it meant it was at least three or four hours after dawn. Okay. That didn’t match his watch, which read…12:11 am? Something very strange was going on.

He racked his brain, trying to figure out where he was in the world. Then he remembered his GPS tracker.

He pulled it out of his pack and turned it on.

NO SIGNAL DETECTED, it read.

What?

How was that possible?

Paul put the tracker away and looked around at the landscape.

He had a few options. Hike to the top of the mountain, look around, try to find anything useful in the landscape. Or, head into the valley, towards the river.

After a minute’s thought, he decided to head towards the top of the mountain. It wasn’t very tall, and he’d perhaps get a clue of where on earth he was by looking around. If he didn’t find anything, he could head back to the river.

A million thoughts and worries going through his head, Paul started walking.

***

Less than an hour later he arrived at the top of the small mountain.

The only plants were a few strange trees he didn’t recognize, and a bunch of desert bushes and shrubs that he couldn’t identify either. That bothered him. He didn’t spot any animals, save for a few tiny insects buzzing around. 

Another one of the strange trees grew near the very top of the eroded mountain. The tree’s strangely light bark was smooth, patterned with occasional knobs and knots. Its twisted branches had green needles, meaning the trees were conifers, but they were different from the needles of any other tree he’d seen before.

The view from the top of the mountain was of little help. All he saw was more similar scenery; eroded mountains in a desert landscape stretching out to the horizon, occasionally laced with greenery that followed the paths of winding rivers. Still no sign of civilization at all.

He looked at the sun again. And hesitated.

Was it lower in the sky?

No, that was impossible. It was probably just because he was higher up right now.

Right?

Something was very wrong.

The calling howl of some animal echoed from the distance. It…sounded vaguely wolf-like, but also had a strange screech to it that made it sound like a hawk, or some bird of prey…

Where am I?

Something caught his eye on the horizon. Rising into the sky was a moon.

But it was not the moon.

No, this grey sphere, waxed slightly more than a half moon, was far too large, too close, to be the moon he knew. Its surface was pocked with craters and dark spots in an unfamiliar pattern, and jagged lines ran across its surface in huge canyons that were visible even from…

Whatever world he was on.

He was not on Earth.

Paul sat down, dazed.

How?

Why?

Where was he?

And how would he get home?

***

He eventually decided that there was nothing to it but to keep going. He decided to go back to the river he’d seen earlier. After a few hours of hiking, it was clear the sun was setting into the east. Its tint was slightly more orange than the sun he knew; he was able to notice, now that he knew there was something strange to be looking for.

The strange plants made sense now. He was just amazed that he hadn’t realized sooner…

Paul finally made it to the foot of the mountain as dusk began to fall. He quickly made his way through the alien forest to the riverbank, gathering dried wood along the way to start a fire. He found a nice clearing in the woods, with a view of the sky and easy access to the water of the river. He set up a camp, started a fire, and got out some of his food to eat.

The stars appeared one by one as the sun went down. From his little clearing, Paul could easily tell that the stars were unfamiliar. The shapes he knew so well and could identify easily were nowhere to be seen, and the bright stars he could see made shapes that were completely unrecognizable. The bright moon rose higher into the sky, as bright as the full moon back on Earth, drowning out the rest of the stars that Paul was sure were hiding in the depths.

He sighed. What was he going to do?

After a few more minutes, and after accepting that if some monstrous alien decided to eat him in the night there wasn’t really anything he could do, Paul set up his sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep.

***

Paul became aware of warm sand beneath his body, and the sound of waves crashing against a shore nearby.

He jolted awake.

He was sitting on a beautiful, white sanded beach. Waves from a vibrant blue ocean crashed against that beach, a calming rhythm in contrast to the turmoil inside him.

The sky was a similar vibrant blue, cloudless at the moment. And two suns hung against that blue expanse.

The world he’d just been on had clearly only had one sun.

He looked around. He was wearing the same outfit, and his pack was lying in the sand near him. Frowning, he checked the supplies he’d eaten the previous night.

There they were, unopened. Untouched.

Once again, this experience had the solidity of reality. But…how was this possible?

The beach was bordered by a dense jungle of unfamiliar tropical trees, with huge green leaves accented by veins of a light blue color. Their twisted trunks were unlike anything he’d seen before. Calls from alien wildlife echoed from the jungle, sounding both familiar and alien at the same time.

After a moment’s deliberation, Paul decided to head into the jungle. He’d probably be able to find fresh water in there. 

Paul started walking through the foliage, wishing desperately he had something to clear away the vegetation. He had no idea if any of the buzzing insects around him were deadly. He spotted a large, spider-like creature on the trunk of a nearby tree. It had…twelve legs, six on each side, and a thick, elongated body. It was colored in vibrant yellow colors that stood out against the jungle.

I should probably avoid that…thing.

After another minute of walking, the chatter of the jungle suddenly stopped. An eerie silence overtook his surroundings.

Paul looked around warily. Something was happening.

He heard a low rumble coming from behind him.

Paul turned and saw a creature hanging from the tree above him. It had four thick arms, each with two elbows, that it used to grip the tree above it. Its legs, though small by comparison to its arms, each held a wicked barb at the end instead of a foot. Its head was vaguely lupine, with a large mane like a lion’s, though it was tinted a faded blue, like the rest of the creature’s fur.

Its eyes were wide and yellow, and filled with hunger. And the creature was nearly twice as large as he was.

Paul turned and ran.

There was a scramble of limbs behind him, and the sound of trees rustling. Suddenly a jabbing pain stabbed him in the back. He screamed, and the pain turned to numbness. Paul collapsed over a tree root.

Venom…? he managed to think through the sudden murk in his mind.

He felt the creature turn him over, it’s wolf-like face moving up to his, it’s jaws opening, it’s teeth clamping around his neck, and-

***

Paul snapped awake.

He was in a grassy field on a bloodred world. A small red sun hung in the sky, bathing the land in a crimson light. A jagged mountain rose in the far distance, and a field of strange mammals grazed in another part of the field.

He was on another world.

Every time I fall unconscious… he realized, I’m sent to another planet.

What does it mean?

And…how do I escape?