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Description
~A Splash and a Crash~

Hunched over a keyboard, I attempted to keep myself occupied during the day as the rest of the house was empty and roars of thunder surrounded me. The storms came and went in waves of an unpredictable fashion, which put a damper on any hopes of me receiving any fresh air.

Then, like the proverbial visit from God, the clouds suddenly opened up and light finally shone through. The gloomy backyard I had been staring at for hours was now a lush marsh. I decided to seize the moment and grabbed my beloved camera, and bolted out the door.

Down the street I traveled into the heart of town, with my camera swinging from my neck, with the mission of capturing a black-and-white picture of the harbor. As I walked down the sidewalk the evidence of a downpour still lingered - fresh puddles of rainwater just waiting to be splashed upon those walking nearby, a few damp newspapers sticking to the pavement, and even a maple tree split right down the middle from lightning.

The harbor soon came into my field of view as I passed the pungent smell of the fishery. My ears were quickly assaulted by the blaring of ship horns as they warned others of their arrivals or departures. The water of the harbor was surprisingly calm considering not too long ago several nasty squalls had ravaged the area, which meant an even better chance to capture that right picture.

I sat down leisurely further down the waterway away from the fishery on one of the many empty barrels that lined the edge of the harbor. Soon enough I entered a trance I usually experience when assuming the position of photographer - complete focus on whatever may be through the viewfinder, while drowning out the sounds of the rest of the world, even those loud ship horns. Click after click came from the camera. Since the first picture I was grinning ear to ear, for I knew that I would be uploading amazing pictures later that day.

I actually got so excited about the scenes unfolding in front of me that I eventually jumped off the barrel to get as close as possible. Gasps, "Oh wow", and "ahhhh" were all that were coming out of my mouth as I tried to get closer and closer to the water's edge. I got a little too excited, though, and with that came some carelessness for my own safety. While leaning ever so closer over the water of the harbor, I lost my footing due to the still-slippery pavement. Before I realized what was happening, I was off solid ground and proceeding down a ten foot drop to the water; only a small grunt escaped my lips.

I splashed into the harbor headfirst, with the water swiftly engulfing my entire being. At first all I could see were the suds created from the rapid movement in the water, and after a few seconds I expected for the interference to disappear and my underwater sight restored. But it didn't. The swirling and swooshing of the water continued to surround me. It appeared as if nearly no light from the surface was piercing the water, either.

My second thought was breathing - I knew I was underwater at this point, and began to slightly panic at the thought of not being able to breathe. I felt no need to breathe, though, as I continued to be tossed around by the underwater anomaly I had gotten myself trapped in. I felt no loss of air, or intake of water as I opened my mouth to try and gasp for air. Seconds seemed like minutes, and minutes seemed like hours as I dizzily moved about the vortex of water.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared below me; it looked like a fog light submerged in a pool. I believed that that signaled the bottom of the bay, so I tried my best to contort my body such that I was now ready to swim my way to the surface. Even with the blinding vortex of suds still around me, I attempted to swim away from the light, but I only got closer the harder I swam.

Eventually, I was so close to the light that it blinded me. I was so tired at this point that I just gave up trying to resist whatever force it was fighting against me. I allowed for the light to immerse myself.

And then I heard a more violent movement of water, and my body being pulled in one direction along with it. Before I knew it, I fell out of a portal, along with hundreds of liters of water, onto a cobblestone pathway. I let out a sound of pain as I landed on the hard surface, and laid there for a few moments, attempting to catch my breathe and have all my senses come back to me. I heard the sound of more water, but felt no more around me except for the water that drenched me; I could taste the saltiness of the sea water nearby. I was eventually able to open my eyes and begin to process where I was.

I first noticed the uneven stones that made up the pathway I was now laying on. I was immediately puzzled by this, and decided to turn my head forward towards the sky, only to be surprised by a figure hovering over me. At first it was just a dark outline, but as I continued to regain conscious thought the figure came more into focus until I realized that a treant was standing over me.

A treant? Where the heck am I?

Before I could even finish my thought the large figure reached out and picked me up.

"Wait! What are you doing with me? Put me down this instant!" I exclaimed as I began flailing around.

The treant finally put my down softly on my own two feet, while continuing to observe me.

"Your welcome." it said in a slightly sarcastic yet caring voice.

I knew I had heard that voice before, but never out loud, only in my head. I became puzzled once more, but this time began voicing my thoughts.

"Zee? Is that you?" I inquired.

"Here in the flesh….errr, bark. I can see you enjoyed your trip over here. Are you hurt at all Zhou?"

I looked over my soaked body, but sensed no injury.

"It appears not. Thank you, friend. Would you happen to know where we are?"

"The Kingdom of Muse, or so I've been told. We're not the only ones here." - Zee lifted his arm to point further down the road to another pair of individuals - "They are all heading towards the center of town, where the square is. Apparently we're all here for a reason, but none of us know what. C'mon."

And just as he finished, the treant lifted me up onto his shoulder, where I now perched, and began following those who are also heading to the town square.

Zee and I bobbed and weaved in and out of the streets, heading towards the large fountain and cathedral marking the congregation area. As we got closer and closer, more pairs of people began to show up along side us, heading towards our destination as well.

It was once we narrowly cleared a back alleyway that the square finally emerged in front of us. I was amazed to see just how many were drawn, or dragged to in my case, to this place. Scores of humans and non-humans dotted the area, all unique in some way. Neither I nor Zee really knew what was going on, but we both had the feeling that this was where we would find many answers.

Zee was walking closer to the square's fountain now, with me still perched atop his shoulder. I quickly noticed the majestic cathedral at the end of the courtyard - stained glass depicting events only thought of in dreams, and a golden bell at the crowning. It was once that bell rang that everyone, including myself and Zee, were drawn to look at the cathedral.

On the balcony, before us all stood a figure, male and imposing, robed like a judge before his court, and with a booming voice.

"I am The Editor, you are all authors and their characters. You are here to fight! Why you ask. Because you are all trapped in the Muse's dream, and you will wish to escape which can only happen if you wake her. To do that you must reach the centre of her dream, but she will only let the best and most creative writers go there. We will see if you have the ability to reach there. And if you do, we have one extra prize for you, one piece of writing, one piece in which myself and the muse work in perfect harmony for you, as writers you will see the value of that."

At the end of the speech I looked towards Zee, who began looking around at those around him, with a nervous yet determined expression on his face.

"Well, it seems we have a job to do. Are you up for it?" I proclaimed.

"Doesn't look like we have a choice at this point." he responded, continuing to size the non-humans and larger humans around him. It seemed that he was worried about fighting others, even with his nine foot frame.

"I could always try and fall into the harbor again and see if I return to my world. Worth a shot."

Description
~A Splash and a Crash~

Hunched over a keyboard, I attempted to keep myself occupied during the day as the rest of the house was empty and roars of thunder surrounded me. The storms came and went in waves of an unpredictable fashion, which put a damper on any hopes of me receiving any fresh air.

Then, like the proverbial visit from God, the clouds suddenly opened up and light finally shone through. The gloomy backyard I had been staring at for hours was now a lush marsh. I decided to seize the moment and grabbed my beloved camera, and bolted out the door.

Down the street I traveled into the heart of town, with my camera swinging from my neck, with the mission of capturing a black-and-white picture of the harbor. As I walked down the sidewalk the evidence of a downpour still lingered - fresh puddles of rainwater just waiting to be splashed upon those walking nearby, a few damp newspapers sticking to the pavement, and even a maple tree split right down the middle from lightning.

The harbor soon came into my field of view as I passed the pungent smell of the fishery. My ears were quickly assaulted by the blaring of ship horns as they warned others of their arrivals or departures. The water of the harbor was surprisingly calm considering not too long ago several nasty squalls had ravaged the area, which meant an even better chance to capture that right picture.

I sat down leisurely further down the waterway away from the fishery on one of the many empty barrels that lined the edge of the harbor. Soon enough I entered a trance I usually experience when assuming the position of photographer - complete focus on whatever may be through the viewfinder, while drowning out the sounds of the rest of the world, even those loud ship horns. Click after click came from the camera. Since the first picture I was grinning ear to ear, for I knew that I would be uploading amazing pictures later that day.

I actually got so excited about the scenes unfolding in front of me that I eventually jumped off the barrel to get as close as possible. Gasps, "Oh wow", and "ahhhh" were all that were coming out of my mouth as I tried to get closer and closer to the water's edge. I got a little too excited, though, and with that came some carelessness for my own safety. While leaning ever so closer over the water of the harbor, I lost my footing due to the still-slippery pavement. Before I realized what was happening, I was off solid ground and proceeding down a ten foot drop to the water; only a small grunt escaped my lips.

I splashed into the harbor headfirst, with the water swiftly engulfing my entire being. At first all I could see were the suds created from the rapid movement in the water, and after a few seconds I expected for the interference to disappear and my underwater sight restored. But it didn't. The swirling and swooshing of the water continued to surround me. It appeared as if nearly no light from the surface was piercing the water, either.

My second thought was breathing - I knew I was underwater at this point, and began to slightly panic at the thought of not being able to breathe. I felt no need to breathe, though, as I continued to be tossed around by the underwater anomaly I had gotten myself trapped in. I felt no loss of air, or intake of water as I opened my mouth to try and gasp for air. Seconds seemed like minutes, and minutes seemed like hours as I dizzily moved about the vortex of water.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared below me; it looked like a fog light submerged in a pool. I believed that that signaled the bottom of the bay, so I tried my best to contort my body such that I was now ready to swim my way to the surface. Even with the blinding vortex of suds still around me, I attempted to swim away from the light, but I only got closer the harder I swam.

Eventually, I was so close to the light that it blinded me. I was so tired at this point that I just gave up trying to resist whatever force it was fighting against me. I allowed for the light to immerse myself.

And then I heard a more violent movement of water, and my body being pulled in one direction along with it. Before I knew it, I fell out of a portal, along with hundreds of liters of water, onto a cobblestone pathway. I let out a sound of pain as I landed on the hard surface, and laid there for a few moments, attempting to catch my breathe and have all my senses come back to me. I heard the sound of more water, but felt no more around me except for the water that drenched me; I could taste the saltiness of the sea water nearby. I was eventually able to open my eyes and begin to process where I was.

I first noticed the uneven stones that made up the pathway I was now laying on. I was immediately puzzled by this, and decided to turn my head forward towards the sky, only to be surprised by a figure hovering over me. At first it was just a dark outline, but as I continued to regain conscious thought the figure came more into focus until I realized that a treant was standing over me.

A treant? Where the heck am I?

Before I could even finish my thought the large figure reached out and picked me up.

"Wait! What are you doing with me? Put me down this instant!" I exclaimed as I began flailing around.

The treant finally put my down softly on my own two feet, while continuing to observe me.

"Your welcome." it said in a slightly sarcastic yet caring voice.

I knew I had heard that voice before, but never out loud, only in my head. I became puzzled once more, but this time began voicing my thoughts.

"Zee? Is that you?" I inquired.

"Here in the flesh….errr, bark. I can see you enjoyed your trip over here. Are you hurt at all Zhou?"

I looked over my soaked body, but sensed no injury.

"It appears not. Thank you, friend. Would you happen to know where we are?"

"The Kingdom of Muse, or so I've been told. We're not the only ones here." - Zee lifted his arm to point further down the road to another pair of individuals - "They are all heading towards the center of town, where the square is. Apparently we're all here for a reason, but none of us know what. C'mon."

And just as he finished, the treant lifted me up onto his shoulder, where I now perched, and began following those who are also heading to the town square.

Zee and I bobbed and weaved in and out of the streets, heading towards the large fountain and cathedral marking the congregation area. As we got closer and closer, more pairs of people began to show up along side us, heading towards our destination as well.

It was once we narrowly cleared a back alleyway that the square finally emerged in front of us. I was amazed to see just how many were drawn, or dragged to in my case, to this place. Scores of humans and non-humans dotted the area, all unique in some way. Neither I nor Zee really knew what was going on, but we both had the feeling that this was where we would find many answers.

Zee was walking closer to the square's fountain now, with me still perched atop his shoulder. I quickly noticed the majestic cathedral at the end of the courtyard - stained glass depicting events only thought of in dreams, and a golden bell at the crowning. It was once that bell rang that everyone, including myself and Zee, were drawn to look at the cathedral.

On the balcony, before us all stood a figure, male and imposing, robed like a judge before his court, and with a booming voice.

"I am The Editor, you are all authors and their characters. You are here to fight! Why you ask. Because you are all trapped in the Muse's dream, and you will wish to escape which can only happen if you wake her. To do that you must reach the centre of her dream, but she will only let the best and most creative writers go there. We will see if you have the ability to reach there. And if you do, we have one extra prize for you, one piece of writing, one piece in which myself and the muse work in perfect harmony for you, as writers you will see the value of that."

At the end of the speech I looked towards Zee, who began looking around at those around him, with a nervous yet determined expression on his face.

"Well, it seems we have a job to do. Are you up for it?" I proclaimed.

"Doesn't look like we have a choice at this point." he responded, continuing to size the non-humans and larger humans around him. It seemed that he was worried about fighting others, even with his nine foot frame.

"I could always try and fall into the harbor again and see if I return to my world. Worth a shot."