A Journey of a Thousand Miles!

“Oh well, never mind then,” she said, a little sadly – tucking the damaged laptop back into her bag and then stood up. It was quite odd, the ground under her feet was so soft and buoyant. It was like walking in thick, gloopy, pudding. As she moved, her feet sunk further into the compressing ground. “Curious and curiouser,” she said to herself. Growing more intrigued by the minute.

Then, footsteps sounded to her left. Adri turned, unsure what she’d see but quite curious to see what would come next in this crazy world. At this point, she was convinced anything could happen. “Oh...” she said softly. As over the top of the next bouncing hill, a shape that was definitely 100% human was walking in her direction. Arms raised and trying to gather her attention or so it seemed.

To her sudden relief, Adri waved back. Again, growing curious to the fact that there was in fact, other humans. She took a few steps, wading through the odd floor towards the girl and smiled. “Hey. Oh yeah, I’m fine. I just… hmm… I guess fell? From way up there. But this soft ground caught me, didn’t even bruise. Lucky, huh?”

“Although, I do have two questions if you don’t mind. Where are we?” That first question was clearly the most important after the strange events that had led her to this strange place. Of course, she had read books and seen movies where insane feats similar to this had happened. There was Alice who fell down the rabbit hole and ended up in Wonderland. The children who walked through the back of the wardrobe and found Narnia. Dorothy who after being struck by a hurricane, ended up in the Land of Oz. It well seemed oddly familiar. Not that, she had yet ruled out the theory that this was some very elaborate and realistic nightmare.

“My second question is, why is the ground so…” Adri paused for a second to bounce the balls of her feet up and down. “...springy?” It was quite an accurate phrasing for the location, she had landed upon and thankfully so. If it had been anything less buoyant, she probably would have sustained a serious injury.

With this, she looked closer at her surroundings for the first time. There was an odd amount of strange buildings around them. However on closer examination and with a single touch, Adri was able to discern that, they too, were foam. Similar to that of those giant toy blocks that you’d find in soft play areas in restaurants as a child. “Well, this is awfully odd. But, I guess it matches the rest of the curious things, I’ve seen so far,” Adri said, more to herself than to the girl at her side.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I never introduced myself. Did I. I’m Adriana. But you can just call me, Adri. Everyone does,” she exclaimed, putting out a hand to shake.

---

Adri laid her hands behind her head, staring into the girl’s oddly captivating, deep blue eyes. She was slightly taller than Adri and seemed to be a few years older. Many questions flooded Adri’s mind but she bit her tongue for the minute and waited until her first set of questions had been answered. The two girls shook hands as the girl introduced herself as Amelie or Amy for short.
Also, Adri couldn’t help but notice the use of her full first name, rather than the nickname, she had offered. Not that it really mattered.

The set of answers received from Amy were quite cryptic. It seemed to raise more questions than it answered. Would he rather forget about all of this, admittedly strange, place without even learning what happened and why she came here in the first place? That seems like backward logic.

Tilting her head slightly in thought, Adri took a second to reply. It was almost as if she was pausing for effect, however, she was just making a decision. “I’d like to know what’s going on.”

“It’s all quite confusing. I was in my bedroom, just after the end of school,” Adri said thoughtfully, spelling it out event by event. “I got my laptop from my desk and turned it on. Oh yeah, a strange assortment of letters appeared across the screen – definitely not any language I’ve ever seen. Then, the screen lit up and it was so bright, I had to close my eyes. By the time I had opened them again, I was falling from up there.”

She looked up at the clear, cloudless stretch of blue above, suddenly so serene. “Finally, I landed on the oddly bouncy floor,” she concluded. “I mean I’d really like some answers. I don’t think I’m dreaming nor do I think I’m hallucinating.” Although just to be sure, she pinched the skin of her forearm hard. Nothing changed.

“So, Amy. I’d really appreciate your help,” Adri added, a warm beaming smile cutting across her face. 

---

Adri listened intently as Amy began to explain everything she could about the mysterious world, she now knew as the Digital World. A strange parallel dimension, almost like a real-life fantasy game. It seemed illogical but her laptop had drawn her into the world, although, with that blinding light and then the fall, it did make some sense.

“Wait a second,” Adri said, pausing to take in what Amy said. “Chosen? Chosen to do what, may I ask?” I mean that part hadn't been explained yet. Was it like one of the Roleplaying Games like Dungeons and Dragons. Did she have to complete some kind of epic quest, defeat a dragon and save a princess from a tower?

Amy continued to explain about the denizens of this mysterious world. She explained that they could be ‘anything and they were sapient’. Adri couldn’t help but look around for the sapient creatures that existed in this world. Finding herself, growing more and more curious as the minutes ticked by.

“A Digivice?” Adri asked, her head tilting ever so gently to the right. Amy held up her own Digivice which was a fairly large, phone-like device in black and pink. Subconsciously, somehow, she knew exactly what to do. Her hand fell slowly into the pocket on her skirt and from within the depths, she drew out a tiny grey device.

Compared to Amy’s device, it was positively minuscule. It glittered in the palm of her hand as if it was brand new. “You mean this?” Adri held up the device with thumb and index finger so that Amy could get a better look at the strange device.

As if, it had been waiting for her to draw it out. The odd device let out a loud beeping noise. It was quite like an old tinny metal detector leading her to the hidden treasures possibly buried on a beach. Adri stared at the tiny screen which immediately lit up. A tiny map made up of thin red lines glowed on the screen. In between the boundaries of the map, a tiny circle of light glowed ominously. “I guess, I’m supposed to follow it?” The map appeared to lead to the odd place with the bouncy floor.

---

Adri laid the tiny Digivice on her palm as if it was a compass, allowing it to direct her and Amy in the right direction. “It’s pointing that way,” Adri exclaimed, excitement beginning to mount. The Digivice began to let out a rhythmic beeping noise as they began to walk together.

Although, Adri had no idea what kind of ‘partner’ she would find on the other end of the map it was very exhilarating, indeed. It felt like when they went to the shelter that one time in Adri’s youth. Her adopted parents told her to pick out any cat, she liked. She found one quickly, or rather it found her. No-one wanted to adopt it, perhaps due to its unusually squashed face and bottlebrush tail but it instantly took a liking to Adri and that was that.

“Did you do the same?” Adri asked Amy. Curiosity bubbling up inside her. Is this how it worked for everyone or was it different every time. For a few minutes, they walked down the strange road which was exceedingly bouncy and springy, which did make it, difficult work.

As they walked, shadows began to appear in the distance. Large buildings in a circular pattern, each of them as colorful as the next. The towers looked like oversized, stacks of building blocks – each imprinted with a different child-friendly design. Rabbits, cats, frogs, turtles, clouds, apples, cherries and other such shapes were brightly visible, even from a distance. Large balloons floated above the town in all manner of colors and shapes. “Wow, this place is amazing,” Adri said, her eyes wide and excitedly trying to take everything in at once. “So, my partner? What would it be?” Adri asked, unsure what to look for.

Adri walked forward and saw an even more amazing sight. Across the soft, bouncy ground lay a mass of large and very colorfully designed eggs. There must have been at least a hundred scattered around. Looking to Amy for guidance, she asked, “So that’s what I’m looking for?”

---

As Adri walked forward. The number of eggs seemed to double, even triple as more of the landscape came into view. An endless stretch of land filled to the brim with eggs each with a myriad of patterns. Some with stripes, some with circles, triangles, hearts, stars or other shapes. To search through all of these, seemed like it might take some time.

“Hmm,” Adri said, looking out over the scene. “There sure is a lot, I hope I can find my partner. I want to get to know them and then we can be friends. That’s the point, isn’t it?” Adri looked to Amy for confirmation on whether she was correct in her thoughts.

Thankfully, Amy gave her thoughts on the matter. “I’ll hear it calling to me? Really, huh...” Without another word, Adri closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She breathed in deeply and then out, keeping her eyes, tightly shut. The Digivice was pressed against her heart. It let out a slight beep but didn’t seem to indicate anything further.

Upon her second breath, she felt something. It was like a twinge in her heart. Like, when you’re really excited, like for Christmas or a Birthday or other… other things. She smiled, her eyes closed and breathed in again. As she exhaled, she felt it again.

“Over in that direction,” Adri said, but it wasn’t her own voice. It was slow and robotic, almost trance-like. Her hand rose and she pointed across the field towards the very back. The back row of eggs.

She opened her eyes and then shook her head. “Sorry I think I dozed off for a second there,” she said smiling, a little awkwardly.

---

Adri smiled at Amy and following her own instructions, walked forward. She slowly edged between the eggs which littered the glade ahead of them. Each one painted with a different pattern, or a slightly different size. But none of them felt… right.

She looked down at her Digivice for another clue. As if responding to her plea, it beeped and zoomed in on the map. A red ‘x’ appeared over an egg straight ahead of them. “Huh, I guess, ‘x’ marks the spot,” she said, shrugging. She showed the Digivice to Amy and pointed her over to the one, that she now knew it was.

“I think it’s that one. Right there!” She bent down over a shimmering red, almost scaled egg. Adri wrapped her hand around it. It was oddly warm to the touch. “It’s definitely this one.”

“So, uh, now what do I do?” She said, holding the egg out and looking up at Amy. A little unsure and confused. “Do I crack it open. I guess not. Maybe I have to rub it and make it warmer. I don’t have to sit on it like a chicken, I hope.” She was spurting out all the odd ideas that came to mind and would make sense in this world.

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