I'm Back! (Re-Intro)

Nearly a year has passed since I awoke from my coma... I still find it hard to believe it was all just a dream. That none of it was real. But the doctors assured me it was a dream, and nothing more. And how could I deny them. I had no magic, despite all the preparation's I'd made to keep from losing it when I crossed back over. At least, in my fantasy I'd made the preparations. But of course, that wasn't real. I am not a wizard. I am not the master of a Tower. I've never ridden a dragon. I've never fallen in love..

Still, it is strange. There are too many coincidences. I don't need glasses anymore. I can fight with a staff. Tommy and Justin are missing; have been missing since I went into my coma. The woods where it all began has been fenced off, quarantined. And my dream.. it was so real. There must be more to it than simply the hallucinations of one who went to far into meditation.

I haven't really made much of myself since I woke up. Its hard to get back into life after having been gone for so long. My best friends are missing, and those that remain don't knnow what to think of me. I think they blame me for Tommy and Justin's dissappearance. I've taken a few classes in college, but I don't know what I want to be. I was a wizard for the past five years, dream or no dream, and thats all I ever want to be. But there is no magic here.

I've got a job working at Target. I'm the "entertainment specialist" ...that means I am the guy who puts out the new movies every week. Yeah.. I used to ride dragons into battle, now I put DvD's on shelves. I guess its not so bad. This is the real world, isn't it? I'm not in a coma anymore. I can get tex-mex whenever I want...

A couple weeks ago I tried getting into the woods again, but they've got an electric fence now. I went to the hospital. Stayed for two days. They think I'm trying to kill myself. All I want is to see what happened in there. Why was it quarantined off. They tell me it had nothing to do with me. That the reason it was fenced in was because a pipeline broke. I don't know... maybe thats true. They've got newspaper articles and everything. I guess I'm just crazy.

Well.. anyway, its time for work. Another boring day of shelving movies and dealing with rude customers... I'm sorry, "guests," as we're required to say. Ttyl.

Present Time

"Where do you guys keep your camera's," asks a rather annoying customer to Ron, who happens to be standing right next to the camera's. "Um... right there," Ron points at the camera next to him. "Oh, thank you."

Ron sighs, then wanders off down the cd aisle, straightening things and putting them back where they go. He glances at a cd on the floor then goes back to what he was doing. When he looks back, the cd is gone and back in its spot. Blinking, Ron grabs the cd and stares at it for a moment. "...I could have sworn you were just on the floor." Ron looks around but there is nobody nearby but the annoying person looking at the camera's. He shakes his head then puts the cd back and goes to the next aisle. He's about to start fixing a shelf when the customer asks him, "Do you sell the movie Braveheart."

"Braveheart is right over there," Ron points and turns around to see a rather surprised guest just walking up. "How did you... um.. okay. Thankyou." The person grabs the movie off the shelf then hurries away, leaving Ron surprised and just as confused. Quickly, he heads to the front of the store and tells the manager he has to leave, then without waiting for an answer he grabs his stuff and heads to the car.

What is going on? Ron turns up the radio and shifts lanes. First the cd, then the guest.. am I crazy or something? He makes a right onto the feeder then moves onto the highway, not having any particular destination. He can't go home right now, his parents will notice something is wrong and ask questions. Changing lanes he heads for the bridge leading out of town. Maybe I should go to the hospital.. but they'd just think I was crazy and threaten to put me in the institution again. I know I'm not crazy, I can't be. I- "[censored]!"

A truck smashes his car from the side and Ron swerves hard to the right, smashes into the railing and goes over. The bridge is very tall, and he's got a long way to fall before he hits the water. "Oh god, oh god, oh god!" He kicks the door open, not really thinking, and is sucked out by the wind. Now he's free falling, seconds before he hits the water.. and then he slows almost to a stop. The car crashes down below him and quickly sinks. Ron blinks, then splashes down into the water unharmed.

The next few minutes is a blurr. He hears sirens wailing as he makes his way to the shore. The paramedics examine him, baffled by the fact that he's unharmed. "You're lucky to be alive, son." One of them says. His parents show up soon, but by then he's blacked out from exaustion. When he wakes up he's back in the hospital. He looks at the door just before the doctor enters, "Well, good to see you're awake." His parents follow, extremely relieved to see their son alive, well, and not in a coma again.

"You should really be more careful," the doctor says. "I'm fine." "Amazingly you are. We want to keep you over night just to be safe, but you can leave in the morning." Ron sits up, "No, I'm fine. I want to go home." He looks at his parents and they nod, the doctor sighs, "Okay, you can go. But take it easy."

When Ron gets home he heads straight for his room. Okay, that was magic. I know it. I'm not crazy. Ron takes a deep breath then points at a candle on his desk. "Firo.." Nothing happens. Calming himself, he tries again. "Firo!" The candle lights. "It worked! I can't believe it, it-" Ron shakes his head, and nearly passes out again. What is going on? Out of the corner of his eye he see's something move, but there's nothing there. Then again at the window. "[censored], what now?" He goes to the window and out in the yard he see's a vaguely familiar shape on the fence. It hops down and runs in the direction of the park. Excited and slightly afraid Ron grabs his shoes and runs after it. He spots it again when he gets to the park. Its sitting next to the electric fence. When he approaches, it runs up a tree and leaps over, heading off into the woods.

Ron walks slowly up the fence, remember the last time he tried to climb it. He looks at the tree but realises its too then to support his weight. Thinking, he mutters a spell and to his delight he becomes light as air. Ron climbs the tree and hops over the fence, then heads into the woods. The deeper he goes the darker it gets, until he comes to the place where it all began. He can feel the energy in the area, and he closes his eyes and tries to meditate.

Nothing happens.

After a while Ron opens his eyes and looks around. He see's the creature again, and it heads deeper into the forest. Ron follows.

The Dream

After what seems like way to long for such a small forest Ron comes into an open field. There the shape is waiting for him and he realises what it is. A squirrel. "Shippo!" The squirrel runs to him and leaps to his arms, "I can't believe it, you're real!" Ron throws back his head and laughs, then stops. In the night sky he see's something he thought he'd never see again.. the face of the cat. "My god.. I'm back!"

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