It's the year 2025, Kashka, a 17-year-old teenager, is staring thoughtfully at his balcony into the raining night sky.
His gaze is tired, his eyes look lost.
"Why? … Why is my life like this?" he thought to himself.
He pulled a picture out of his sweatpants in which he and 2 other people can be seen, his parents, they all look happy.
As Kashka looked at the picture in his fingers, tears flowed from his eyes and he turned his gaze to the sky again.
"Always remember, if we can't be with you anymore, don't be afraid, look at the evening sky. The stars, they will show you the way and guide you to your goal, no matter how impossible it seems to reach. " his mother told him in one of his memories, but there was not a single star in the sky today.
Kashka clenched his fists in tears and went back to his room, which was connected to his balcony. His TV was still on and lit up his room with a bright light.
Kashka lay down in his bed and reached for something in his pocket. He took out his cellphone.
"02:17 AM"
it was the middle of the night, but he just couldn't sleep. In fact he hasn't slept for the last 3 days.
The next moment, he put his cell phone back in his sweatpants and went back to the balcony, his gaze determined.
The fresh night air blew through his nose and Kashka climbed onto the scaffolding on his balcony, his gaze directed at the night sky. He smiled softly for a moment, tears flowing from his eyes again, which he closed the next moment and stretched out his arms wide.
Thousands of memories flashed before his closed eyes, he leaned forward and let himself fall acceptingly, whereupon he fell for a few seconds that felt like an eternity to him, ready to hit the stone floor.
Suddenly Kashka felt himself fall into cold water and was now underwater. he opened his eyes completely shocked and instincticly swam up to the surface.
He swam to the shore closest to him and dragged himself onto dry ground. Kashka now looked completely confused into the sky, his breath was heavy and fast. it was the middle of day and the sun was shining broadly.
"What the hell just happened!? I was falling... How the hell am I here all of a sudden in a damm lake? Am I dreaming? Or... am I dead!?" he thought to himself, lying on the shore.
His black sweatpants and black hoodie were both completely soaked.
Kashka took his cell phone out of his pocket, which had its waterproof case, and turned it on.
„Ehh, no signal. Somehow I must find out where I am..." he thought.
Some monents later, he got up and looked around. He was what it looked like in a forest, with strangely glowing plants and next to him was a lake from which he had just come.
Kashka looked around, startled and confused, all he saw were strangely bright green, red, blue and yellow plants around him. It looked to him like a feaver dream.
"What the hell is going on here!? This place is getting more and more strange, I have never seen plants like this..." Kashka thought confusedly and turned again to the river from which he had just swam out.
All that could be heard was the sound of the water and the rattling of the leaves in the wind. He stared at the flowing water for a few moments, when suddenly he saw several blurred people behind him in its reflection and turned around in shock.
Around him stood countless people in black, long robes, all of whom also had wooden masks with different expressions. they all looked at him without uttering a single sound or move even a bit.
Kashka backed away in fright and fell backwards to the ground, his heart racing, his eyes widened, it was as if all his senses told him that he was in danger.
"Wa... What do you want from me!?... do you know where I am or what kind of place this is?" he asked hesitantly and in an uncertain voice after a few seconds, as the many people gave off a negative aura, although they just stared at him without moving a bit.
Silence.
None of the masked people answered his questions. Kashka now slowly and hesitantly stood up again.
"Ok, think! Whoever these guys are, they don' look like they want to help me or something like that... If it comes to a fight, I have no chance. my only option would be to escape through the river..." he thought nervous, while his heart was pumping faster and faster.
"Hey listen, whoever you are and whatever you want, I'm sure we can make some kind of deal, right?" Kashka asked in a acted up confident voice and swallowed briefly.
The masked people didn't say a word or move a muscle, all they did was look at Kashka, which only made him more nervous.
Kashka took a step back in fear, without taking his eyes off the masked people in black robes. They all took a step forward after Kashka took a step back. In a careless moment, Kashka suddenly screamed out of fear
"HEY, DON'T COME A DAMM STEP CLOSER! LEAVE ME ALONE OR I..."
suddenly all the masked people bowed speechlessly to him and then sank through the ground, which was briefly surrounded by black smoke under their feet, and disappeared.
Kashka was shocked and stunned after what he just saw.
"What the... Am I hallucinating right now?... Yes, it must be... this whole place is a hallucination! Ha, that explains everything...".
Kashka then calmed down and raised his hand, whereupon he slapped himself with all his power, but nothing happened.
"Arghh shit... Wait, that means that whatever this is, is not a dream or a hallucination! ... Holy Shit!" he thought to himself in disbelief.
"If this is real, then this means that these weird guys were also real... I have to get out of here right now!".
Suddenly his heart began to beat faster as be begann to becom emore nervous and started to run as fast as he could through the strange forest...