A fake?
It could've been a fake.
The thought disturbed me. What thing could possibly do something like this—create a whole new sensory world?
And why am I in it?
Shaking these thoughts away, I decided to look for more inconsistencies.
I noticed many.
Some of the trees around me—their leaves swayed unnaturally.
When gripping the dirt below me, I'd occasionally feel something solid that wasn't there.
And when I focused on my sense of smell, I could smell iron.
Along with some other things.
This was useful…
Only problem is…
How is this going to lead me out of here?
Again, the thought that I would never escape arose within me.
Calm down, calm down.
Biting my lip, I consoled myself.
I'll make it out of here. I swear.
Thinking again, the only conclusion I could come up with was to follow the path where the inconsistencies were greatest.
Scanning around me, I spent a few minutes carefully observing my surroundings.
Until I eventually found a path.
I forced myself back onto my feet and limped forwards.
Following it, every so often I would grab two sticks, shoving them into the ground to try and map things out.
The first key point I determined was a tree whose trunk patterns looked different from how they felt.
Second, a bush whose thorns never pricked.
Third—well, I was standing in it.
A patch of grass where the smell of iron was almost palpable.
I gulped.
Unnerving.
Plunging two frail twigs into the ground, I moved on north.
Stepping through the bushes, I expected to see new terrain.
But I ended up somewhere oddly familiar.
Swivelling side to side, I saw my twig marker far in the distance near the tree where I placed them.
I-I e-ended up b-back here?
At this point, I felt like going crazy.
No matter what I did, it was inconsequential. Left, right, diagonal, backwards—it didn't matter. I always ended up in the same spot.
Just as I was about to spiral again, I heard an all-too-familiar sound echo through the forest.
SKRRRR??
This time, it sounded more confused?
At that moment, the sky suddenly darkened.
Something deep within my mind screamed at me.
That confused cry…
For some reason, I can't shake the idea out of my head t-that…
It's wondering where I am.
A cold sweat ran down my spine.
Even if I'm not right, this can't be anything good.
I had no time to determine where to go next. I just pushed forwards, hoping to discover something new that could lead me out of here.
Dragging my body forwards, I realised something crucial.
The failure did give me something, since I saw the two twigs in the same position I placed them in.
Along with all the other clues I've gotten, it's clear.
Whatever's going on here isn't creating something new.
It's just distorting it.
So it's not the forest looping.
It's me.
SKREEEEE!!!
The sound of that thing screeching was getting louder.
It sounded far behind me.
A clock was running, and if I couldn't figure it out, I'm sure of it.
I'll die.
Think faster.
Faster!
How is it doing that?
How is it making me loop?!
SKREEEEEE!
This time, it sounded closer.
It's distorting all of my senses. I know that.
SKREEEEE?
Closer.
Damn it.
But how is it making me loop? For sure, it's distorting my sense of direction, but that doesn't explain how I'm looping back in a mere instant.
And that's when it clicked.
Time.
My sense of time is being distorted. What felt like a few seconds of walking was actually minutes of me looping back.
No.
No.
NO!
I have nothing to fall back on…
If I couldn't trust sight, then I'd trust hearing.
If I couldn't trust hearing, then I'd trust smell.
If I couldn't trust smell, then touch.
And if I couldn't trust direction, then I'd trust all my other senses.
But…
If I couldn't trust time, I couldn't trust anything.
For all I know, these two minutes with me on the run could've been five or ten.
If that's true…
How close must that rabbit be?!
I got my answer.
Something ominous was behind me. I could feel it.
I wanted to turn around, but I also wanted to ignore the possibility of it.
It just stood there until I had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Turning around, there it was.
A gargantuan rabbit.
Its eyes were scarlet, its body layered in so much blood that you could barely see its original white undercoat.
It's over.
I was going to die.
I braced myself.
But something much stranger happened.
Mouths appeared where flesh was. Eyes appeared where joints were. Bone grew out of flesh.
All these separate pieces coalesced.
Into a sea of rabbits.