On April first, the sky played a huge joke on us. While heading to Bermuda Triangle to look for my fiancée Lori, we ran into a rare Tornado Storm.
The wind was terrifying, and our ship had already been overturned. We clung to the deck as the storm dragged us into a swirling vortex, with a massive pull at its center that kept trying to swallow us whole. Everything went black, and we knew nothing after that.
When I woke up again, we were in this lousy place, and our bodies had changed in shocking ways. Evan Hall burst into loud laughter and startled me out of my sadness over not finding Lori. He looked at least fifteen years younger, barely over twenty.
Evan Hall is seven years older than me, so I started crying. I had gone back to being fourteen, which meant waiting six or seven more years before I could get married. Of course, I never wanted to marry that early, or I would not have been single at thirty, but waiting that long still hurt.
Waiting for what, exactly? The Coming-of-Age Ceremony, you know what I mean.
"Brother Zack, looks like we got sucked into a time tunnel," Evan Hall said seriously as he patted my shoulder.
My name is Zack Bore. Even though he is older than me, he still has to call me Brother Zack because he cannot beat me in a fight. If he did not behave, I would beat him up.
That thought made me depressed. I used to be much taller than him, but now I was a full head shorter. I was a late bloomer, shot up at sixteen, and by eighteen I was already one point nine meters tall, but that was my limit.
After I entered college, the basketball team signed me up without asking. I got hurt plenty of times playing, though my skills were decent, and more than a few pretty girls screamed for me, helped by my fairly clean looks.
Evan Hall is built like a bear, tall and wide, with arms thicker than my thighs. He works as a low-level boxer in the United States, and he follows me because I am good at Tai Chi, using leverage to toss him aside with one hand.
In vast China, hidden talents are everywhere. My Tai Chi and Wing Chun are only passable, maybe inherited from ancestors if you go back far enough. At home my skills mean nothing, but abroad they are more than enough to handle him.
He keeps shouting about becoming my disciple, but I did not want to be called Master and sound old. So I made him call me Brother Zack, and I call him Fatty.
"If even you can tell we fell into a time tunnel, then of course we did," I snapped. My clothes were still the same, but my body had shrunk, making them loose like stage costumes. I tightened my belt fast, afraid my pants would fall.
"Heh, I am not as smart as you," Evan Hall said with a silly grin as he scratched his head. "Brother, where do you think this is?"
I rolled my eyes at him. If you really think he is simple and honest, then you are truly fooled. People who look like him often have the most tricks inside.
Once when we were drunk, Evan Hall leaned his pig-like face close to my ear. "Brother Zack, what do you do after watching adult movies?"
"After watching them, of course you go to bed," I said. I had drunk too much and let my hidden side slip, though I am actually loyal in relationships and do not care about strange preferences.
He sprayed beer all over my face and laughed without shame. "After that, you watch another kind of movie, you filthy devil."
I swear Fatty laughed about that for at least half a month. I did not let it go either, and I beat him until he stayed in bed for half a year. Only then did I feel better.
After that, I never treated him as a simple brute again. Still, when I have time, messing with him is a must.
We were in an unknown mountain hollow. Dark mountains surrounded us, and the sky was so gloomy that we could not tell morning from afternoon. There was no way to judge direction.
A few old pines stood scattered in the hollow, their needles fallen and branches twisted in ugly shapes. They looked eerie, like ghosts reaching out. I even wondered if they were spirits from old tales.
"I have no idea where this is. Looks like we are doing wilderness survival," I sighed. "Do you think Lori might have been dragged here too?"
Lori is my girlfriend, and her name suits her well. I liked her at first sight, and she is an archaeologist. The three of us used to be close friends.
I love adventure, and Evan Hall likes to travel as well. Years ago, because of a misunderstanding, Lori and I fell out, and she went alone to Bermuda Triangle. After that, we lost contact.
I am a businessman, and though I have some martial arts foundation, I do not like fighting. Over the years many things happened, but I finally settled everything and even left my parents their inheritance. I decided to come here with Evan Hall, but we got dragged into this place before even arriving.
In truth, this was not all bad. Going back to the time when I met Lori and starting over could mean a good and happy life.
I checked my pockets and found nothing. My phone was dead, but luckily Evan Hall likes to smoke. The cigarettes were soaked, yet the lighter was still there, squeezed tight in his jeans, which made me feel relieved.
The valley was full of weeds, wet as if it had just rained. The ground was muddy, and we did not dare stay overnight. We could not make a fire, and we feared wild animals, snakes, or wolves.
Evan Hall was not afraid at all. He even swore he wanted to find a tiger and taste its strength.
I did not dare linger. The light was already dim, and if poisonous insects showed up, our bodies would rot in the forest.
"Fatty, if we climb out over that mountain, we should find somewhere to rest," I said.
I wished my phone could turn on. Even without signal, the compass would help us find direction. Now we could only rely on luck.
I pointed to the lowest of the surrounding peaks. Climbing high gives a better view, but saving strength matters too, since we might have to fight beasts later.
Fatty rarely argues with my decisions. He knows a fair bit about China and is especially interested in geomancy and old learning. Whenever I say rare terms, he gets excited and demands explanations.
I really do not know where his hunger for knowledge comes from. Seeing the mountain is one thing, reaching it is another, and only now did I understand that saying.
I honestly wanted Fatty to carry me. I was only fourteen now and lacked stamina, while he whistled along with ease, even tossing wild fruit into his mouth now and then, just to annoy me.
After exhausting myself, I finally reached the peak. The view opened up at once.
I stood on the summit and felt the cool wind, wanting to breathe deeply. Fatty suddenly slapped my shoulder in fear and stared hard to the left.
I followed his gaze, and my eyes nearly fell out. Damn, a monster.