Jacob - A Stranger in a Strange Land

A slender man in his mid 20's is curled in the fetal position, his head cradled between his knees and his hands blocking out the light. He takes slow, shallow breaths, hoping to survive the pain. He can barely think, the pain drowning out any and all thoughts. But slowly, as the wind brushes over him, the pain recedes, reaching a level where he has enough muscle control to curl up tighter, and roll onto his knees. Now his head is behind his back, knees, and arms, shielded completely from the cruel light. As the shadows shorten above with morning turning to day, he can finally uncurl from his ball, and take in the surroundings.

"This shouldn't be possible. This can't be possible. I must be dreaming, yeah, that's it, this all just a horrible dream." The man's voice takes on a hint of panic, as he desperately tries to deny what he sees. Surrounding him on all sides are trees and wild brush, with no hint on civilizations touch or sounds. He has no idea where he is, or how he got here. He reaches out with one hand to steady himself as he rises, only to pause and look down in horror. There, squeezing between is fingers, providing a very distinct feeling is piece of animal shit. He immediately gags, his face pale. The man back peddles into a tree and frantically wipes the shit off his hand onto it's bark.

That issue dealt with, Jacob stares at his hand in with a growing look of horror, as an thought strikes him. "Dreams are the mind processing memories, right? Yeah, that right. So if I haven't ever felt that before, then I shouldn't be able to feel it in a dream, right? If that's true, then this isn't, can't, be a dream. But if this is real, then..." He falls silent, not willing to speak the only possibility coming to mind. In the vain hope of distracting himself from his predicament, he looks around at the forest, taking note of what he has to work with. An odd detail jumps out at him, freezing his mind and body.

It's a simple thing, that grabs his attention. The thin needle of an evergreen tree, something he's seen countless times before. But, with one key detail. About halfway down the needle, it splits, looking like a green Y. "No, no, no, it can't be. That, that shouldn't be possible. There's not a single evergreen with that needle shape on earth, period. But, it's right in front of me." He slowly gets to his feet, and stumbles of to the tree. With shaking hands, he plucks one of the needles from the tree and holds it up to his face. He swallows, to admit that he wasn't imagining it. Only one word comes to mind.

"Fuck."