Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Perchance to Fly

Everyone who knows anything about the pokegirl world knows that Typhonna caused massive damage to the continents and destroyed vast tracks of land, but nobody ever really mentions what happened as a natural result of all that land just disappearing. The rest of the land had to shift toward the gap. Not instantly, but over the course of decades and centuries millions of tons of earth moved via erosion and seismic activity lowering the overall height of the remaining land mass.

That last bit was important because apparently the highway I was driving on at 70 miles per hour was a good hundred plus feet of elevation above the now shifted earth when I vanished from my world and appeared in another.

One minute I was cruising home from my friend's house listening to the radio and the next I was in midair...but still going 70miles per hour. There was a moment of pure 'oh shit!' combined with 'wtf?' The 'oh shit!' quickly gained control as well as a few more exclamation points as I briefly reached free fall at speed. If you've ever ridden in the last car of a good roller coaster you know what I'm talking about. All of that was rapidly overridden by my screams as I started losing altitude.

I honestly don't remember the landing, but I'm pretty sure my seatbelt saved my life. I also have to give credit to the shock absorbers on my truck. I owe that mechanic a Coke if I ever get back to my Earth. Last but greatest thanks of course has to go to whatever I landed on. I'm honestly not sure what it was, but it left a trail of blood and feathers for at least thirty yards as my truck and I skidded to a stop in some bushes. There might have been a tree or five in there too. Like I said, I don't remember the landing.

I got a look at the scene of the crash as I stumbled away, but I think the triple vision might have been giving me the headache. Or vice versa. Pretty sure there was a concussion in there somewhere.

When I came to I wasn't sure how much time had passed but it was night. (NOTE: I have since learned about universal time differentials, but I'm still pretty sure I lost some hours since it was daylight when I took my impromptu falling-with-style lesson.) It took me a while to get myself together. I was aching all over, especially my chest for some reason. Surprisingly I hadn't cut myself on anything.

At first I couldn't believe what happened was real, but I glanced around and quickly spotted a light over the small hill next to me. It turned out to be my truck en fuego! I guess I didn't make it very far before I collapsed and apparently the gas tank was damaged when I crashed although I never learned what sparked the fire.

The obvious trail of destruction from the landing quickly put any thoughts about delusions out of my mind. I had clearly caromed off a nearby hilltop and bowled over several smaller trees on my way down the hill. In fact, thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure if I hadn't gotten so lucky with the angle I came in at and the slope of that hill I probably would have been killed on impact. There was also the previously mentioned trail of blood and feathers. That must have been one HUMONGOUS bird. I saw a few large wing bones protruding from under the truck frame but they were already burned so I couldn't even guess what they belonged to.

A brief search by firelight turned up a few items from the truck that were either thrown clear when I crashed or were thrown around the cab and fell out when I did. I had an old gym bag containing some bungie cords and tools, an emergency kit I had kept behind the seat, a bow saw that had ridden in my passenger seat for weeks as I kept meaning to return it to one of my friends, and of all things my Magic deck box survived. Everything else was blazing merrily in the cab. Looking on the bright side, my best decks survived so I was ready to trounce the first person I came across who wanted to play Magic... You hear those crickets?

I had no idea where I was or even if what I was seeing was real, but I had long ago decided that if I ever went crazy I was going to trust my senses and believe what they were telling me was reality. (What? We've all had odd thoughts at three a.m. before.)

On a whim I checked my cell phone but there was absolutely no signal so I powered it down to save the batteries.

There were neither road nor lights visible anywhere so I picked a direction and took two steps before I felt something under my foot. Looking down, I smiled and picked up the cigarette lighter. I had bought it for camping and it had ridden in my ashtray ever since. I didn't smoke, but at least now I could start a fire if I needed to. Counting myself lucky, I set off.

I made it another twenty feet before remembering it was still dark and there was nowhere I could see to go. There might have still been a concussion going on. Thus I decided to put my back to a tree and wait till daylight.