Misty Blues

There's that static again.Just what sort of weird Alice in Wonderland crap is this? While my brain tries to catch up,my body is thrown unceremoniously on what feels like large marbles.Unbelievably my eyes and nose register what appears to be.....gumballs? My brain skitters awake as my eyes once again widen to saucers.There are millions of red,blue,purple,pink,orange,green and heck I don't know the names of all those other colours,but I'm sure every single shade on the spectrum is represented here,balls of glittery sugary gum underneath me and I lay there,my torso twisted and supported by my forearms,my legs folded at the knees,just staring with my hair forming a curtain around my face.Definately putting 'haidresser' on my to-do- list.That normal thought seeps through my trance-like state and my head lifts.Then bam,back in the trance I go.This 'in shock' thing is becoming my new norm.Im surrounded by that weird foamy fog.It's thick and glows uncannily blue.I can only see through it if I focus on certain spots and man when I do this place just gets stranger and stranger.As far as I can tell I'm in some sort of forrest but these trees seem to be....melting? And they're not green either but a weird hazel colour and every single one of them is dripping brown goo,with folds of the stuff running down the trunk.My ears pick up the 'plop plop' they make and I stand,my incredulity still firmly in place.I take two steps,my curiosity piqued, because I swear that stuff looks-and smells-like rich chocolate,but I'm halted by that sonorous voice."I wouldn't do that if I were you".

Totally forgot I'd been kidnapped.

I whirl around,the unearthly mist shifting around me,and all I can do is blink rapidly as he speaks.My mouth falls open and even when my jaw becomes tired I can't close it.All I can think is "This must be where all the real tree bark went".

"Do fix your face,that expression is quite unattractive.Im honestly very weary of you-" he pauses to look me up and down quite derisively "-beings and how long it takes you to become coherent when I bring you here.To sum it up,I am Ulrik,you are in the land of Opa,this is the Forrest of Cacoa and we shouldn't tarry.You mustn't touch any of the Freia,Gargol would be most upset and we cannot do with a night in the goal chamber.Now come"

He steps past me,body dispersing the soft blue haze and my eyes follow but my feet refuse to move.My brain decided everything he said was gibberish and left it at that,infact the poor lil fella is straight up on its way to declaring me insane.Meanwhile my eyes do their job and capture his image.He's taller than me,kinda like Keanu who stands at 5ft 10",which is the only normal thing about him.He's wearing....the mist? His legs appear to be covered in oscillating,rotating sheaths of the grey-blue that surrounds us and like the good little workers they are,my eyes zoom in and sure enough whatever material his 'pants' are made of is one heck of a camouflage.His head, upper body and feet are bare and his skin-if I can even call it that-is what can only be described as the bark of an oak tree.Despite this tough looking exterior,his limbs are puffy and thick.I blink. What-the-Fu-(oops)ig. A cuddly, talking,walking,marshmallow, bear looking tree.He even had a snout! Deep set dark eyes,bushy eyebrows and pointy ears that stuck up from his head.I shook my head vigorously from side to side in a futile attempt to make sense of what was going on.Im dream-walking.Hallucinating.I knew that burrito I had for dinner was too loaded,and that jittery Mexican man and his cart must have been distributing wonky mushrooms.Thats what I get for buying my dinner on the side of the road.

"Judah!" Wait what? I look up from where I'd been staring at the gumball marbles and he's about 10 feet away and looking super pissed.

"How do you know my name?"

"What a ridiculous question,I saw it in your mind"

"My mind?? Stay out of my head you-you-what exactly are you?"

"I am the finder,now we must go.The hour grows late and you are wasting time."

I planted my feet.Folded my hands.I was getting pretty steamed myself.

"I ain't going anywhere with you bozo so either you start decoding them riddles you're speaking in or I'm staying right here" I'm pretty much shouting at this point.His reply is just as loud and very succint.

"Fine!"

With that he turns,slams his walking stick-where did that come from?-into the ground and disappears into the mist.

My eyelids are exhausted.All this rapid blinking is tiring them out.I turn in a slow circle,seeing nothing but spots of melting tree through the filmy blue grey haze.What choice do I have really? I shrug my granny night gown clad shoulders and follow him.