“the moon”
Richard opened his eyes.
What he saw was not something he was used to.
Richard – or, as his friends called him, Rick (although he secretly hated it) – was a relatively simple man. He wasn’t married, although he once had a high school sweetheart. This was rather unusual for his age – somewhere in the 30s, no one was ever sure exactly since he wouldn’t tell anyone – and, although his friends and coworkers teased him endlessly (“We’re gonna hook you up with a girl one day!”), he was determined, as a romantic at heart, to wait until he found “the one.”
Richard was also unusual in that he worked in an office, complete with desks, PCs, and cubicles, and liked it. Every morning, he woke up at 6:15 exactly, ate a bowl of Wheaties, got dressed, and went to work, which started at at 8:00 – too early for many, but just right for Richard.
So, it was quite shocking that when he woke up, after some not unpleasant dreams, he found himself in a strange cabin.
Oddly enough, as unfamiliar as the cabin was, the bed was still his.
Richard sat up. The cabin seemed like your typical “mountain cabin” that many use for weekend getaways, but something seemed… out of place. Richard knew that he wasn’t completely awake yet, and despite the strange situation, that panic and/or rushing to conclusions wouldn’t accomplish anything. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if some of his “friends” broke into his apartment in the middle of the night and somehow took his bed – with him still sleeping on it – to the middle of the woods somehow. If this was the case, he couldn’t figure out how all the movement and the noise of the car didn’t wake him up. He wasn’t a light sleeper, but he wasn’t a very deep sleeper either. He decided that he would think about that one later.
Richard swung his feet over the side of the bed, and suddenly noticed that his nightstand was there too. Rather than questioning it, he reached over and found that his glasses were right where he had left them the night before. After a bit of fumbling, he managed to put them on. Looking up, he took notice of everything in the room.
The cabin was one of those one-room deals, with a fireplace and a couple windows. There was enough room to hold two normal-sized beds – to be expected in a “getaway” cabin – but his was the only bed there. One thing he immediately noticed was that the fireplace seemed to have been used recently – perhaps the night before, and it died overnight? Which was odd, considering he was the only one there. As if this whole situation wasn’t odd enough. He also noticed that the light here seemed different – although it was natural light, it had a different tone to it. It wasn’t dimmer, it wasn’t brighter, just…different. Richard chalked it up to being in the middle of the forest.
Richard stretched, yawned, and decided to make the best of it. He got up and walked over to the nearest window. He quickly found himself in a state of shock again.
