I had one thought in my mind while I tied my black converse, sitting scrunched up on the floor. I had been thinking about the dream I had that night, I don't even know if you would call it a dream, I really have no idea what it was. I replayed it in my head-

I sat up straight and spun my head around me, attempting to get the full view of where I was. Though, there wasn't much to see. I was seated on the damp, leaf-covered ground, surrounded by trees. My spot was in the middle of a circular patch of clear ground. The darkness was weighing upon me and I couldn't see far ahead, I could feel though and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. I had a feeling that I was being watched, a predator out in the shadows waiting to jump out. That's when I heard footsteps behind me, faint breathing closing in. My heart was racing as I jumped up, turning toward the sound, I saw the figure of man, he was standing still, facing me, his entire body black, only a silhouette visible. I stumbled backwards and fell back down. A bright light suddenly hit me, I turned to see where it was coming from. A rose, a single rose- 

"Rider!!!" I heard the voice of my grandmother break my thoughts.

I turned to where she stood in the doorway, dressed in her usual floral patterned dress, her grey hair in a bun. 

"What's with you? Is something wrong?" she questioned, concerned.

"Nah grams", I answered, getting up, "I just spaced out."

"Alright." she looked at me, obviously not convinced.

"I really should get going," I said walking out of the bedroom and making my way to the front door of the cottage.

"Why are you leaving so early again?" she asked as she followed me.

"Meh, just couldn't sleep well. And plus, I've got to get home as soon as possible, don't want to keep mom waiting."

"Okay", she agreed, handing me a basket with a kitchen cloth covering it, "here are some danishes. Now don't eat them all, save some for your mother."

"Alright, alright." I rolled my eyes.

I was ready to leave at this point. I gave my grandma a hug and stepped out of the cottage onto the porch.

"Stay on the path and please don't get lost! I love you, Rider!" she called after me as I started walking.

"Love you, grandma!" I waved back.

And I began my journey back to my village.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had just spent the night in my grandmother's little, cozy cottage in the depths of the forest. The night was a cool one, but the weather was warming up outside. It was about 5:30 am when I woke up and decided to be off home. For those wondering, no, I'm not crazy, I just have insomnia sometimes and that was one of those times. Well, I blame it on insomnia but this time, it was all the dream. I really don't know why I'm so worried about it, I just have a strange feeling with this one. I brush it off, trying to forget completely. It's probably just another one of those nightmares I have when I can't sleep until 3 am, I think. I nod at the reasonable excuse and pick up my pace.

As you may have already thought, I instantly regretted going out this early. The air was as humid as the sea air and it was quite dark, with the sun just thinking about rising. The forest was so empty and lifeless, it felt as if it was eating you with its huge jaws, the feeling was stunning. And so I walked down the moist path that I wasn't supposed to walk off of, in these woods, anything could happen. Alright but, I wasn't a child anymore, turning 15 in a few months. Yeah, thinking that, I wandered off to explore.

I walked peacefully for a while, a long while, the forest was truly beautiful, wildflowers all around, the trees slowly rocking in the wind. I decided to explore for a bit, what was the worst that could happen? I spotted a kind of flower that was new to me, growing alongside the path, it was beautiful. The particular shade of yellow, I had never seen before (not that I'm a flower expert or anything). I was curious so, like the little child I am, I knelt down to look at it. After observing the flower closely, I got up again, only to find myself face to face with a tall man, he was wearing a long, dark grey trench coat. He was also dressed in grey pants that had many, and I mean many pockets in them. His black hair was gelled back, which made him look especially creepy.

"Hello," he said in a deep voice, that sent shivers down my spine.

"Um hi," I replied staring at him

He smiled at my reply, "Where are you off to?"

I made a face, I was not just going to tell this guy where I'm going, "Mind your business"

He raised his eyebrows, "I'm just curious"

"I'm not telling you"

"Why not?"

I rolled my eyes, "Because, for all I know, you could be a Russian spy"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't know you"

He thought for a moment and said, "Well I could introduce myself"

"Like that would help," I smirked.

"Well, I'm Matt Wolf"

"I'm not telling you my name"

"You are stubborn"

"Yep", I said turning away, "so, I should be off now, see you later Matt Wolf"

Leaving the tall man confused, I started walking. That was a strange encounter, especially for this time of day, what creep walks around the forest looking for kids at 6:00 am. Continuing on my path, well, not really on a path, I wandered on. The flowers continued fascinating me as I moved on, I stopped sometimes just to observe them. I saw a squirrel run by, looking for something. I took out my phone to check the time, my phone lit up causing me to notice that it wasn't all so dark anymore, it was already 6:01 am. It was still too early for me to go home so, replacing my phone, I kept going.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a guy sitting under a tree. Yes, you heard that right, it was a guy around my age, SITTING UNDER A TREE! At 6:00 am! I stared at him in awe for a while and he looked at me weird, then he asked, "Are you lost?"

I blinked a couple times and answered, "No, are you?"

"I'm fine"

"Well, you're sitting under a tree, in the forest at 6:00 am so I am positive that you aren't"

The guy got up and continued looking at me weird, "You're wandering the forest at 6:00 am so, you aren't any better"

"Where are your parents?"I asked making a face

"Where are yours?", he replied, smiling

"Um sir, I am turning 15 soon, I'm independent!"

"I'm already 15!"

Then, we just looked at each other for a few seconds until he spoke, "Okay, what's your deal?"

"What? I'm going home from my grandma's house and decided to explore," I said, looking around, "and I am totally not lost"

"Okay"

"Okay? No, tell me who you are and what you're doing here"

"Fine, I'm Brock", he said

"I'm Rider"

He then sat back down. Me, refusing to give up, insisted, "what are you doing here? For all I know, you could be an FBI agent here to pick me up!"

Brock raised his eyebrows and looked up at me from where he was sitting, proceeding to answer quietly,

"You won't believe me anyway"

"Try me," I said

"I'm a prince," he replied sighing desperately.

"Yeah no," I laughed.

Brock just looked down in misery, "I told you"

I sat down beside him putting my basket down in front of me on the moss that covered the ground. "You're not kidding?" I asked still dazed.

"No, and whenever I tell someone, they just walk away"

I just watched him, then registering what he just told me, inquired, "alright, well why aren't you in a castle or something instead of sitting in the forest, under a tree at 6:00am?"

"I can't go into my castle!" he cried

"Woah woah woah calm down! Do you want a danish?"

A/N

wooooo, I hope you liked that, let me know.

For now, drink water and stay positive!