I don't remember how long I lay on the muddy ground. I remember falling inwards; and then everything churned into rays of different colors and then it suddenly disappeared, leaving me in a forest which seemed to have experienced rain recently. It was cold; puffs of white fog escaped my mouth; as much as I could see. I was wearing a pale yellow tank top, which had an extremely thin strap, and it exposed most of my body. I also had a thin, skin-tight black pant on; so the cold pricked my skin like needles, but I just lay on the freezing mud.

It was difficult to process what was happening; what had happened. Ryan pushed me inside a mirror? And I land in a cold forest?

And then it hit me like one of my mom's slaps, blinding as if popping something in my head; there was something beyond nosey neighbors and fighting governments. I smiled gleefully.

I might have been the only person in this world who ever did that after she landed in an unknown place where she could see no one. Having the perception that I had something unusual coming for me, adrenaline coursed through my body.

That's when I noticed my surroundings clearly; the forest was exceedingly bright dark green, everything was extra pretty, extra detailed, and seemed extremely crafty. Huge trees ran up and high, some of the nearby ones joining with the help of brown creepers and creating small canopies, big rocks were scattered, algae forming on them, their gray-brown-greenish appearance perfectly contoured. Some creepers ran down from the high trees, forming curtains of brown and branching out, like taproots. The misty fog covered it mildly and dewdrops shone on the tip of leaves, all pearl-like. What would be a few blocks away was a stream, and I could not help but get a closer look.

The water was crystal clear and ran at a moderate speed, above round beautiful stones of brown and green. Beyond it was lush green mountains, all covered with clouds and drizzle. Apart from that, the forest stretched as far as my eyes could see. I felt like I was living in the pages of Robert Frost's poetry.

'Beautiful, isn't it?' The voice startled me. I had been asked the same question twice on the same day. This time it was a girl's voice, and insanely unfamiliar. 'You pushed through some mirror or mysterious door here?'

I turned around. And I could only nod. The girl, maybe eighteen, was wearing a green gown made of leaf-like fabric. A green gradient ascended from her cold shoulder gown, becoming darker as it ran down through her perfectly narrow waist and the darkest when it touched the ground. Her skin was the color of tree bark, and her features were strikingly modeled and sharp. She wore a headgear, a crown may be, which branched out and had carvings. It was three times bigger than that of her head and was made of tree barks as the same color as of her skin. Her hands were slender and thin, tipping out like twigs, and her hair was black, running in curls through her shoulder till her waist. Her full lips were painted darkest brown, not much different in shade from her skin, and her eyes were drawn beautifully yellowish green. Her pupils were yellow. She was smiling ear to ear, revealing her perfect set of teeth. Again, I felt I saw a tree coming live in human form.

'Now now, that's my enchanted form, don't freak or feel awed. Or just don't freak; feel free to feel awed. By the way, I'm Aspen. And let me change into something less awing.' She snapped her fingers. In a whirl of green mist and brown leaves, she changed into a pair of blue boyfriend fit jeans and a lacy bottle green top. Her hair was out to open and middle-parted and she had bark brown heeled boots on. 'I know. A little unusual and hard to believe. But don't worry, you'll get used to me. And I have no over makeup on.'

I just nodded. My voice was lost. It was terrifying and immensely fun. At the same time.

'I'm Aspen. The tree spirit here.' She extended her hand for a handshake. She seemed happy to me. Free-willed, chatty, and kind. She wasn't mean or self-centered like most people nowadays. I could not say the same for her companion.

He appeared out of nowhere when Aspen was speaking. He also had bark-like skin, was muscular, and had a headgear on which literally looked like a banyan tree towering over his head. Yellow dried leaf-like fabric woven hammock-like clung to his whole body. His hair was curly and light brown and he had a strict, rough face. He scowled as if displeased to see me.

'He's my brother, Matsimela. You can call him Mat.' She began. 'And he's always like that, so don't take it personally.'

As Aspen looked at me lovingly and Mat dug his nails (he now wore a brown shirt and black shorts), I cleared my head. Come on Karishma, you have to ask something!

But what? I had tons of things to ask, but I just couldn't express them. Luckily Aspen started speaking again.

'Come let me walk you to Ryan's house. I guess he'll be on his way here, so we'll meet him on the way.'

That's when I spoke a word. Finally. 'You know Ryan? I mean how do you know him? And where are we? Also, I'm sorry for throwing so many questions at you, I'm kinda confused. Actually, I'm very confused but then I like the place. It's beautiful.' Mat coughed so hard just as I finished, so I was sure that they thought I was crazy at my core.

I am.

'Ryan's the son of one of the Shalecs. We obviously know him. Also, we're childhood friends.' Mat spoke up for the first time. We decided to walk over to Ryan's house, which I thought was in Mumbai but then yeah, we did walk out of the woods.

As we did so, I noticed acres of tea gardens and big trees. It was like a dark green blanket covering high raise and low raise lands. There were some white bungalows in between them and narrow, craftily paved paths towards them. I spotted a tiny figure, which was probably a woman, plucking leaves from one of the tea plants. Big beautiful trees covered both sides of the path we walked in, which was beaded with small stones and diamonds.

What, diamonds? I jumped back and picked one of them. It was real indeed. 'Hey isn't this a very precious jewel?' I asked as I looked in wonder. It was a tiny chunk, glowing so beautifully, almost extra bright.

'Yeah, I know on Earth it's expensive and rare, but here it is found widely. Although we regulate its use.' Aspen said.

'Where are we?' I blurted. Now I was starting to feel weird.

But btw, I love weird.

'I know Ryan should have done this, but I'll do it for you anyways. I always wanted to do this.' Aspen took a deep breath. 'Welcome to Etis, Karishma Renaud. It's a far better place than Mumbai.'

'Wait what? Etis? Which utopian town is this?'

'This is Etis Karishma, and you're standing on the Enchanted Islands right now. It's faraway from Earth. The mirror you fell through? It was actually a doorway to Etis. Only Shalecs and their family have access to them. And one of the family members of a Shalec gave it to you willingly, hence you're here.'

I had no words.

I was confused.

I didn't know how I felt.

This was nothing, I knew I'd have to take in so much more bizarre information.

But for starters,

A DIFFERENT WORLD EXISTS???!!

Yes, apparently it does. And it involves exciting stuff. I was the happiest person on Earth.

No sorry, Etis.

I started laughing gleefully. Aspen joined me.

'But then what's a Shalec? Is it like kinda your people an--

'Yes, best friend. Etis's officers living on Earth, it's a cool job. Stay updated on the best features of Earth and use them to improvise this world. My dad says.' Ryan appeared out of nowhere. I ran and almost jumped on him. 'Easy girl. I thought you'd slap me for this.'

I did slap him.

'Crazyyyyyyy. You're crazy. You, your life was a lie, Ryan Roy. You,' I had no words. I just hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around me. Somehow, I felt really happy being in the place. I was happy that Ryan actually didn't hide this from me forever. Who wouldn't love such a beautiful place? 'You left such a perfect place to live in that crowded Mumbai city? Why?'

'My life wasn't a lie. I chose to live on Earth because I wanted to feel what it meant to live with all imperfections around. And it was a good choice, if I'd never gone to our school, I wouldn't meet you. Then you wouldn't be standing here.'

'This is the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm glad you're there in my life. And I'm glad I got to see this place. It's beautiful.'

'Undoubtedly. There is much more to come.'