Parisma

While riding on her bike through the streets of the Santa Monica district of Los Angeles, Cody was panicking. She had told her friends that she would specifically be at the beach at around noon on Saturday when there wasn't school. But her younger brother, Ryan, had stolen and misplaced her iPhone and Cody had to rummage around the living room for fifteen minutes until she found it hidden underneath the couch. Thus, she was running late. She hated making people late, so Cody felt stressed trying to get ready and get going. Wondering what time it was, she pulled her iPhone out of her pocket to check. But when Cody unlocked the phone, she noticed something... odd. Different.

The background picture on her phone was not what it normally was: a picture of Cody and a couple of her friends being silly. It wasn't even showing the time or any of the icons. Instead, she saw a picture of a valley surrounded by a forest. And in that forest, there was a town. She didn't know why, but Cody felt herself slip into a trance. She felt mesmerized for some reason, as if hypnotized. But suddenly, Cody's bike rammed into a fire hydrant, sending her flying off of her seat and colliding with the concrete on the ground. She yelped in pain as she noticed that she scraped her legs badly. The next thing she knew, a truck came racing in her direction, obviously not noticing the fifteen year old. Even with the truck driver just then noticing her and slamming on the brakes, Cody didn't have a chance to scream as it skidded closer and closer. And then, right when the truck was inches from her face, the world went black.


-----


She jerked upwards and forced her eyes open, panting heavily as if she had a bad dream. But she wasn't in her room as she thought she would be. Cody noticed that she was lying on some grass; that she was in the valley that she saw on her phone. But that couldn't be right. Was she dreaming? Then Cody remembered the truck and immediately looked at her legs; but there was nothing on her previously scraped shins; not a single scratch. She laid back down and sighed with relief. Well, at least she wasn't dead... or at least, she didn't feel dead. But where was she? Cody sat up and took one more look around. Finally, she stood up.

"Where... am I?" she asked herself, then looked in the town's direction. "I know! I'll ask for directions. Maybe someone can tell me what's going on."