Young Writers Society

The hike was my idea but discovering the broken silver disk was not apart of it.

I guess I should start from the beginning, where my friend Richard and I decided to go hiking in the woods surrounding my house. It wasn't supposed to rain but there were gloomy clouds that hung in the air. My parents packed small lunches inside of brown plastic bags and warned us about not getting hurt, and if one of us did get hurt, to call one of my parents. I was getting kind of tired of my parents being overprotective. This hiking trip was to prove that I could take care of myself and that I didn't need the help of others.

Richard suggested we take a camera to take pictures. He was such a photo nerd. All he did was take pictures of random stuff, like last week he took several pictures of a rusted slide, saying stuff like "I'm going to have my mom develop these and I'm gonna hang them up on my wall." What kind of 17-year-old does that? I was more concerned about beating this stupid monkey in my new video game.

Anyway, we left the house and went around my house. My house was pretty big with two floors and white outer walls. There were potted plants that my mom insisted on buying because it "attract hummingbirds and would make the front look more pretty". I'm allergic to flowers, you see, and I did my best to avoid them at all costs. Pollen doesn't do great things to my face and nose. Thankfully, before we went hiking, my mom gave me allergy pills, which I was hoping could work. 

Now, Richard and I were deep in the forest. I could hear birds calling to one another, the smell of the great outdoors, and the feeling of humidity lurking over my shoulders. Richard was behind me, pointing his camera at the trees and the ground. I couldn't stand hearing the snapping of the camera but I did try my best to block it out. I just looked ahead of me with a walking stick in hand, focusing on outward sticks and roots.

We were finally making some more progress more into the woods. I guess I didn't notice the thing because there was a giant oak tree in our way. Richard was still taking pictures, pointing at different angles. I suggested we take a break and eat the lunches my parents made. He seemed alright with it but wanted to take one more picture. He went around the big oak tree while I untied my brown plastic bag lunch.

"Hey, Daniel," Richard called out. I noticed his voice was shaky and when I looked over, his face was white as a sheet. "You might want to see this."

I narrowed my eyes, thinking this was some prank or something. Basically, I didn't believe him. Anyway, when I headed over, I could see something silverly through the oak tree's branches. When I made it over to my friend, that was when I could see it. A metal disk was laying on top of some broken tree branches. Rust was covered the dome cover and branches were stuck near the front. I didn't know how I can describe it but I felt overcome with a lot of different emotions all at once.

Richard started to go ahead of me but I grabbed his arm, worried it was a trap of some sort. He looked at me a little odd and pulled his arm out of my grasp. He told me, "I'm not going exploring. I'm going to take a picture. Maybe your parents could help us." He then went ahead as I watched, unsure of what really to do. I guess I should've gone but I stayed behind because I feared for what was there. Richard, as far as I could make out, was nearing the disk when he disappeared. Like a ghost does when going through a wall. I'd liked to blame my imagination at this point, but I knew it wasn't possible for him to just disappear.

"Richard!" I called out several times but I got nothing, except for the distant calls of birds. The sky above me was darkening and I thought I heard thunder. I wanted to go back home. I reached for my phone to call my parents like they had said when we left, but I had no service. Panicked, I decided to go to the silver disk. This was a horrible decision on my part because it was going against what I had said earlier about, you know, not going to it.

Anyway, when I neared it, a huge wave of sickness washed over me. I blinked a few times, trying to find my balance but it was so strong. How did Richard stand this? I asked myself before continuing. The sounds of the forest, I realized, stopped as I neared the disk. There was a hush that certainly created my hair to stand up on end. A small part of my brain was telling me to escape because that's what a sane person would do in this situation. But, I fought against it because I needed to get my friend or else the guilt would ride on my shoulders.

I didn't realize I disappeared until I looked back. The forest changed and it looked like I was looking into a dirty mirror. I tried to move through it but it didn't work. I was left with a hurting shoulder and another wave of panic. I looked over at the disk, which was now looming over me. It's appearance changed now, looking cleaner with polished silver and I could see some windows at the top of the dome. Richard has to be in there, I thought.

I walked to the silver disk but as I neared it, my entire body tingled. Like I was being sucked into something. Looking up, there was a sleek tube pointing out of the top. And I knew before long, I was off the ground and sucked in. I screamed, closing my eyes and thinking I had just died. This wasn't the case as I felt the environment around me shift from cold wind to the smell of s'mores.

I stopped screaming and peeled open my eyes. I was surrounded by LED TVs that circled a seat that I was placed inside of. The picture quality was realistic as I could see flashes of forests, smell the crackling fire and s'mores, and the sounds of birds calling to each other. I got up from the chair and pressed my hand against one of the TVs.

"Daniel!" I heard Richard's voice cry out. I looked away from the TV and towards a room next to mine. My friend was in the same room as me and looked as terrified as I was. I pressed my hand against the glass separating us and he did the same thing.

"Where are we?" He asked, scared. I didn't have an answer nor did I know how long we were going to be in here for.