Hector jumped up—causing him to accidentally headbutt the fox.

He then scurried backwards, away from the animal. It growled—licked it’s paw—and began to rub it’s face.

Shocked with what he was seeing, Hector looked around. There were giant tree’s around him covering the entire area. They were tall and large, with the leaves at the top blocking out most of the sky—allowing only slivers of light to seep through.

Is…is this a forest?

After taking a minute to gaze his surroundings, Hector slowly stood up.

How did I get here? I was just in my room. This..this is crazy!

His attention then fell back to the fox, who had quietly sat in front of him. Hector cautiously walked backwards, as it silently stared while tilting it’s head.

“Don’t…Don’t come closer,” Hector said.

But as he continued to walk away, the fox took a step forward.

This startled Hector—causing him to fall back onto the ground and onto his butt. He then grabbed some dirt on the floor and threw it at the fox.

“Go, go away!” he yelled.

The fox however didn’t leave, and began to get closer. Hector then felt a small stone inside some dirt, and threw it at the animal. This finally caused it to run away from him, and into bushes leading further into the forest.

A long silence followed, as Hector sat on the floor—not knowing what to do next.

Is this a dream? There’s no way it isn’t. If someone brought me here, I definitely would of woken up. I’m not a heavy sleeper.

After a few more seconds of deep thought, he decided it was best to look around.

Who know’s what will happen if I just sit here.

He got up, and picked a random direction to walk in.

It was difficult to traverse through the forest as there were many plants, bushes and tree’s to walk past or through. While he walked, he grabbed some leaves and wiped his jumpers collar. There was a lingering smell he noticed there, and had soon realised the fox had drooled onto it.

What was with that fox anyway. Even though it was so close, I don’t think it bit me. I’m sure that’s how you get rabies.

As he continued to walk around, strange animal noises would echo through the tree’s every so often. With the frequency of the sounds increasing, Hector began to walk faster.

This is insane. It feel’s like something will jump out at me any momen—

There was a sudden loud roar in the distance.

Hector immediately ran. The roar was one that any human could recognise.

Is that a lion!?

Still running, he was too scared to stop. Even after tripping several times, Hector just got back up and continued to run. He had said this was a dream, but it was impossible for him to treat it as one.

Why does this feel so real!?

Eventually he stopped, and rested against one of the large trees.

I can barely see the sky, so where’s all this light coming from anyway? It’s like the whole forest is glowing green.

The forest seemed to have a natural light within it. Almost like the tree’s and plants were producing it themselves. Whatever the reason was, it allowed Hector to quite clearly see his surroundings.

“Arghh!” he suddenly shouted.

Something had touched Hector from behind, causing him to quickly back away from the tree. But when he looked, only the tree was there and nothing else.

What..what was that? A bug? But it felt like it wrapped around my arm—

A bush then rustled nearby.

Hector panicked, and quickly snapped off a nearby twig. He held it up high, and prepared to swing if anything came out.

After a few seconds, an animal jumped out.

It was a fox.

Is that the same fox? I..I think it is.

After they stared at one another, the fox walked a few distance to the side and stopped. It then looked at him and then in the direction it walked in.

….I’ve seen grandma’s cat do the same thing. It usually does that when it wants someone to follow it.

Since it was still alive, Hector felt it probably knew where to walk to avoid anything bigger eating it. He threw the twig away, and began to follow the fox.

I hope I won’t regret this.

While he followed it, Hector began to notice strange things happening in the forest. He was unsure if he was seeing things, however it felt like the scenery would change every so often. It was as if the plants in the forest were moving.

I hope this isn’t a nightmare. I hate nightmares.

But while he walked, the sounds of singing echoed in the distance. It however was not in the direction the fox was walking to, and was somewhere off to the side.

Is someone else here? A woman?

Hector decided to walk in the direction of the singing, hoping to find another person to talk to. But, it seemed the fox did not like this—as it started to bite at his trousers.

“Get off!” Hector said, as he slightly kicked it off.

It however continued to pester him while he walked toward the singing.

As it seemed he finally made it to the source of the voice, the fox growled and then dashed away.

What’s wrong with it? Well at least it didn’t bite through to my leg. I’d rather avoid rabies, even if I’m dreaming.

Hector then walked through some vines and into a strange enclosed area. Inside, he saw all manners of plants and flowers within. With each varying from large to small, it seemed he had discovered a rather vibrant garden in the middle of the forest.

But, there happened to be someone tending to one of the flowers. It was an elderly woman in a dress, with rather long green hair and singing with a calming voice.

Seeing this, Hector walked up behind her. She then suddenly turned around, and was holding a pot with a strange looking plant sprouting out of it.

They briefly exchanged stares.

After a smile, she walked up to him and gave him the pot to hold.

“Be a dear and put it over there,” she said while pointing to the other end of the garden.

Before Hector could say anything, she began to hum a song and walked over to some other plants. Deciding to go with it, he carried the somewhat heavy pot to where she pointed.

After putting it down, he turned round—but she was suddenly behind him. Hector jumped back, then felt something wrap around his leg. When he looked down, the plant in the pot was clinging to him.

As Hector tried to wiggle it off, the elderly woman walked up to the plant. She then seemed to rub it, causing it to wrap around her instead. There then seemed to be a similar plant next to it, which she moved her arm towards.

The plant then unwrapped itself from her, and then onto the other plant.

What is even going on here?

She stood back up.

Hector looked at her. “Where am I?”

The woman briefly looked around, then faced him. “A garden it seems.”

She then walked off and picked up a wooden bowl with a strange green glowing water inside. As she started to water some flowers, Hector walked up to her again.

“Who are you? I know this is a dream.”

“A dream? What makes you think that?” she said while watering the flowers.

Hector looked over at the two plants that had wrapped around one another.

“I don’t think plants are supposed to do that,” he said.

“Ah. So you’re an expert on plants?” she replied.

“N..No. I’ve just never heard of plants that do something like that.”

“Then you’ve heard about all the different plants out there then?”

There was a pause, as Hector thought about it.

“Well no. But I think I would of heard about ones like those by now if they actually existe—”

“A guess then?” she said, suddenly interrupting him. “Then perhaps your earlier comment of this being a dream is just that also. Another guess.”

“I..I guess,” Hector replied.

Come on Hector. Why would you use the word guess after she just said that. And what’s with this old lady? This being a dream is the only way to explain any of this. In fact…

“So if this isn’t a dream, then how did I get here?” Hector asked. “I was sleeping in my room, then I randomly woke up in this forest. There’s no forest close to where I live, so I don’t see how I would of gotten here without waking up.”

The elderly lady took longer than usual to respond to his question. She then did a slight chuckle.

“Is that so? Then perhaps this is a dream after all,” she replied.

Hector squinted his eyes.

That’s it? I’m surprised she gave up so quickly.

“You didn’t answer my first question,” he said. “I still don’t know who you are.”

“Why must you know who I am if I am only imaginary?” she replied.

The woman then turned to him and handed him the bowl of glowing green water.

“How about helping me tend to the garden? I’m sure flowers need watering even in dreams.”

“No,” Hector replied. “I have school tomorrow, so I’d rather wake up and get back to sleep.”

He then walked over and sat down next to a small skinny tree.

“I’ll just wait till it’s over.”

The woman smiled, and then continued to water the garden.

“Oh. I wouldn’t touch that if I were you…even if it’s not real,” she suddenly said.

Hector’s finger stopped. He was just about to touch a plant sprouting from the ground next to the tree. After retracting his hand, he began to quietly wait.

A few minutes past, but nothing had really happened.

Time is probably different in dreams. Maybe I’ll have to wait an hour or two.

So Hector sat down for a few hours as he watched the elderly lady tend to the garden.

However—as a few hours went by—Hector had still not woken up.

“How about running a little errand for me to pass the time,” the woman said.

At first, Hector ignored her as he was fed up with even being there. But as a few more minutes went by, he stood up out of boredom.

“What errand?” he asked.

The woman walked over to a plant and plucked what looked like a fruit from it. She then walked over and handed it to him.

“There’s an injured fox out in the forest. It however rarely leaves it’s hiding place, and goes hungry often. I want you to feed it this.”

Hector looked at the fruit. “I already saw a fox.”

“Yes, I know of that fox. But the one you’ll be feeding is a different one.”

There was a moment of hesitation from Hector to go with it.

The woman looked at him carefully. “People often wake up from dreams once something is accomplished within it. Perhaps if you succeed in this, it’ll wake you up.”

But still, Hector wasn’t sure on what to do.

Why would my dream want me to do this though? I guess they usually have some sort of story line, even if it doesn’t make much sense.

“It’s been difficult for me to think of a way to lure it out,” the woman said. “But you seem like an intelligent boy. Maybe this dream knows you can think of a smart way to do it.”

Huh. That actually makes some sense…

Hector sighed. “Fine. I’ll go.”

She smiled. “Thank you. But there’s one important rule I’d like for you to follow.”

“Rule? What rule?” Hector asked.

Her smile faded. “Do not harm it.”

“Su..Sure,” he replied.

She smiled again. “Great! Oh look. It seems your guide is here.”

As she looked behind Hector, he too looked back. But when he did, he saw the strangest thing he had seen so far.

Okay, this is definitely a dream.

Walking toward them, was a short flower with plant like legs.