Point of View: Christopher Roosevelt
London was everything I thought it would be: a truly magical city, with beautiful buildings that blend the old and the modern in a fascinating way. The streets, full of life, were a reflection of centuries of history, and while the urban chaos was evident, there was an intrinsic order behind everything. In fact, the world had become more beautiful since I began to travel through it. When you''re not successful, things are much more depressing and complicated. As a freelance banker, the freedom of having clients anywhere in the world—and, of course, the excuse to travel—came as a privilege of this profession. London, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Seoul... One of the advantages of being Brazilian is having one of the best passports in the world.
I was at the London St Pancras station, a true architectural marvel. The curved iron beams of the ceiling seemed to dance as natural light streamed through the glass windows, creating hypnotic patterns on the polished marble floor. The movement was frenetic. Muffled shouts, hurried laughter, people with heavy luggage and distracted gazes. It was crowded, but at the same time, there was a strange harmony in the crowd, as if everyone were moving in a choreographed routine. In the background, a violinist played a sweet and melancholic version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," echoing through the station, blending with the sound of the train traffic and distant conversations.
I was on my way to Cambridge, my next tourist destination. It was rush hour, and as I observed the people, something caught my attention to the left: a commotion. Desperate shouts cut through the air, but still, my instinct was not to get involved. I wasn''t here to get tangled in trouble. My English was far from perfect, and getting involved in something on foreign soil wasn’t part of my plans. However, one phrase shook my mind: "Thief! Catch the thief!" The crowd around me started to stir, but something inside me kept me still. This was not my problem.
The station continued to be filled with the sound of a train to my right, the mechanical noise of the tracks mixed with the sound of the brakes. But then, suddenly, the reality around me distorted. The commotion grew distant, the sounds became muffled, and for a moment, all I could hear was the hum of something massive approaching.
Suddenly, someone bumped into me with such force that I nearly lost my balance. I stumbled forward, unable to steady myself. And then, the light... It was intense and blinding, as if the sun itself had decided to descend to Earth. In an instant, the light shone with such intensity that I was engulfed by it, and then... everything went dark. The world around me vanished.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Young hero, your wish will be granted: a magical world with magic and swords," echoed a voice in the darkness, deep and distant. But that wish was old, something I had just ten years ago when I was lost in life, aimless, in my early twenties. I wanted adventures, a world with magic, with swords. Now, what I desired was something completely different: a comfortable life, filled with wealth, far from any suffering.
Unfortunately, I couldn''t verbalize that. I was simply floating, weightless, directionless, in the absolute void. My mind was confused, and a sharp pain began to rise in my head. Could the train… have crushed me? An irrational thought crossed my mind: people are crushed by trucks and transported to other worlds, not by trains.
As time dragged on, the throbbing in my head grew stronger. Something began to weigh on my back, and a strange sensation spread through my body. Something pointed touched my fingers, but at the same time, it felt soft. The air around me became fresh, and a scent of fresh air, like that of a forest, filled my lungs. It was as if I were walking near a forest or park, yet I couldn''t see anything around me. The gentle breeze brushed my skin, bringing an unexpected relief.
With the throbbing in my head slowly fading, I finally opened my eyes. A clearing revealed itself before me. The trees around me were tall and imposing, their leaves covering the sky like a thick blanket, allowing only small cracks of light to filter down to the ground below. I was lying in a small clearing, about three square meters in size, surrounded by a dense forest that seemed to vibrate with life. The ground, covered in a thin layer of moss, was slightly damp, and the smell of wet earth mingled with the fresh air. The leaves, with their vibrant colors, moved gently with the wind. The sound of distant birds and the rustling of the trees were the only noises breaking the absolute silence.
"Why the hell am I naked?" I murmured, feeling a deep pain in my lungs. "Living beings are transported to another world, but clothes aren''t?" Even with the mental confusion, the discomfort of being naked brought me back to reality. With great effort, I lifted the upper part of my body, supporting myself on my elbows. My stomach growled loudly, making it clear that the sensation of hunger was immense.
With the pain in my head gradually decreasing, I began to observe more closely what was around me. The forest appeared denser and more mysterious than anything I had ever seen in any of my travels. The trees were not ordinary. Some of them seemed to emit a soft light, as though they had a life of their own. The air was thick with a peculiar humidity that gently touched my skin, as though every breath I took was imbued with an invisible magical energy.
I was in a completely different world, but part of me couldn’t help but find it strange that everything was so... simple. I should be in a castle, with a new purpose in a magical land full of fantastic creatures, not in some random clearing in an apparently wild world.
"As much as it’s funny to think about playing Tarzan, shouldn’t I have been transported to a castle or something like that?" I thought, trying to understand how all of this was happening.
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