Page 34 of Edge of Wonder

He pushed me!

For all the times I’d imagined my first kiss—and I had imagined it a lot—it did not end with me getting tossed through a mystical portal, my feet flying up over my head as I plummeted through a dark, endless tunnel.

Air rushed past me as I continued to fall, my stomach rising into my throat until I wasn’t sure if I was going to hurl or pass out. With my luck, I’d do one, then the other, putting a disgraceful bow on the moment that was supposed to be one of my most memorable.

Everyone always says you’ll remember your first kiss. And they were right. I’d never forget it—or the look on Sebastian’s face when he literally shoved me into another realm.

So much for taking risks and basking in the warm afterglow. This is what I get for acting spontaneous. Brutal rejection.

I continued to fall, reaching my arms out in front of me, scrambling for something to hold on to or slow my descent.

How long was this tunnel?

A bright light appeared, blinding my vision until I squeezed my eyes shut. I never saw the ground, but I felt it. My body bounced against something soft and spongy, and I rolled to a stop on top of a thick, mossy turf.

Opening my eyes, I stared up at the dense foliage. Leaves of varying sizes and colors converged, creating a vibrant canopy that blocked out most of the sun. I remained still, taking stock of any broken bones or other injuries. Apparently, you can fall through a portal for what seems like miles, only to land perfectly intact and unharmed. Except for some mild vertigo, and a stomach that wasn’t completely sure we’d landed, I felt fine.

I sat up and surveyed the area. I’d landed in a forest unlike any other I’d seen before. Giant ferns rose out of the ground and colorful mushrooms sprouted at the base of massive tree trunks. Swaths of hanging moss dripped from long spindly branches. The moss shimmered in the filtered light as if it had been coated in silver dust. It was eerily quiet. No insects. No birds. No wildlife that I could see or hear. Even the air was still as if the forest held its breath.

A purple mist gathered around my toes. It enveloped my limbs like a sheer blanket. The damp chill made goosebumps rise on my arms, and I stood, brushing the spongy turf from my backside.

“There isn’t much of a welcoming committee,” I mumbled, still searching the trees for anything that moved or a sign of life. Didn’t Tessa say I had an adviser who was supposed to greet me upon arrival? At this point, I expected them to pop out of the ground like a mole.

I wasn’t even sure how far away I was from a town. It could be hours before I saw another person. Maybe days!

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut.Alone again. Alice Montgomery, party of one.It didn’t matter that only moments ago I was kissing the only person who’d even acknowledged my presence for years. I was back to square one, in an unfamiliar realm, with literally nothing but the clothes on my back. Sebastian didn’t even have the decency to toss my bag down after me.

Glancing up at the dense leaves, I waited, hoping for my supplies to fall from the sky. Ugh, I could kill that man! Stranding me in an empty cottage to haunt my days away wasn’t enough for him? He had to strand me in another realm, too?

A raindrop fell, hitting my cheek. Another soaked into my shoulder. Even the sky felt sorry for me and had decided to shed tears at my predicament. The lump in my throat grew, along with the wetness gathering under my eyelids. My bag wasn’t coming, and neither was he. That he’d made perfectly clear.

I needed to find shelter before the floodgates opened, and I was soaked to the bone without a change of clothes.

But which way should I go? Without a guide or a map, I was left to pick a random path, hoping some innate sense of direction prevailed. And for a girl who’d spent most of her life in the same location, the odds weren’t promising.

I took a moment to let the gravity of my situation sink in. Things looked bad, but they could be worse. I could still be dead. If I got overwhelmed, I needed to remind myself of that. Straightening my shoulders, I drew in a deep pine-scented breath and chose the path to the left.

For a while, I was pleased with my choice, marveling over the dreamlike quality of the forest. My boots sank into the spongy moss, making a squishy sound with each step. I hummed a tune to accompany the watery sounds and pass the time. But as the rain continued to fall, the turf became slick, and I slipped when I tried to duck under a low-hanging branch.

My tailbone took the brunt of the fall, making me wince from the pain shooting up my back. That signaled the end of my cheery hike. Mud coated my palms, and I rinsed them off in a growing puddle. Leaning over the pool of water, I wrinkled my nose at my faint reflection. A half-drowned rat looked more appealing. Though even a rat would know how to find their way out of a forest.

I splashed my hand through the puddle, making my reflection vanish, but when the ripples eased, an unfamiliar face appeared. A girl with elfin features, corkscrew curls, and a turned-up nose wriggled her fingers in hello.

A shriek bubbled in my throat. I rocked backward onto my hands, covering them in another layer of mud. When I peered over the puddle again, the girl’s face had disappeared. I waited, dipping my finger into the water to swirl it around, hoping to recreate whatever I’d done the first time, but she didn’t reappear. After cleaning myself off as best I could, I continued down the path, but this time, I kept an eye out for the mysterious sprite.

The rain soaked through my cloak, forcing me to search for cover. I huddled under the edge of a giant leaf and tried to rub some warmth back into my arms. Something nudged me from behind, and I jumped as one of the plant’s leafy arms urged me further under its canopy. Water drained like a waterfall on all sides, and the pitter-patter of droplets hitting the plant echoed in the dry bubble it created.

One of the leaves tapped my shoulder. I tensed, unsure if I should run screaming or accept the offer of shelter.

“Um…thank you?”

Another leafy pat on the shoulder helped me regain my courage.

“You don’t happen to know which way I should walk to get to a town, do you?” I cringed when, of course, the plant didn’t answer. I mean, what did I expect? It wasn’t about to tell me to head straight for a mile, then turn left at the fork in the woods. It was a plant. In fact, I was probably imagining things entirely. This whole episode was more likely a hallucination caused by a bump on my head than a courteous plant offering me shelter in the rain.

But the delusions kept coming when the leaf over my head curled slightly, causing all the rainwater to fall to one side. It created a directional stream that flowed toward a well-beaten path before disappearing deeper into the thick foliage. And as I stared at the fall of water, the elfin face appeared again. This time, the girl winked and pointed in the same direction as the stream.

“Hello? Is that the way to town?”

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