Chapter 3

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Drew popped out into the water. Amidst the terror of the water, soft petals brushed his body.

Eve

Drew got propelled to the water surface. He opened his eyes. The river fought with him, kidnapping him into an unknown place. He tried to swim towards the river bank, but his legs felt dead.

Where am I? Why am I here? Who did this to me? How did I end up here?  The last thing I remember was working on my computer.

Drew was confused. He couldn't process what was happening. All he knew was that he had to get to the land somehow.

He thrust his hands up to create a magnetic force to draw him towards land. To his shock, his hands were smaller than usual. Panic came over him. He tried to remain calm and closed his eyes. He imagined his hands attracting the river bank like a magnet, nullifying the effects of the water current.

Nothing happened.

Quickly, Drew dropped his hands to the wet pockets and searched for the magical pen to summon the house. The pockets were empty.

A feeling of complete vulnerability came over him. To get out of the situation, Drew scanned the area. He noticed a wheelchair flowing forward in the right, which bobbed up and down, sinking. The wheelchair could have kept him afloat for longer, but because his hands were shorter, he couldn't reach it. The wheelchair drifted further from him.

The water tried to force his body down with infinite blue ropes but Drew resisted by moving his hands fast. His head moved frantically, searching the area. He tried to scream, but at that moment, water entered his mouth and nostrils. The water pressure chocked him. It took his voice and threatened him.

As he struggled fiercely, Drew noticed a man, not far away. The man was facing the opposite side towards a tree. At that moment, a ball colored blue and white drifted towards him fast. He grabbed the ball when it came close.

Drew had never played ball. But a faint memory of a boy playing ball came to his mind. The boy had used his fingertips to send the ball flying across vast fields. Drew moved the ball away from his palms and sent it to his fingertips.

I am going to fight till the last. I will not give up.

Drew pushed back the hands and thrust the hands forward to give the ball momentum. Drops of water sprinkled over his face. The ball flew high above the water and went above the man and hit the tree. A fluffy white cat fell from the tree, onto the man.

"Whoever did that, I will fight him to death," the man screamed and turned around, trying to get the animal off his face.

Drew lost his balance and went into the depths of the inviting river.

This can't be me. I'm not a failure.              

                                                                 ****************************

"Your classmate is a masochist. Why else would he go there alone again? To get himself drowned once more?" A lazy voice said. "Look what he did to my nose. See the shirt. The cat is running wild in the house, I can't even understand what's up with his new character, and now we have to look after your classmate also. Man!"

"The cat has always been like that. Your nose is no biggie as all it has is a scratch." A high-pitched voice spoke. "But he is injured more than that. When will he wake up? I am worried."

Drew opened his eyes. He found himself dressed in a cotton green shirt and pants. His whole body was smaller than usual. He tried moving his legs under the blanket, but the attempt was futile. There was some unexplained magic going around.

Drew looked around. The room was white with gleaming white light coming from a cuboid on the roof. Near to the left side of his bed, the windows showed blue oceans with cheerful unknown green trees with blooming flowers on their branches. People were enjoying the majestic oceanic scenery, and some were swimming near the shores. On the right side of the bed, a boy wearing a yellow shirt and a man wearing an odd long-sleeved black t-shirt with a fat cat in the dress were sitting next to him. The cat was violently running all over the shirt, virtually.

"Remember me. I'm the one who was standing under the tree. You threw the ball at the tree, and my cat fell down right onto me and scratched my nose." The man pointed his index finger on the right hand to his plastered nose.

"Sorry about that. Are you alright now?" Drew asked, observing the man in weird clothes.

The boy faked a cough and looked at the man.

"What?" The man questioned, turning to the boy, scratching his head.

"Shouldn't you be asking about him, Arian?" the boy asked, folding his arms.

"Sorry," Arian turned to Drew. "Everything is fine now. What about you? It was difficult to get you out of the river with just me. There was no one nearby to help me."

Drew looked over the body. It felt a bit painful, but he hid it and said, "I feel alright. Thanks for saving me."

The boy took out an instrument from his blue pocket and kept on tapping. He then kept the black instrument back to his pocket.

The boy stooped forward and softly touched Drew's forehead with his index finger and then withdrew his body back to the initial erect position. "I can't believe what happened. What will we tell your parents when they come back," the boy grumbled.

Drew looked at the boy. He knew the boy mistook him for someone else. Summing up the strange events, Drew confirmed that he was in someone else's body. But he felt reluctant to reveal his identity. 

Drew hated to feel dependent. He had to find a way to switch to his original body. The first thing he wanted to know was the owner of the body he was inside.

He doubted if the boy whose body he was in switched bodies to get hold of his power and body. If that happened, after he learns to undo the magic and switch bodies, he would destroy the hands of the boy. But he was not completely sure that external events were not involved. In the world of magic, anything could be possible. Why would he be used by unknown people in an unknown land? They may not even know him, and there is very little chance that a kid of this age in this land would try to take his body.

The boy next to him continued, "As punishment for wandering on your own, we asked your neighbor when she was here a while ago to ask permission to your parents so that you could stay with us in the city." He gave a wide grin.

Arian smiled, "And guess what, you are staying with us till they come back. Your neighbor has gone to take your things so that you could stay with us."

Before Drew could say anything, a sound like the waves of an ocean came from outside the door. The boy got up from the chair and went towards the door and invited a tall thin man wearing a colorful hat in the shape of a cone inside. The hat projected virtual pictures of drawings moving around and toys. Drew was dumbfounded. The place had strange clothes. He didn't know what to make out of it.

The thin man walked forward and turned right and lifted a small brown instrument next to another smaller white instrument stuck on the wall. The brown instrument was similar to the one the boy had. A green light emerged from the white instrument and went up, then down to the bottom of the brown instrument.

"Registered comedian Alex Vandel." The white instrument spoke electronically. Alex put his instrument back to his pocket and proceeded towards Drew.

Drew couldn't take his eyes off the white instrument. He wanted to know more about it. He didn't know there were other enchanters capable of doing technological magic.

"I requested a comedian on the hospital app to cheer you up when you woke up. Isn't it great that hospitals provide free comedians appointed by the government to the patients!", the boy told. "I've noticed that you laugh a lot in the class even for the silliest of jokes."

Drew rubbed his wrist under the green cotton blanket to calm himself. Whose brilliant idea was it to include comedy within tragedy?

Alex came up near Drew's bed and said, "Hello there! Ready to go to Teddy Bear School?"

Drew's face heated up. He gritted his teeth. 

What kind of nightmare is this? Teddy bears were my weakness long ago. Why is the man speaking about teddy bears now? Despite the elegance of the rooms and sophisticated technologies, what is wrong with the language and people? Which land is this? 

"You are making things worse. Look at him. Ethan's temperature is rising. Not all of us are happy with the name of the school," the boy asserted to the comedian.

Drew took the blanket and covered himself. He was sweating. 

He snapped his fingers to send off sparks of magic under the blanket. Nothing happened.

Whoever did this to me, I will not spare them. 

No. This must be a dream created by my subconscious mind and nothing more. Even magic can't explain all the strange things happening now. Clear my mind, and everything will be alright.

Three. Two. One.

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