Bobby sat alone within the large tree and continued to look out across the surrounding area. His legs had become quite numb during the few minutes that he’d been sitting here staring at this point; his body had gone through more changes than he could count since his first visit to The Hidden World almost four weeks ago now: The biggest difference was a long white scar running vertically up his back just below his shoulder blades—a scar he didn’t have before: He reached back to touch the place where it used to be before finally realizing how absurd the whole idea seemed. Even though the wound still ached from time to time, there weren’t even any signs of any sort of physical damage from where the blade had sliced through his flesh: It simply appeared as if someone had cut him open with a sharp knife from the outside and then closed him back up again afterwards without leaving anything behind for the natural healing process to fill in.
There were also other subtle differences as well: Most notable was an unusual pattern on his skin that looked exactly like two lines extending horizontally away from each other on either side of his neck that ran all the way down to the base of his spine. They’d formed directly underneath Alvaro’s father’s hands when he’d tried placing them against Bobby’s head while drawing the necessary markings onto his exposed chest with a strange combination of light and dark colors: And once they’d completed their task, Alvaro’s father placed one hand firmly on Bobby’s upper arm while lifting him slightly off the ground and spinning around until they landed gently on the grassy field: That was the exact moment when the thin white line began forming right beside one earlobe—wherever it touched Bobby’s bare skin!
There had been several more things that happened since then… most notably when Karen had appeared in front of him and said something about having been taken out of his body last time but being brought back inside this time… which apparently involved some sort of temporary link between the two of them that would allow her to sense his movements in this place. He’d thought about trying to explain what had just happened to her after seeing how confused she looked upon hearing those words: But he quickly realized that there was nothing he could say to convince anyone who didn’t already know about The Hidden World. Instead he decided to wait until he found another opportunity before talking with her: In the meantime, he knew better than to mention any of these events to Alvaro or any of the other people at The Lodge because he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to share such personal details with any of them yet.
After several seconds of looking out across the area in silence, he finally shifted his gaze down toward his feet where a large rock rose up beneath his left footrest; his mind began racing as he searched his memory for anything related to that particular spot within the forest. Something that might have caused him to stumble into that very same stone over and over again while running around frantically earlier on: Or perhaps an answer as to why none of his companions were ever able to follow him here… and also whether they were even aware of what had happened. For all he knew, Alvaro may not be anywhere near this tree anymore: And it certainly wouldn’t surprise him if most of the others had forgotten all about Bobby by now.
He remained quiet long enough for everything in his surrounding environment to start fading away until it looked exactly like it did during their previous visit: No ground in sight, no sky overhead, and only one lone tree rising high above the rest from directly below. Yet somehow there was something different about this version of ‘The Hidden World’: He noticed that the ground under his right foot was covered with soft grasses—almost as if he’d stepped out onto some vast field—but when he turned that way to take a closer look at the surroundings, he saw nothing but endless rows of trees marching off endlessly in every direction without so much as a single patch of open space between them anywhere! Just when he started wondering if someone could possibly walk through them at any time, however, his view suddenly shifted upward once again—only this time he was facing the top part of what appeared to be another massive boulder hovering somewhere far up in front of his eyes.
The view shifted rapidly up along its surface until his entire line of sight ran straight up against what appeared to be two thin slits positioned precisely where two perfectly smooth edges met. There were no openings whatsoever that he could see; yet somehow Bobby knew instinctively that both of these spots provided him with a clear pathway leading directly back down into the forest just outside the clearing: “Karen?” He called out after turning around and staring directly down into those mysterious holes on the side of this giant rock… only this time there came an immediate reply: “I’m here!” She sounded quite close by and still standing right beside his head… but how had she managed to get here?
“Did you hear my voice or is your body following mine here as well?” Bobby asked her curiously.
“No, I’m actually over here,” Karen answered while waving her hand toward one of the many patches of grasses surrounding their new location in the middle of the field: It was definitely possible for her to reach it since they weren’t more than six feet apart now. But even though he couldn’t make out any details of her physical form from such a distance, he did notice a very faint hint of blue light coming from deep within the same spot that matched exactly with where he’d first seen Alvaro’s father step inside The Hidden World earlier on: So whatever she might be doing at this moment—or wherever she was going next—she clearly intended to return back through this opening at some point during this visit!
“Are you okay?” he finally asked after taking several seconds to think about everything that had happened so far today.
“Yes… but why are you sitting in that tree all alone? Don’t you know better than to wander off like that when there’s nothing keeping you tethered down to the ground anymore? You could easily lose track of where the real world ends up when you do something like this.”
You could easily lose track of where the real world ends up when you do something like this.
Bobby wasn’t sure if he wanted to admit that he’d already lost himself completely out there before being drawn back here into this particular clearing, but decided not to waste time on arguing with her: “It was because we were supposed to meet everyone else at our destination on top of that big rock over there,” he said instead: “But I don’t remember seeing anyone walking around outside yet. How long has it been since I went missing?” He paused briefly and then added, “Is everybody okay? Did anything bad happen while I was gone?” He had a sudden fear in his heart as he looked across the area once again and realized that his entire environment appeared perfectly normal as far as he could see.
Karen answered him after a short pause. “The last time you disappeared was nearly four weeks ago now. Since that night, you’ve spent most of your time wandering aimlessly up and down this very same forest. Not too much time passed at the Lodge until you suddenly started heading toward the field over here; they didn’t realize what was happening until a few minutes later. They all came running over to help, but you still wouldn’t let them take you home that day… which is why they ended up carrying you back to The Lodge for another extended stay. As for what happened after that… well, everything got rather chaotic for awhile: We kept getting called out one after another whenever someone from The Hidden World managed to stumble back inside The Lodge for some unknown reason.”
“I have no idea how many times people tried sneaking out there looking for me in the meantime,” Bobby replied.
“Including myself on two separate occasions,” Karen said with an odd expression on her face.
“What?”
She turned away and stared down at her own body before answering, “I think it may be time we discussed exactly what’s been going on ever since Alvaro’s father showed up at The Lodge three days ago, don’t you? It’s about time we had that conversation about things like these, don’t you agree?”
“But I can’t do anything about any of that right now! What are we supposed to do about all this if we’re never allowed anywhere near those trees anyway?! Do you know why nobody has seen my physical form during our visit here today? Because I’m completely invisible to the outside world!”
“That isn’t entirely accurate,” she told him after giving the matter a moment or two more thought. “You’ve actually made quite a few new friends among the people living at The Lodge—even though most of them haven’t fully accepted your presence yet: But they’ve heard enough rumors by now to begin forming their own theories and opinions on just what kind of strange creature might be able to make themselves appear invisible.” She paused briefly while studying his reaction carefully before continuing, “It turns out that several others have experienced something similar over the past few months without even realizing it until it was brought up as an option for dealing with you: A very special group that you probably should talk to when you finally decide to return home again… but not until you feel comfortable doing so.”
Bobby felt his heart beating faster in response to her words: Wasn’t there also some mention of ‘The Old Man’ in relation to these same individuals too?
“I don’t know how many people still live at The Lodge at this point, either,” Karen went on after taking a brief break from staring at him directly, “but you need to consider everything you learned from all those stories Alvaro’s father shared with you earlier on: There’s nothing left within this forest anymore; everything is gone except for a handful of stones and patches of grass. You could search everywhere in every direction for weeks and never find another thing that’s capable of producing food for yourself. Not unless you want to resort back to eating leaves and other things like that.”
“So I’m stuck here?” Bobby asked nervously: “For good?”
She looked away for a moment before answering, “Well, you aren’t completely trapped here if you choose to go somewhere else instead…”
“Where do I start looking then?” he said anxiously. “There are no paths leading anywhere nearby! Even if there were, I’d be afraid to follow any of them because they might lead me into places I wouldn’t be able to escape from once I got lost!” He paused for a long time as he searched his memory while waiting for an answer that didn’t come at first. Then his gaze shifted upward toward the top part of the giant boulder above their heads while asking Karen something different: “How did you get here? Did you use one of the openings in the side of the rock over there? Or have you always been able to move between The Hidden World and the outside world whenever you wanted since we first met you inside your house on Christmas morning last year?”
“Both,” she answered him simply after considering everything carefully to herself… which was a very rare event indeed: It almost sounded like she was struggling with the idea of trying to explain exactly what had happened in her own mind by using words or gestures. She took several more seconds before adding, “It’s very strange having this conversation with someone who has yet to realize anything about the world around us… but maybe that’s for the best. Let’s see where things take us.”
“Are you ready now?” Bobby finally asked after spending another minute or two studying his surroundings to make sure nobody else had arrived in the meantime: There appeared to be no signs at all suggesting anyone else might have passed through here recently either. “We should probably try to talk to everyone before it gets too late. The sooner we finish our discussion, the better. But can I ask you a few questions before we go?” He glanced down and found Karen staring straight back up into his eyes again as if searching his entire face from top to bottom without saying a word.
She waited patiently as he slowly counted off each of his concerns one by one, only stopping briefly when he mentioned Alvaro’s father showing up earlier today: “Did he tell you anything at all? Has he told anybody else? How does he even know that you’re still out here? Do they keep tabs on everybody living at The Lodge like they do for him? What are they planning on doing next? Is there any chance they’ll just leave me alone forever after this is done? And why did they bring me over here anyway? Why not right there inside their main building so they could discuss this whole thing openly in front of everyone?”
“I don’t know what he said to you—if he actually talked to you at all,” she began with the first question. “But yes, he came over here to meet with everyone about ten minutes ago; I believe they have been discussing your situation among themselves ever since then.” She paused while looking directly up at the top part of the giant rock above them once more, then added: “I have no idea how many people still live at The Lodge now, but I can tell you for certain that every single person who’s managed to return home safely thus far has experienced something similar: They’ve encountered some kind of obstacle along their path that has forced them away from their usual way of life… usually because it simply didn’t exist anymore where it was supposed to be. It might be a tree missing its leaves completely or a piece of ground covered in a layer of rocks and gravel… or it might be an entire forest disappearing altogether: Just as you learned happened here today. Most likely there will be nothing left standing in the wake of whatever changes took place here shortly after Alvaro’s father returned last time around either…”
“I saw him arrive outside the main building, too!” Bobby exclaimed quickly after glancing down toward her own body again for confirmation before asking his next question: “And he showed up at our house on Christmas morning, too! Is that when he disappeared?” He shook his head before adding, “But he wasn’t really gone for very long at all at least not if he made it back inside The Lodge soon afterward. He seemed perfectly fine when I finally went back into my old bedroom a few days later to grab a pair of shoes for church. And I’m pretty sure nobody mentioned anything about him being out here wandering the woods just in case he decided to try sneaking out again—that would’ve been the perfect excuse to have someone keep watch over him just in case anything else happened: But apparently none of us had even considered the possibility until right now.”
She turned away from him while studying something lying at their feet while answering, “You may be right.”
“What did they decide to do with me then?” he asked curiously after waiting several seconds while staring at her unblinking: There didn’t appear to be any answer forthcoming anytime soon. “How come they’re treating me so differently than everyone else? I thought everyone who’d managed to get home safely was supposed to stay here where we could discuss everything openly together. Do they plan on making me leave eventually by force? Or are they going to lock me up in that empty cabin behind the Lodge for good this time…?” He stopped talking suddenly and stared anxiously around him for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing, “…And what am I allowed to talk about during these discussions anyway? What kind of questions will people ask me first thing once they see me walk through those doors again? Will they want me to tell them more stories about Alvaro’s father or about all the strange things I’ve already seen happen within this forest recently? Can I trust anyone living at The Lodge enough to say anything at all without fearing that I might end up getting them into trouble somehow?”
“It looks like I still need a few minutes to think,” she told him after considering her own words carefully: “I’m not sure yet exactly how to answer you… but there is one thing you can take as fact right now.” She paused briefly as he waited impatiently for her response. “I don’t believe you’ll ever be forced to leave this place against your will. But there’s also another important piece of information they should’ve shared with you before sending for help from the outside world today: If they were truly interested in keeping everyone safe, they wouldn’t have allowed any of us out here at all while they figured out their next course of action…”
“But it doesn’t make any sense! They aren’t even able to go back home themselves anymore!” Bobby protested loudly at hearing what she had just said while turning his attention away from the giant rock overhead once again. “What are we supposed to do if that changes?! How much longer do we wait until we do something ourselves? There has got to be something we can do besides sit around here waiting for someone else to figure something out for us! There must be some kind of plan somewhere—something that allows us to survive this situation for as long as possible so we don’t end up completely stranded here forever by accident or whatever else happens along the way—”
He fell silent when Karen turned her head slightly toward him and held up one hand in front of herself, stopping him mid-sentence.
“I’ve got a plan,” she said.
Continue the story in Chapter 4.