I blinked up at the sky. The cloud to the right looked a bit like a house, while a cloud to the left looked slightly like the head of some animal, maybe a rabbit? Then there was one, morphing from a big cloud slightly behind her, that looked like a dragon.

  Really, I thought, it shouldn’t look that realistic . . . or that blue . . .

  I froze, not quite believing what I was seeing. Above me, definitely not drifting like a cloud, was a blue and white shape that looked exactly like a dragon. You know, if dragons actually existed. Even as I doubted my sanity, or at least my vision, I hardly dared to even breathe. The maybe-dragon seemed fairly high above me but that didn’t mean I was invisible to it.

  How good is the vision of a dragon anyway?

  But I didn’t have to worry for long. It was clear that the dragon was heading somewhere and it flew right past me. I waited until it flew out of sight and then breathed, gasped for breath, suddenly realizing how light-headed I felt.

  Should I tell someone? Call Emergency Services or something?

  What would I say though, I wondered? Telling the world I had seen a dragon seemed like a one-way ticket to some sort of facility or hospital. Although if I had seen it, surely others had as well.

  Maybe there’s something on the internet or the news or something?

  I reached first in my left pocket, then my right, searching for my phone. Then I reached to my left and my right through the grass. I sat up, looking around, and realized I wasn’t sure where I was. There seemed to be more trees than I was used to or maybe just different trees? I frowned at a tree with red berries on it.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Has there always been a berry tree there?

  I turned in a circle, frowning when I realized I couldn’t see the parking lot. Or any other people. The picnic tables weren’t visible either and I couldn’t hear anything but birds. No sounds of people talking or yelling. No sounds of cars or airplanes overhead. It all felt and looked wrong.

  One thing at a time, Mattie! Find your phone.

  Looking around at the grass I couldn’t see anyth–wait, there was something by the wildflower patch. Crouching down by the flowers I could see something red, or reddish? I pushed back some of the taller flowers and found myself looking at a book.

  So no phone, but a random book. First a dragon, then new trees, now a book.

  Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as the saying goes. I picked up the book and turned it over in my hands, looking for any external clues. The front and back covers were a deep red, almost brown, color and the book seemed to be an average-sized hardcover with no writing or pictures or anything on the covers.

  Maybe it’s a journal?

  I opened it but it seemed blank.

  Helpful.

  I skimmed through it, but it seemed to be just a blank journal or, maybe a sketchbook since there were no lines.

  Not helpful. What do I do now?

  The book buzzed in my hands and I dropped it, or maybe threw it, onto the ground. I looked down at the book in bewilderment.

  Since when do books buzz like a cell phone?

  I rolled my eyes, Since when do dragons fly through the skies?

  The book was still my best, if not my only, clue. It seemed to be the only thing that was out of place in the middle of a park-turned-forest. At least, the only clue that I could investigate without potentially getting lost. It was possible the parking lot was still within a walkable distance, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be proven wrong or right about that.

  I opened the front cover to a non-blank page. That made some semblance of sense, if I ignored reality. A phone buzzes to let you know you have a notification and the book buzzed to let me know there was writing now.

  This was my only clue, I reminded myself as I sat down to read.