I've always had a soft spot for fortune tellers, tarot cards, palm readers, and other things that tried to predict my future. Yes, I knew all of it is more than likely made up, but I couldn't help spending a few dollars every now and then -- such as earlier today.

There was a tent set up on the corner of the sidewalk outside my house that wasn't there yesterday. Why someone would set up such a stand here and not somewhere else where there were more people to attract was beyond me. I decided to check it out.

The inside of the tent reeked of perfume and overdecoration. Glitter-coated stars of all sizes dangled from the ceiling and kept trying to cut my face. After fighting my way inside, I sat down in the rickety chair across the table from my fortune teller. She was an older woman, wearing too many outfits at once. The only other objects in the room were a cloudy orb, about the size of my head, in the center of the table and a money collection box hidden under her chair.

While going through the familiar process of responding to her welcome, asking for a fortune reading, paying for it, and waiting for the speaker to get through the mysterious prologue about 'seeing events that are to pass', I shoved the voice in my head telling me this isn't real far away and got myself into a state of mind where I could genuinely enjoy the experience. The visions of me that she supposedly saw were laughably bad.

"I see that there will be someone you meet who will make you feel complete..." If it's not a spouse, it'll be a friend. This wouldn't be anything special unless I had days left to live.

"...You will be blessed with good fortune..." 'Fortune' could mean either wealth or something favorable happening. Since I can't see myself ever winning the lottery, I'm settled with the latter.

I didn't bother to remember most of what else she told me. Was it money I would never get back? Yes, but at least I will get some entertainment value out of the experience when I look back and laugh at it again in the future. Before I left, thought, she told me something about how she knew I was destined for greatness, but she couldn't make out any specifics.

For most of my life, I've dismissed that specific prediction and all of its similarly-worded cousins, assuming that all of these 'future seers' told them to everybody. It seems like the perfect message since it would be nearly guaranteed to become true. The 'greatness' could refer to any positive event in the future, from something as grand as leading a nation to something as mundane as getting a job promotion. In a way, it reminded me of horoscopes -- just specific enough to make it seem like a legitimate prediction once the event happens. Recently, however, after asking some friends about their own experiences with fortune tellers, it seems like I'm the only person who has had such a response from every single teller in my lifetime. The part of me that enjoyed readings sceamed in excitement, but the rational part of me attributed it to chance -- a very, very slim chance of it being told every single one of the dozens of times I've had my fortune read.

Later that afternoon, I took a visit to the nearby park. The place was large, wide open, and somewhat hilly, which made it perfect to stroll around for relaxation. It was easy to find someone to talk with, but it was just as easy to stay alone and wander your own way. I decided to take a nice stroll in the forest, even though I had no need to clear my mind.

Sunset was always the best time to walk in the surrounding woods. The trees and ground, both cluttered with plantlife, were gorgeous in the intense orange light. The combination of the lovely scenery and crunching from walking on the trails never failed to make me feel at peace.

To complete my walk, I made sure to visit Playful Watcher. It was a massive tree, more than tall enough to use as a landmark from miles and miles away. Surely, it must have been hundreds of years old, watching this area for centuries. The tree got the 'Playful' in its name because no matter how dead the wind was, its leaves somehow always managed to fall and target you. If you sat under its shade for too long, you would probably be buried within the hour. Did Playful Watcher have a mind of its own? It was fun to think about.

I sat down in a different spot around its trunk than I normally did, making my heart skip a beat when my bottom couldn't find the ground! Jumping back up onto my two feet, I saw that there really was no ground there. Where I tried to sit, the tree's web of roots obscured a hole, about twice as wide as I was in diameter. In the diminishing sunlight, I couldn't see the end -- it was just a slope leading downward into a void. The slope didn't look too steep; I could have climbed down without any hassle. However, it was getting late, and I wanted to be home soon. Making a mental note to check out the opening in the morning, I jogged home.

---

Waking up, I ate a quick breakfast and got ready to leave. I put on a pair of pants and a sweatshirt, stuffing a flashlight in a pocket so I could see into the hole. I didn't take anything else with me -- this was just a small opening I was curious about, not a cave or anything of the sort. When I left the house, the sun was again sunk partway into the horizon, but it was coming up instead of going down.

The park was lifeless. If there was anybody else here with me so early in the morning, I was unaware of it. Taking advantage of my apparent privacy, I stood in the center of the field, closed my eyes, and raised my arms up, pretending I was a tree. I let the slight breeze tickle my branches while the chirping of birds made a sweet melody. Though my feet were disconnected from the ground by socks and shoes, I splayed my toes and imagined sucking up water and nutrients, letting the essence of life flow through me. A few times, I would stretch out my arms further, desperate to reach the sun and all its warmth. Being in the mindset of a tree was so peaceful, so tranquil, yet I had to be brought back to reality eventually. However long I was in this state -- it could have been less than a minute, or it could have been several -- the time felt so long, yet all too short. The human part of my brain reminded me of the hole I wanted to visit, so I had to move on. I felt a little hollow inside afterward.

Returning to who I was after experiencing the slow and simple thoughts of a tree made my mind feel like it was racing. Not realizing I was walking toward the spot until I already stood under Playful Watcher's bough convinced me that it probably was racing. No wonder why us people forget stuff all the time -- there is too much to be thinking about for our little brains at one time!

The roots protecting the entrance seemed to have receded slightly from the night before. Maybe the old tree really did have thoughts of its own. The hole was still covered well enough so that nobody could fall in by accident, but now there was enough of a gap in one spot for me to crawl through. After shining my flashlight down to judge the distance to the bottom, I slipped through legs-first and let myself land on the earthen bottom.

Ahead of me was a wide yet short entrance to somewhere further beyond. It was only about knee-high, so I would have to get down to crawl through it and remember not to jerk my head up at any time. My fear of getting stuck and not being able to back out if I needed to disappeared as quick as it came when I saw that it was wide enough for me to turn around. Shining my flashlight through, the tunnel appeared to slope downward into the rocky earth at a small degree. This could be the jaws of the world I was about to go into, ready to swallow me whole, but I didn't care. I wanted to know what laid on the other side.

I lowered myself onto my hands and knees and started to crawl. I was glad I covered most of my body in clothing, but a pair of gloves would have been nice right then! My hands didn't get cut up to the point of bleeding at all, but they were increasingly scraped up and sore as I continued on. The decreasing temperature made me wish I brought a hat or mask as well as the gloves.

With the world feeling accelerated after I was pulled out of my tree-ish mood, my sense of time was nonexistent. After crawling for a while, I was aware of an emptiness above my head, large enough for me to stand up. I couldn't straighen myself out fully, but it still felt great being able to give my knees and arms a break. Lighting up the path forward relieved me -- the break would last forever; the mini-cavern would keep getting taller. I turned around to take a peek backward before going forward again. The passage must have snaked around to the left and right since I couldn't see the entrance anymore, but the space definitely had been widening for a while.

More time passed. Though the room enlargened with each step, this place felt more and more constrictive and oppressive. Maybe the Earth really would swallow me with how deep into it I was going! At least it wasn't getting any colder. I paused for a few seconds and realized just how alone I was. The only sound was the fading echo of my footsteps, then nothing. I wouldn't have dared to turn off my light for even a moment in the silence (or at all, for that matter).

Eventually, after who knows how long I walked, the flashlight lit up what would have been the spacious end of the cave if it wasn't for the large, almost perfectly circular tunnel cut into the stone wall. Knowing I was near something clearly man-made lifted a growing weight from my body. I could trust that nothing unfortunate would happen like I did when I jumped down here from the surface so long ago. My desire to find what lied ahead grew to a purpose; I was meant to check out what secrets this place held, and nothing would stop me. With my resolve strengthened, I stood up straight and widened my stride.

The tunnel was more than big enough to let me walk through; in fact, there was about two feet of headroom to spare! Why, though? Whoever made this tunnel must have had a good reason for going through the extra effort of carving out so much extra space. Maybe the people using it just happened to be very tall. After spending so much time heading downward, walking in the tunnel made me feel like I was ascending toward the surface. I'm sure the floor ony levelled out though.

A few steps into the tunnel, the smooth walls became skillfully carved. Everything from half-height upwards was carved in deep lines that created a brick pattern while the stone beneath my feet had an unbroken chain of circles engraved in them. Because the passage was cylindrical, there weren't exactly walls, a ceiling, or a floor to speak of.

My sense of time was further gone now. I had no guess for how long I walked before the tunnel made a sharp ninety-degree bend to the right and slanted upwards. The carved designs continued too, the circles on the 'floor' taking the turn as well.

Surely, the end of the accidental adventure must be coming up soon. There weren't any underground passages that I knew of in the neighborhood, so maybe it was connected to some business or other private property. I didn't know anything about the sewer system, so I also thought this tunnel could be connected to it some way, but threw the idea out right away. If it did, I would have surely known from the smell by now, but I could only smell rock. Maybe this didn't connect to anything at all. Was this some sort of abandoned transportation project? Would the tunnel even lead to some room at the end, or would it just abruptly stop?

The ascent dragged on and on. My poor knees wanted me to turn back, asking me painfully with every step I took. I was also getting hungry. Thinking I would have been through with exploring a simple hole long ago, I didn't bring anything to snack on. There was only so much earth between me and the surface through, so I ignored my body's needs; the end would come soon, I knew. I hoped.

Ahead of me, the darkness ended and became a wall, the passage appearing to level out again. For the first time in forever, I heard something, a noise other than the monotonous clapping of my shoes that was going to drive me insane, but it was too quiet to make out. At the top, I went in the only direction available to me again: to the right.

Close in the distance were many small pinpoints of light, extending into thin shafts that fell onto the 'floor'. They were so bright compared to the dim light of the flashlight I was used to. I had to squint my eyes, almost like it was... daylight? Was this the end, coming this far just to be blocked so close to an exit? No, it can't be. Now able to look in the light, I brought my flashlight up, barely revealing a pile of rocks.

This must have been some sort of abandoned transportation project like I guessed before, but I still had my doubts. The noise, which I could now actually listen to since I was closer, was that of a breeze picking up, not of vehicles driving by, cars honking, or people talking. So, this must not actually connect to the city. Also, this end would have probably been properly sealed off instead of just blocked off with some rocks anyone could easily move away -- such as me.

I started clearing a path. None of the rocks I moved away were much larger than my hands, but that wasn't to say they were light. I couldn't have chucked any of them behind me if I wanted to. Quickly I realized I was just wasting precious energy clearing away the bottom as well, so I just picked away at the top half so I could climb up and through.

With each stone moved, the the tiny point of light grew larger and more numerous until I broke through to the outside, where they merged into large holes. Finally, fresh air filled my nose and lungs again. The rustling of the grass and trees was also earier to hear. I could see the greens of the vegetation and the blues of the sky, vibrant and overwhelming me with joy after having to witness gray longer than anyone should have to. Moving more stones, the window expanded and I could see more. This appeared to be some sort of clearing, though it was unfamiliar. Was I even still in the park? In the center of it all was some abandoned building I have definitely never seen before based on what I could see from here. It looked like it was made of stone -- bleh, I'm tired of stone -- and severely broken down, with plantlife crawling over it and trying to eat it. Now that I've cleared enough space for myself, I crawled through and stepped out onto the ground I sorely missed.

Only now was I aware of how much of a challenge walking was, so I laid down for a minute to recover my strength. The grass swayed in the heavy wind. Since I had my hands on my chest, I could only feel it brush against the sides of my face. It was tall enough to hide me completely. Looking around, I noticed the surrounding trees were quite tall as well. The only noise I could hear other than those of nature was my own breathing. There was no chirping of the birds or the pattering of feet; I was still alone. As I stared up at the cloudless sky, I could feel the aura of peace this clearing radiated. Surely I was the first animal to disturb this place in a long time.

I was still hungry and sore, but felt ready enough to walk again. Rolling over onto my belly, I had to push myself up onto my two feet. I picked up my flashlight and realized it was still on. Being able to turn it off made me glad I didn't skimp out on batteries the last time I had to buy some.

The thick grass and other growth crunched beneath my feet. My pace toward the ruins was slow since I both was tired and didn't want to disturb the peacefulness of the environment more than I had to. I had so many questions. Who made this building; were they the same people who dug out the tall passage? What was it -- a shrine, a house? When was it built, and when was it abandoned? Why was it abandoned?

The ceiling was long gone; so were most of the walls. The foundation was severely cracked and was overtaken by the greens and browns of plants and roots. Right away, I tripped over something, but I wasn't sure if it was the upheaved chunk of stone behind me or the root that displaced it. In the center of the building was a great statue, seemingly untouched by the forces that consumed everything else.

It -- I couldn't figure out if it was male or female -- was some strange creature towering over me in height with an arm reaching upward. The figure was humanoid in appearance, having a head, torso, two arms, and two legs, but also had a tail resting on the ground. Each of its toes and fingers were long and tipped with claws. There was no hair or ears on its head, and its nose and mouth seemed to have been stretched out into a snout. The mouth hung open, revealing a set of all pointed teeth, with a pair of longer teeth near the front of both jaws that resembled fangs. Its tongue was forked at the end. The entire body was carved to resemble scales. All in all, it looked like some combination of a person and a lizard. Walking up to the statue, I placed an arm on its belly and stared upward in awe.

Of course, the creature was fictional and not real, but I wanted to know more about who he or she was. Some of the chunks of rock nearby appeared to be etched with bits of messages, but it was all too weathered down by the elements over time to be legible. One piece resting on the statue's foot revealed an intact inscription when I flipped it over, but it was written in some scrawled-out-looking script that I couldn't read -- or even recognized, for that matter. Was this structure so old that it outlived a culture, a language even?

Too bad I didn't bring a camera or notebook or anything to record this with! I needed to go home, pack up my equipment, and come back here as fast as possible. Then, I would inform all the newspapers and news stations about my discovery. Everyone in the city would know me, 'our local accidental explorer'. People would flock here to finish the tunnel so the flood of visitors could check this out. Forget the disturblessness of the clearing; if nobody was supposed to come here, why build a statue in the open? This guaranteed fame ahead of me must be the vague 'greatness' that had been predicted time and time again. I must go now; there was no reason for me to stand here and waste time!

As I turned to leave, however, something caught my eye. Around the figure's neck was a crude necklace, made of some dark thread with more sharp teeth threaded through it. If the figure before me was some sort of warrior -- which it might have been, going by its proud posture and defiant face -- they may have been trophies of his or her enemies. Reaching up to feel them, my hand jerked back right away from stabbing myself. Ouch! Turns out they were still sharp!

If I was going to attract tourists here, I may as well take something as a souvenier for myself, protected from the defilement from others. The necklace would be perfect; anyway, it looked like it would suit me well. However, I was a hair too short to reach it over the statue's head, and I didn't want to jump up to clear the height in fear of knocking over and destroying a part of the past. Instead, I undid the knot in the back holding it together and brought it down.

Holding the necklace in my hands made me feel powerful, strong. It did not just merely fit me well; it was like it was attuned to me. Hastily, I redid the knot as best I could. My skill with string -- and by extension, rope -- was terrible, but it was good enough. With my hands trembling, I raised the strand above me and brought it down around my head, letting go once it rested on my neck and sweatshirt.

And then I was blanketed in pain over every surface of my body.

Everything ached. My muscles were sore and useless. Ribs, legs, arms -- each bone in me was under immense pressure and desperately needed to break, if only the pressure allowed any room to do so. My skin was being dragged across a carpet after a long summer day without sunscreen. I did not remember falling; the impact of my head on the uneven floor was so dull in comparison to the horrible pain that it didn't register. The pain, the searing pain, the overwhleming fury attacking me was too much. I did not black out, but my mind shut down. I think. It hurt to think, to live, to exist. A fog rolled in over my brain, making everything increasingly distant until I was completely engulfed.

---

An eternity passed before I became conscious again. Everything felt sore, but at least I could open my eyes and blink. Blinking, yes, blinking was good. As long as one could see, one could still alive, and if you were alive, you could still fight. Hearing came back too, with the whistling of the wind. Wind. Cold. Chilly. Heat would be good. Blink. Why were the trees all leaning over? Oh. I'm on the floor. Anger, anger at myself slow thinking, warmed me. Being slow got yourself killed and made you weak. Yes, warmth. So long without warmth.

I stood up and blinked some more, stretching my limbs out. Good, good. This felt nice. The strength in my body came back within seconds, but such a flaw was embarassing. I was not some old animal, unable to hunt for my share and stealing from the rest of the pack, deserving to die. No. I was a proud fighter, culler of weak. I brought my hand to my necklace, sliding a finger across each well-earned piece. Yes. Each fang was a glorious victory against those who thought they could get away with harming my people. Memories came back as I passed over each tooth. Indeed, I was a great warrior. And great warriors should probably be aware of where they are when they wake from sleeping forever in the middle of nowhere!

Looking face-to-face with my statue's eyes, I knew where I was now. Yes. I was safe, safe in the lands of my people. Why was I here in particular, though, and not in my hall or the tent of a camp? How dare my memory fail me! I am better than this. I am not weak. I am not...

Where was everyone? Tilting my head to the sky, I clicked my tongue loudly. Someone will respond, someone I can go to and have inform me on the situation. Anytime now. Even if an enemy came to me silently, it would be better than nothing. Even the world's greatest swordsman would still fear me unarmed; even the best archer could not take me out from the shadows. I would wring out answers from any foe who would dare to approach me.

The minutes passed, and nothing happened. Meanwhile, I paced back and forth on the broken ruins below me. Not even the lowliest of my people could see this disrepair to the glory of I who protect them and leave it in good conscience. How long was I asleep? If we were attacked, I would have been woken and ready to defend. If everyone was forced to leave for some reason, I would have known immediately and would not have slept a moment until the threat was gone. Yet, here I am, untouched by whatever force that spared me and nobody else.

Paths do not fade in a day, or a month, or a year, and neither do trees grow in such time, especially those as tall as around me. Everything I fought for, abandoned for what must be countless years. Dozens. Hundreds. There was no other way, unless this was all an elaborate trick, and I needed to know why. Now.

Picking a direction, I sped off toward the trees. I bet this is the work of those stupid humans, believing they are worth a piece of the world with their pathetic lifespan. I swear, I will--

---

Finally, I woke up. Nothing hurt anymore, save for the front of my neck, and I could think clearly again. The tall grass tickled my arms, legs, and back. Wait, I was wearing clothes. What? My eyes darted down to my chest and bulged in surprise.

What I was staring at was not my body. It did not have skin anywhere; instead, green scales coated all that I could see. The hands and feet belonged on a monster, having brutal-looking sharp nails and long digits. Between the legs was some sort of long appendage, also green, that tapered to a point. What was this? The body looked striking similar to not just the statue but also... something else I couldn't remember.

The time to leave was long past if I'm going unconscious and waking up next to corpses of strange beings. Pushing my arms off the ground, I lifted myself up, wincing at the soreness of my neck.

The... thing... pushed its arms off the ground and got up, too.

Time stopped as I froze in shock, looking outward. Okay, okay, if I don't move and don't look at it, maybe it won't hurt me. I was just groggy from coming to and was probably hallucinating. All I needed to do was just calm down and reassure myself what was real. Taking deep breaths, I noticed that much more of my vision than usual was being taken up by my nose. It was just my eyesight still being messed up; that's all. Clenching my teeth made my gums hurt, so I left my mouth slightly open.

I focused on the ground my feet to further try to relax. The strong dirt supported my weight underneath my left and right feet -- and something else, between them and further back. Whatever it was, I wasn't going to look at it; it wasn't real. I could also feel the grass between my toes and the phantom limb -- a tail, somewhere in the back of my head said.

The wind picked up again and chilled me to the bone. It was freezing! I wished I knew what happened to my clothes. The searing heat of... whatever happened -- I couldn't remember -- would be preferable to this. Bringing my arms to my chest, I started to warm myself, desperate for any sort of heat.

Ouch! Something right under the edge of my hand stabbed me. Stumbling backwards, I tripped, shooting pain through the... 'tail'. I groaned after hitting the ground back-first. Lying there, I tried to recall whatever happened to me. There was a hole between putting on the pendant and waking up away from the ruins that I could not remember. It wasn't the distant remains of a dream; it felt like it wasn't even my own memory.

I put myself back in the tree-ish state of mind. Surely, the hallucinations would go away if I just cleared my mind. I don't know how long I remained there, but I jolted up once I realized I was about to fall asleep. Looking down, I still saw the weird, green creature's body instead of my own, as well as feeling the 'tail'. The only improvement was that my neck hurt slightly less now.

Hopefully a little walk would fix me. Only now was I aware that I was still in the clearing, just near the edge of it. The statue and shrine were nearby, as well as the half-buried tunnel.

At the ruins were my clothes, or at least what was left of them. My sweatshirt was ripped to shreds, and my shorts had a tear from the middle of the back upwards. The flashlight was still in its pocket, the only item that was intact. There was no necklace, however. Wait. Bringing my hand to my neck, I realized it wasn't on me anymore. It wasn't on the statue, either. Also, either the statue shrunk or I grew since I no longer had to look up into its eyes; we were the same height now.

Retracing my steps to where I woke up, I nearly clotheslined myself with a tree branch I didn't see until it was almost too late. My poor neck would not have been happy! Hanging on the branch, though, was the missing necklace, with the knot undone. How did it get there? Vaguely, I remembered having run away from the shrine before waking up. What was I trying to run away from; actually, was it even me that ran away?

Bringing my hand to the teeth, it became hard to think. I felt like I was getting sucked away. The urge to put the necklace back on took all my will to resist, while my shaking hands felt like they were being controlled by someone else -- the same someone else that seemed to own the memory hole in my head. Now, I could feel the emotions from then coming back. Pride. Self-disappointment. Hatred of humans, my own kind. It was all too much! My grip -- When did I grab it? -- on the necklace was that of death. As long as I held on to it, I was safe from the storm trying to consume me. I couldn't reel myself in, but someone else was; to be safe, I needed to give in and let myself be guided, be controlled...

Finally, after an eternity, I managed to let go of the accursed thing, and it landed on the ground. I almost forgot who I was, becoming a visitor in the back of a stranger's brain, watching but unable to do anything. During the fight for my life, however, I must have recovered what happened to me during that mysterious span of time. After I went unconscious, I had woken up and thought I was some great warrior of the past -- the warrior from the statue. The memory cut off abruptly, probably when the necklace was caught and undone by the tree. Who would have thought that my poor tying skills would actually save a life -- my life -- and not make someone lose their life?

Now, I looked down at the scaley body -- my scaley body -- again, and accepted that this was not a hallucination. This was real. The searing pain from putting on the necklace must have been me starting to transform before I passed out. I wonder: was this some sort of crazy technique to revive someone -- to change some unsuspecting person's body, and then possess their mind? Nobody should ever have to be victim to losing their mind. Crouching down, I dug a small pit with my claws and covered up the item, hoping neither critter nor person would accidentally find it and try it on, whether out of curiosiy or being compelled to do so.

What was I capable of, now? Sprinting around the edge of the clearing, I could run much faster than I ever could as a human. Keeping up the pace, I didn't feel exhaustion set in. My endurance must be much better as well. Once I stopped, I skittered up a tree -- something I never could have done before. Climbing, no, leaping back down, I decided to try uprooting the tree just for the fun of it. Tugging back in vain, it was of course still impossible, but I felt stronger anyway. This was not a curse; this was a blessing, to have such a form and escape paying the cost of my identity.

I returned to the shrine and picked up my flashlight, leaving the rest alone, and headed toward the tunnel. I couldn't help but become giddy and skip in excitement. I wouldn't just be known in the city for a discovery; I would be famous worldwide for being the first of my kind in modern history. Surely, I never would have thought the vague 'greatness' destined for me would be on such a grand scale; also, the greatness would be my own to claim, not someone long dead.