"So this is another world, huh?"

Annie looked around. Rocky hills. No signs of humanity, just wilderness.

"You know I really didn't think it would work," she said, to no one in particular. "Magic's pretty amazing, I guess."

It meant she was far from home, though.

"Guess I should try to get back, now that I know it works."

She thought about it. A two hour ritual to get back, and all she had to do was focus on this... anchor, the bracelet Laine gave her for her birthday.

Laine. Oh, Laine would love this magic. Laine loved anything that was fantasy-like.

But... but what to do now that she was here? Annie started to wander a little aimlessly, keeping close to where she'd arrived, moving in widening circles. There was something about this place that was attractive in its own right. Annie had always lived in the city, hardly ever left it except to go to another one. She liked green spaces—she had a regular weekly soccer game in the park, and it was one of her favourite things to do, along with taking long walks with Laine by the river or in the forest—but green spaces within the city wasn't the same as being out in the wilderness.

The way the wind sounded as it moved through the hills was... different. Comforting. Quieting. The smell of it, free of the taste of concrete or factory smoke or vehicle exhaust, was new, and alluring. She leaned down to pick up a loose stone, about the size of the palm of her hand, warmed in the sun; jagged, rough, an experience all its own.

She was thinking that she should get back. A bird called nearby, distracting her. A distant cloud looked like a fox. She sat on the ground, intent on starting the ritual. A frog hopped nearby. A frog meant water, right? Annie looked around to find the pond, or stream, or river...

And the stream was flowing downhill. Annie followed it. Maybe she'd get to a bigger lake, or even an ocean. She'd been in this world for... half an hour? It was about time to go home, but...

But the lake was so nice. She liked green spaces. She sat by the edge. Took off her shoes. Paddled a bit in the cool water. She wondered about the frog.

She tried to think about Laine, ran her fingers over the bracelet, but the sun was just too warm, and the lake too nice, and the birds too melodic, and the wilderness just too wild.

The sun was setting. Annie decided that the lakeside was a good place to sleep. She might try to remember who gave her the bracelet tomorrow.