Tales of IRMA
Chapter 3: Where Am I?
THUD!
Irma suddenly landed on soft, moss-covered ground.
“AAAHHH! MY ASS!”
She sat there for a few seconds, trying to stop her head from spinning and figure out what had just happened.
“Where… am I? OMG! What happened to my clothes?!”
She lifted her head and looked around.
Enormous trees stretched high into the sky. Some had pink trunks, while others had blue leaves. Giant mushrooms seemed to glow all on their own. Irma rubbed her eyes.
“Whoa…”
This was unlike any forest she had ever seen.
Wait… were some of those trees MOVING?!
Irma shook her head.
“Okay, Irma, calm down. You’re probably just having a really weird dream.”
She gave herself a little pinch.
“OW! Okay… Definitely not a dream.”
Just then, she remembered her friends.
“ALEX?! DONATELLO?! SIMON?!”
No answer.
“GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Only strange bird calls echoed in the distance.
“Great… I’m all alone in a forest I’ve never seen before. What could possibly go wrong?”
RUSTLE… RUSTLE…
Irma froze. Something had moved in the bushes.
“Is it normal to feel like I’m being watched?”
Slowly, she turned her head. A pair of enormous yellow eyes was staring right at her. Then another pair appeared… And another!
“U-uh… Hello?”
The eyes suddenly vanished.
“Okaaay… Maybe they’re just cute little forest animals.”
But just then, a strange creature with long pink ears and an unsettlingly curious expression peeked out from behind a tree to her right. Irma stared at it. The creature stared back. Neither of them moved for several seconds. Then the creature quietly slipped back behind the tree.
“That… was definitely NOT a normal rabbit.”
Just as Irma was about to get up, a faint cracking sound came from deep within the forest.
CRACK… CRACK… CRACK…
It sounded as if someone was walking over dry branches. Every pair of eyes hidden in the bushes turned toward the sound at once. Irma turned her head, too. Far away, between the trees, two yellow lights appeared. And they were slowly getting closer.
Irma gulped.
“I guess… I’m not alone here after all.”