A New, Familiar Land

It was a bright sunny day when the boy gathered his things, deciding to head out on a little adventure. Barely older than 12, he'd spent most of his time in the forest with his mother, hearing warnings as far back as he could remember to never leave the forest.

This day however he decided to ignore those warnings. After all, what could possibly be out there that was worth being warned about? Whatever it was, he felt old enough to deal with it, so he filled a few packs with snacks and some water skins and headed out.

It was a fairly big forest, and he explored it often so it was quite a while before he reached the edge of the tree line and saw lands new to him. A vast expanse of land stretched out in all directions, and he stood there for many minutes taking it all in. Finally deciding on a direction, he started walking again.

As he walked, he noticed a large structure nearing him on the horizon. The closer he got, the bigger it seemed to be. A vast building, reaching up into the sky. Made of stone and covered in old vines. He knew he'd never seen it before, or anything like it, but something felt familiar about it. Shaking it off, he moved on.

He came next to a narrow path branching off of a cliff. Gathering up his courage he took a few steps onto it, before noticing how high he was and hurrying back. After another few minutes of psyching himself up, he carefully crossed the thankfully very sturdy bridge.

On and on he walked, stopping now and then to rest under a tree and eat a snack or drink some water. Continuing on, he came to a place where the ground grew darker and it felt harder on his feet. Looking out across the landscape, he encountered another wonder.

Dotted across the field were tiny mounds, out of which huge columns of water were shooting forth! Amazed, he ran towards them, intent on investigating. He didn't get the chance. Before he got close enough to one, something else caught his eye.

Amidst a cluster of the mounds, was an enormous rock. The largest one he'd ever seen. He felt compelled to approach it, to examine it. It was truly massive, and oddly shaped. He reached out his hand to touch it, and in the same moment his other gripped his head. He grit his teeth and grimaced as a surge of emotions rushed into his head, images and sounds he never encountered but somehow remembered. Just as he was about to collapse, he heard hoof beats approaching from behind.

"Wander! Wander, what are you doing out here?! I told you never to come here!" Turning his head, the boy looked upon his mother with relief, running over to her.

"I'm sorry mother, I couldn't help it! I just had to" He cried, before climbing onto the familiar black steed behind his mother. Clinging to her waist as she lead them both back to their home.