When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (mobi reader android TXT) 📗

in bright yellow rays, but it didn’t give off the same heat she was accustomed to. The field was neither hot nor cold, but just… perfect.

Turning around, she saw a river snake across the meadow to her right, stretching out into the horizon. Unearthly birds with pink beaks and rainbow feathers dipped down to retrieve fish that seemed to mimic a smile. Snow tipped mountains loomed on the horizon at heights intimidating to even the bravest of climbers.

As Avia continued to meander, the meadow gave way to a massive jungle. She stepped under the canopy of leaves and walked further until the river was out of sight. The chirping of tropical birds and the chattering of monkeys filled her ears. She looked up and saw three rainbow-colored tamarins chasing one another through the branches, then vanish into wisps of smoke.

Even stranger, a toucan and a chameleon on its hind legs soon passed in front of her. The two appeared to be engaged in conversation, casually moving their forelegs and wings as they communicated through some unspoken language.

Avia stood in shock, blinking to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. She stared after them, mouth agape, until they too disappeared. When she was sure they were gone, she continued onwards, shaking her head in a daze.

The forest floor was carpeted in a lime green moss, occasionally parted by the roots of enormous trees. Despite having traveled the world when she was younger, Avia had never seen trees like these before. Their wide trunks thinned as they rose, bending and twisting themselves into breathtaking pieces of art. The deeper she went, the more often she had to step over vines and evade chunky, bright red mushrooms that stood at least four feet tall.

Avia couldn’t tell if she had been walking for ten minutes or an hour; her body was entirely free from fatigue. However, as fascinating as the jungle was, she wanted to explore other parts of this strange world. Deciding to turn back the way she came, she began her trek back to the entrance.

“Who are you?”

Avia started, unaware there’d been someone else so close. She spun around to pinpoint the voice, but saw no one. It spoke again.

“It’s very rare for humans to stumble into this world.”

“Who are you? Or where are you, I guess, to be more specific…” she added, carefully scanning the jungle.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the voice replied. “I keep forgetting people can’t see me this way.” A cat materialized in the tree above her, perched on one of the low hanging branches. It was the most beautiful animal she’d ever encountered. It had dark grey fur with glowing silver-blue streaks swirling across its body. It was staring down with very large blue eyes that she had never seen on a cat before. But what was most intriguing was its smile. It stared down at her with a wide grin that stretched ear to ear, exposing sharp, pointed teeth.

“You’re… a cat.”

“And you’re a girl.”

“Sorry, it’s just that I’m not used to talking animals and stuff…”

“You’ve never been here before?”

“Where is here, exactly?” she asked distractedly. A huddle of terrier-sized ants marched a few yards behind the cat. They appeared to be carrying something between them. As they got closer, Avia could see it was the corpse of a giant mouse.

Leaning closer, the cat sniffed the air and crinkled his nose. “You’re a human, but at the same time, not. You’re like one of the spirits, but at the same time, you’re not a spirit… Wait! You have been here before, haven’t you?”

“I’m pretty sure I’d remember something like this,” Avia said in disgust, tearing her eyes away from the ants to face the cat.

“No, not here like you are now, but in your dreams,” he said, waving his paw. “Think back to when you were little. Did you ever have dreams that completely took you away from the world and sucked you into something... magical?” He batted his eyelashes at the word in a manner that was both adorable and immensely bizarre.

Avia opened her mouth to deny his question, but paused.

Long forgotten memories slowly crept to the forefront of her mind. “Actually, yes!” she exclaimed. The memories were now a surging torrent. “My imaginary friend was here—crap, I can’t remember her name. And my favorite stuffed animal, Yoni, the elephant! I’d ride on his back and we’d go on adventures and explore caves… We’d do—”

“Anything your mind could think of?”

“Yes! I could fly, I could breathe underwater, I—"

“It was like you were a god.”

“Yeah… I remember telling my mom about it, but she just marked it up to the overly active imagination of a six-year-old. Then— when I got older, I stopped dreaming…”

The cat tilted his head and looked inquisitively at Avia. Her brow furrowed in thought and her skin blanched. The excitement faded, and things and words and people far more solid took its place.

“Ah,” he said quietly. “And when you lost the ability to dream, you lost the power to run away.”

The cat moved closer, climbing to a lower branch to rest above her shoulder. Avia sniffed and wiped her eyes, doing her best to hold back the tears.

“C- cat,” she choked, “where am I?”

“Everywhere and nowhere. To be technical…” He scratched his chin with his claws. “Prana, Ananta, the Astral Plane— the aether. I guess to make it easier to understand, we’re in the Spirit World.”

“So, I’m dead?” Avia whispered, lowering herself onto the mossy ground.

“Not at all. Let me see if I can word it better.” The cat paused in thought. “So, there’s Earth Proper, the real world, if you can call just one world real… The world where you’re from. The Annwn is the back of the coin, a parallel of Earth Proper where the supernatural exists. Then there’s the nothing; the