Strange Worlds

"Ack!?"

Bell shot up, having suddenly awoken with her back on the ground.

I'm alive... I think...

She looked about stiffly, as she realized she was freezing cold, like having gone through a brief blizzard, she quickly clung her arms to her body to shiver a little as she finally took in her surroundings.

Apart from the sweat on her skin, she was dry all over, so the 'liquid' hadn't been a real liquid at all, she guessed, as she shivered a little more, despite the pleasantly warm sunlight that fell down on her, while her eyes curiously focused upon her surroundings.

This is not where I was before...

Her scenery had definitely changed; with peculiar, dark, twisted and taller trees all about her, but something even stranger made her freeze more than the cold she felt.

Higher above in the sky; there were floating islands - made of large chunks of dirt, with trees and grass, actually hovering freely up there in a variety of sizes and shapes, as a fair few of them scattered about in the blue sky.

What's going on with that...?

Bell blinked her eyes a few times, but they remained up there for her to clearly see.

Where am I...?

Something moving next caught her eye; as a bug, perhaps a bee, flew nearer and rapidly closer, before Bell realized it was getting much bigger than normal as it neared.

She continued to sit still as the very air hummed with its big buzzing wings, as the near body sized insect flew right over her, and continued on without any interest in the stunned figure below.

None of this is making any sense... did I shrink too...?

Bell finally stood, after she was sure the giant bug was long gone, and had another glance about, again finding a tiny shimmering pond near her booted feet, while everything else around had clearly changed.

This place is completely weird... well the grass seems the same though...

Slightly worried she was trapped in - wherever she was now - however Bell's curiosity led her to walk about, looking for perhaps an answer to her many questions she now had.

Since I'm here... may as well see what's about...

As Bell wandered along, the shade of a overhead 'floating island' steadily came above her, sparking a dramatic change in her immediate area.

The twisted and leafless trees suddenly bloomed to life; becoming totally covered by many glowing pink, blooming flowers, that opened up to roughly become hand sized, spreading all over each tree, and sending a sweet smell into the air, after springing forth from the dark wood.

"Wow... so pretty...!"

Softly escaped Bell's lips, as she slowly swirled around to take in all the incredible and unbelievable change in her environment.

Then just as quick as it came, the sunlight returned, and the brightly bloomed flowers instantly reverted, before slurping themselves back into the trees with a chorus of faint pops.

This is an odd place... I've never heard of trees doing that before... let alone floating parts of ground either...

The forest became rather plain again, but Bell soon heard another huge insect near her, and then caught sight of another scouting bee, amid the plain branches, perhaps searching for its own food.

She again went very still, extremely wary of the big bug, that slightly unnerved her, even though it didn't appear menacing at all, and like the other, it just went on its way without bothering the watchful woman on the ground.

I've never really cared much for bugs...

In the clear again, she passed by a few more now plain trees, before Bell came across a very sudden fall of the land, a very abrupt jagged cliff, that parted steeply before her and revealed a vast, almost pale, but cloudy blue sea far below her. The 'sea' stretched out to the far horizon, almost undisturbed, apart from more of the present 'floating islands', but something else had more of her attention than the new spectacular view.

It's undeniable... that is obviously un-natural...

Bell peered over the cliffs edge to better see more, to find a shadowed area of water way beneath her, and soon figured she too was on a 'floating island' herself, which was far higher than she expected, so becoming rather jittery at the huge height above the cloudy sea, she sat down carefully near the great drop and squinted toward her latest discovery.

It has to be some kind of boat...!