Dead Men Tell The Best Tales

Lucas grew nervous. "I need to get away from this circle," he muttered, touching his neck as the memory of the cheetah attacking him is still in his mind.

"If that cheetah comes back… or worse, something even scarier shows up… Better safe than sorry."

Saying this, he started running straight through the trees for about a minute.

Eventually, he reached a strange open area where no trees grew. The ground was covered in soft grass, and colourful flowers shifted gently in the air.

At the center stood a dark green stone platform, covered in twisting tree roots. On top of it was a glowing green orb, its light moving around it like slow waves.

The platform reached up to Lucas's chest, while the orb was about the size of half a football. The entire structure glowed with a faint green light.

Curious, Lucas stopped about 70 meters away, staring at it. "What is that thing?" he whispered, slowly stepping closer.

Suddenly, a bright white flash erupted from behind him, lighting up the area where he had just come from. The glow cut through the trees like a spotlight.

Lucas's chest tightened. "Oh no... not again!" His hands shook as he quickly looked around for a place to hide.

"I need to hide! Maybe it won't come this way... but I can't take any chances," he thought, scanning the area in panic.

His eyes landed on a tree nearby. "Climb! Yeah, that'll work!"

He grabbed the tree and tried to pull himself up. His grip slipped, and he fell on his back.

"Ow! Ah, damn it!"

"How do people make this look so easy in videos?" He complained, rubbing his back as he stood up, glaring at the tree.

Then, an idea hit him. "Wait... why climb when I can make fire?" A smile spread across his face. "Yeah, fire! Humanity's oldest weapon! I'll just scare the animals away... Easy, right?"

He let out an awkward laugh. "Hahaaaa! Lucas, the mighty flame master! Scaring cheetahs and wild animals!"

Some seconds later, Lucas focused on the task, he began searching for dry leaves and branches. But strangely, he couldn't find a single fallen leaf or broken stick.

Confused, he looked up at the trees. "Weird... Not a single leaf or fallen branch?"

"Well, whatever," he said, focusing back on the grass. "Fine. Grass and rocks it is!"

He knelt down and grabbed a handful of grass, pulling it hard.

Poof!

The grass quickly turned white, then broke apart, slowly disappearing into the air like dust.

Lucas blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, confused. "What... the hell?"

Confused, he tried again, this time carefully holding the grass between his hands and pulling it out slowly.

Poof!

It disappeared just like before.

Lucas froze, his hand still in the air above the dirt. "What the fuck? What kind of world is this?!"

He tried once more. Poof! Gone again.

"Are you kidding me? Grass can disappear too?!" He muttered, staring at his empty hands.

He bent down to inspect the dirt closely.

But suddenly,

Whack!

A tree branch smacked him hard on the back of his head.

"Ah, what the! !" Lucas cried out, falling forward and landing his face into the dirt.

He spat out the dirt that had gotten into his mouth while pushing himself up, feeling dizzy and confused.

"Who just hit me?" Turning around, he saw the tree's branches moving angrily.

"Wait... the tree is mad because I pulled the grass?" Lucas muttered while looking at the ground from which he pulled the grass out. "What the fuck, trees can attack too?"

Before he could process it, the branch moved at him again.

Whoosh! Thwack!

"Ah! Stop!" Lucas yelled, dodging clumsily. He tried to run, but the grass beneath him came alive too.

Next they wrapped around his ankle, making him fall to the ground.

Lucas tried to get up again, but the grass began wrapping around his entire body.

He screamed, "No, no, no!" struggling desperately as the grass continued tightening around his arms, legs, and the rest of his body.

Next,

Whip! Whip!

"Aahh!, Aahh!"

Lucas screamed as the tree smacked his ass with its branch.

"Stop, please!" he begged sincerely. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tree! I won't pull out the grass again! Please forgive me!"

The tree paused, as if considering his apology.

The branches pulled back. The grass loosened its hold and retreated, freeing Lucas.

He lay there breathing heavily, his body sore. "I can't believe… I just got beaten up by a tree," he said, his voice still shaking due to pain.