Day 340

He was in a tent in the woods on a week long getaway - no mobile, no laptop, flare gun just in case.
The aim was to go tech free and relax away from all the bad news and crowded city life.
He'd just finished settling in for the night, tent happily suspended between two trees.

There were the usual sounds of nature around him, insects, a few night birds, feet steadily walking
along a wooden floor in a way that reminded him of his grandmother's old house.
Wait that last one, that didn't seem right but as he sat up and listened it continued.

He wasn't asleep, no he was wide awake and slowly moving towards the zip on the tent.
Surely he must be imagining things, the ground was mostly mud around here.
The zip made a deafening noise as he pulled it down and the footsteps stopped.

He held his breath hearing only silence, the woods had become deathly still.
Peering through the partially open tentflap he looked around in surprise.
The woods he was in were suddenly so different.

Gone was the muddy floor, replaced with polished wood that pale trees were sprouting from.
Occasionally there seemed to be chairs growing from both the floor and trees.
Grabbing his rucksack and forsaking his boots he got out of his tent as quietly as possible.

His thick socks barely made a sound which was good, he felt, better to be stealthy until you know
what's happening here and who is here - especially who is here.
The flare gun could double up as a weapon, right?

He certainly hoped so.
Looking up he saw that the ceiling seemed to have small lights in it, this whole place was fake.
Well, it seemed fake... the trees felt real though... maybe he was just dreaming.

He pinched his arm hard and confirmed that he was definitely awake.
Hopefully there would be an exit somewhere so he could escape to the actual woods.
The wilderness seemed safer than this sterile mockery.

The further along he went (choosing to head right from the tent) the more dilapidated the trees grew.
Instead of those seamless, almost perfect trees there were gradually more and more misshapen and
warped attempts of trees, like someone had the idea of a tree but never see one before.

The sound of boots clicking along the (still perfect) wooden flooring threw him into panic.
His thoughts became consumed by the overwhelming need to hide, quick, danger, don't be seen.
He just about managed to squeeze himself into a hollow lump of a tree.

The sound of the boots grew faster as they approached him and he held his breath.
Louder and louder, closer and closer, he could hear rabid panting and
The footsteps ran behind his hiding place and off into the distance.

Peering out he saw something that could only be described as four humans stitched together at the
waist and severely overfed to the point where you'd expect them to burst at the seams.
One of the torsos swivelled to face him and shrieked, mouth extending from under the nose to waist.

He struggled to get out of his cramped hiding space-turned-trap.
It lost him precious time and by god that thing was fast.
A small part of his mind reckoned it was because it had so many legs in comparison.

The sound of several mouths panting to their own rhythm grew louder behind him as he fled.
He swerved and ducked under chairs, hoping to lose the thing.
Just as he rounded a corner it sprang out in front of him.

Five arms came hurling towards him and he blacked out.
He woke up to a blinding light and thought for a moment he'd just been sleepwalking.
As he squinted, still partially blinded,  he saw perfect looking trees.

The ceiling lights were on full blast and everything felt burnt.
He looked around and saw he was tied to one of the chairs, high up in a tree.
The rope looked to have grown from the bark.

He tried to move his feet, kick his legs up but felt nothing.
Gazing down he saw his legs were gone and he had company instead.
The torso that had screeched at him rose up from the slumped monstrosity they were a part of.

Its smile didn't seem so scary now, it looked pleased.
Up close he could see how leathery its skin was and how his own skin tone contrasted the rest.
The other torsos peered at him one by one, nodding their approval.

Slowly they managed to get up on their complex array of limbs and set off in a new direction.
Unused to his placement he ended up flopping all over the place until another torso grabbed him.
He was adjusted to a comfortable position facing down, he noticed how only two feet wore shoes.