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It started as an ordinary afternoon. Twelve-year-old Jake Carter had always been the type to wander, his curiosity pulling him into the dense forests behind his family’s quiet countryside home. He had explored those woods dozens of times, always looking for old bottles, animal tracks, or anything else that might spark his imagination. But on this particular day, what he found wasn’t an old coin or a rusted-out piece of farm equipment—it was something that defied explanation.
Buried halfway in the soil, covered in moss and dirt, was a strange metallic object. It wasn’t a can or a piece of junk. It was smooth, almost too perfect, like it had no business being in the middle of the forest. At first, he thought it might be a rock, but when he brushed the dirt away, he realized it was some kind of disk, cold to the touch, with symbols faintly etched along its surface. The thing felt heavy, almost unnatural, as if it didn’t belong to the earth at all.
Jake’s heart raced. He wasn’t sure whether to be excited or afraid. Was this some kind of buried treasure? An old war relic? Something even more mysterious? He pulled the object free, wiped it down with his sleeve, and turned it over in his hands. That’s when he noticed something that made his stomach twist—a glowing blue light flickering from within a tiny groove on the surface.
Something about it felt alive.
Jake stuffed the object into his backpack and ran home, his mind spinning with possibilities. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.
That night, long after everyone in his house had gone to bed, he sat on the floor of his room, staring at the strange disk. It was buzzing faintly now, vibrating, as if responding to his presence. His pulse quickened. He placed it on his desk, reaching out cautiously, his fingers hovering just above its surface.
The moment he touched it—
A blinding flash of light engulfed the room.
Jake gasped as he felt a sudden warmth rush through his body. His mind flooded with images—unfamiliar landscapes, towering structures, machines unlike anything on Earth. He saw symbols flash before his eyes, ones he couldn’t read but somehow understood. And then, just as quickly as it started, the light vanished. The disk now sat silent and dark on his desk, as if nothing had happened.
But Jake knew something had changed.
In the days that followed, he began to experience strange abilities. He could see patterns in everything—the way the wind moved through the trees, the rhythm of people’s speech, even the static on the television. His mind worked faster than ever before, solving puzzles in seconds, reading entire books in a single sitting. His reflexes sharpened—so much so that he could catch a falling pencil before it even hit the ground.
And then, there were the dreams.
Night after night, he found himself standing in a vast, shimmering city that stretched across a strange planet. He could see towering spires, floating vehicles, and creatures that looked almost human—but not quite. He felt as if he had been there before, as if the knowledge buried deep in his mind was trying to wake up.
Had the object somehow unlocked something in his brain? Had he stumbled upon something he was never meant to find?
Jake knew one thing for certain: whatever he had touched in the woods wasn’t from this world. And now, he wasn’t sure if he was either.