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The Arks: Over Heaven

Chapter 1: New World

“Bawk! Bawk bawk bawk!”

Samuel was jolted awake to the feeling of something pecking away at his arm. The sun was barely rising, and he could feel sand across his back, and everything felt soft yet rough. He groggily lifted his head, and he could see an ocean with waves crashing on the beach and…

“Hold on just a moment, why am I at the beach? And what is pecking at me?” Samuel thought, a sickness crossing his stomach. He turned his head to see a strange bird staring at him curiously.

“AHHHHHHH!” Samuel let out a high-pitched shriek as he skittered away from the strange creature. His pupils began to shrink in fear, and his graduation robe started to feel itchy, his chest tensing up and his hairs raising up on end. The bird had soft, big feathers running across its body, and a large beak that could eat his fingers in one bite. Samuel couldn’t recognize the creature, but it looked harmless enough.

“Okay, okay, it seems friendly enough, but,” Samuel looked around at the palm trees and the sandy plains with horror in his eyes.

“WHERE THE HECK AM I?!”

Samuel slowly got up from the sand, brushing the sand off of his gown and taking a look at the sights around him. This definitely wasn’t Terran High, that was for sure. There were tropical bushes and palm trees scattered about the land, and he could see a large river running by the land, with large, big-eyed fish swimming by. Samuel squinted his eyes, and he could’ve sworn he saw giant turtles roaming around in the distance.

“A mythical land with weird creatures, like the bird, this has gotta be a dream,” Samuel muttered to himself. He looked at all of his body parts. He once heard that if anything in your body seemed off, you were in a dream.

“Hmm, everything looks normal,” Samuel whispered as he checked his hands, wrists, and legs. He ran his hands across his body, but didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. And it all felt real enough.

“Definitely not a dream,” Samuel sighed, “How could this have even happened? This is something that only happens in a fantasy world, or story. That thing that happened in the sky was probably the root of all of this.”

Samuel dropped to his knees and began to sulk, groaning to himself in frustration.

“Man, I was just about to get out of high school and now this happens! Maybe I should just *give up* and save myself the trouble.”

The strange bird rustled its feathers and plopped down in the sand next to Samuel, rubbing its head against its gown with a sort of comfort in its actions. Samuel shot a glance at the bird and couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“Heh, you must be like a dog, huh? Y’know what, maybe you weird creatures aren’t so bad after all,” Samuel grinned, “And maybe I shouldn’t give up. There’s always a way outta any situation. Gosh, I sound like that nerd Aurora now.”

Samuel stood up from the ground, a smile plastered across his face, and his hands on his hips as if he were a superhero.

“Okay, I have no idea how to survive in this type of place, because it’s the first time I’ve been brought to a strange world in my life,” Samuel told himself, “So, perhaps we should go exploring. Maybe we can find a boat outta here.”

So with that, Samuel and his new bird friend set out down the beach, the rays of the sun casting a divine glow on the two of them. Samuel felt determined, and for some reason, he felt… fulfilled.

“I actually feel a lot better,” Samuel realized, “Like this could be the best thing that happened to me.”

Shhhh,

The bushes next to Samuel rustled, and Samuel let out a yell of surprise. The weird bird also squawked, and Samuel grabbed a nearby rock off the ground and aimed at the bush.

“Get out of there or else I’m gonna throw this thing at you!” Samuel screamed.

“Okay okay, I’m sorry for scaring you!” a voice responded. Samuel’s eyes widened. Another person was here?

A half-naked individual crawled out of the bushes, and he had nothing but his underwear on. He had a bowl cut with black hair and had glasses that were taped together. Freckles littered his face like trash would on a beach.

“Hey there,” the man awkwardly smiled, “I didn’t think there’d be another guy here. My name is Neddy.”

I hope you enjoyed my story, I took some advice and shortened it. It ended up working out in the end. And no, I didn’t forget about specimen implants. Yes, I added a dodo companion to the story, you’ll see why. - Ben