Lucy hummed softly as she double-checked the contents of the pink and black backpack that was sitting on her unmade bed, the sound of Bob Ross’s deep voice emanating softly from the television across the room as he went about painting a snowy landscape.  While Lucy had stopped actively watching the episode quite a while ago, she had left it on as she packed her bag to lessen the oppressive silence that seemed to pervade the house whenever her older sister was away at work.  Satisfied that she hadn’t forgotten any of her painting supplies, Lucy turned the television off before grabbing her bag and heading downstairs to get her feet dressed and grab something to wear over her turquoise-colored t-shirt if she got cold while she was out.  Because she was heading to the woods in the park in order to paint, Lucy decided to wear her hiking boots, which were black with pink accents, and her lavender-colored hoodie.

Once Lucy was completely ready, she stepped out onto the porch of the modest home and locked the door before she began to make the short trek to the park.  As she walked, Lucy tried not to think about the gymnastics competition that was happening in a few days, though that was certainly easier said than done.  She just couldn’t shake the feeling that she should be spending the last couple of days practicing her routine, even though her coach had told them all that that would actually end up hurting more than it would help and that they should take the last two days before the competition relaxing and recovering from their last practice.  And so, in an attempt to take her mind off the competition, at least for a little while, Lucy figured that she would paint for a few hours in one of the clearings in the forest in the park.

Before too much longer, Lucy had arrived at the woods and was making her way towards the clearing she knew to be towards the center.  Considering the fact that this was an urban forest, it was pretty tame, with a number of trails, some more pronounced than others, crisscrossing through the interior.  As such, it didn’t really take all that much longer to reach her destination.  Once at the edge of the clearing, Lucy sought out a relatively flat piece of ground to set up the easel and camp stool that she had carried with her.  After everything was set up as Lucy wanted it, she sat down and began to paint, humming a wordless tune occasionally as she did so.

By the time Lucy was putting the finishing touches on her painting of the clearing, the sun had moved to hang high overhead, marking the time as being around noon.  Pleased with how the painting had come together and desiring to quell the rumblings of her tummy, Lucy left it to dry for a few minutes as she went about eating the small lunch she had packed for the day.  Though her lunch consisted of only a crunchy peanut butter and blackberry jelly sandwich and an apple’s worth of apple slices, it would easily hold her over until dinner.  After Lucy finished her lunch, she went to set the finished painting of the clearing aside so that she could set up a new piece of canvas and paint something else when she noticed that her painting of the clearing included a menacing-looking black spire that she didn’t remember painting.

[color=gold][b]”How did that get there?”[/b][/color] she wondered aloud as inspected the painting more closely.  Upon closer inspection, Lucy noticed that there were a number of other slight differences between the clearing she was currently in and the one that had appeared on her canvas.  The most glaring of these was the fact that the forest represented in the mystery painting was far denser than the forest she was currently in, with a menacing air about it that gave her the shivers.  The second most notable difference was the fact that none of the trees in the painting matched up with the trees she could see across the clearing.  The painting-trees had leaves and bark that were significantly darker in coloration than their real counterparts, which only served to amplify their intimidating air.  [color=gold][b]”Did I really paint that?”[/b][/color] Lucy asked no one in particular, her voice tinged with concern.  Maybe the stress of the upcoming competition had gotten to her?  It seemed unlikely, but it was the only explanation that sounded even somewhat reasonable.

Almost without thinking about it, Lucy brushed the index finger of her left hand across the creepy obelisk to verify that it was a part of the painting.  As her finger made contact with the obelisk, however, she felt something grab onto her and begin pulling her [i]into[/i] the painting, however impossible that sounded.  Of course, the confusion she had felt upon noticing that her painting had transformed somehow quickly gave way to panic as her whole hand slipped impossibly into the painting.  [color=gold][b]”H-Help!  S-Someone!”[/b][/color] she yelled as she fought against the mysterious force with every ounce of strength that she had.  Unfortunately, her flailing about for purchase only managed to hook her backpack straps around her legs before the force multiplied in strength and yanked her through entirely.

Once through the painting, the force vanished entirely, leaving Lucy to fall to the ground from about five feet in the air.  The impact knocked the wind out of the petite girl, rendering her unable to do anything more than lay where she had landed and try to catch her breath for a few minutes.  After she had managed to catch her breath and extricate her feet from the straps of her backpack that had entangled them as she was pulled into her painting, she pushed herself to her feet somewhat shakily and looked around at her surroundings.  It seemed that the clearing she was on the edge of was exactly as the mystery painting had depicted, and Lucy couldn’t help but take a hesitant step further into the warm sunlight that filled the clearing as the menacing air of the forest pressed down on her.

Lucy’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone nearby, probably male from the sound of their voice, yelling profanities and something to do with sea urchins.  Looking in the direction the voice had come from, Lucy could see a man standing near the center of the clearing and looking at the forest, much like she had been.  From the tone of their voice, and the language used, Lucy felt it was safe to assume that they weren’t happy about being in the middle of the woods either.  Regardless of why they were upset, Lucy felt that the presence of another person would help take the edge off her panic.  Plus, they might know something about where they were or even how to get back home if she was lucky.  [color=gold][b]”Hello?”[/b][/color] Lucy called out, having decided to walk over towards the man and introduce herself.  [color=gold][b]”My name is Lucy, and I, um, think I might be lost.  Do you know anything about where we are?”[/b][/color]