Author Note:
Hi, this is the beginning of a potentially very long story. There is no sex in this chapter but there will be sex coming soon. Also you are not likely to find extensive character descriptions, just hints and little features, there will be no cup sizes, nor back-story info-dumps. Details come across as the story calls for them, not in bulk.
Unless ages are stated outright, assume the character to be over 18. Enjoy.
Oh and a word on spelling, I'm an Australian who lived in the US for a time, and as such I swap back and forth in how I spell. Italics in the text are internal thoughts of Jacob.
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Under just about any other circumstance Jacob wouldn't have done it. He still had a reluctance to violate the mysterious and sacred nature of the place. But after having been delayed for twelve hours as they removed an engine from the plane and broke the air-conditioning when they put a new one on, his bladder and an out-of-order sign overrode his hesitation. He went into the ladies room.
Jacob hadn't bypassed the skirted stick-figure guardian since he was a child, too young to feel that his unwelcome presence was dirtying up the place. He did understand, as all men do, that women's restrooms were intrinsically better than those of his own sex, if only for the lack of urine on the floor. He was not however prepared for what waited for him on the other side of that door. He was not prepared for the sudden loss of footing, nor the abrupt fall that followed. His carry-on falling on top of him was not nearly as painful as his breath stealing impact upon the ground.
The section of door that fell on him moments later made a much larger impression than his luggage.
Jacob normally would have sworn profusely at the pain that radiated from where the door impacted his lower back, but all he could manage was a wheeze, his lungs still empty from the fall. The seconds ticked by slowly; in the back of his mind Jacob knew that he'd be able to breath again soon, but being winded always felt like the end. Finally air rushed back through his lips in gasping bursts and he rolled onto his back in relief.
That relief died when he looked up at the ceiling.
"What?"
A blue cloudless sky hung overhead, daylight warming the skin of his face. There was so many things wrong with it. In the two weeks he'd been in LA the smog hadn't cleared enough to see blue once. Not to mention the last time he looked at the time it was just before three in the morning. And there was the minor issue of being inside the terminal at LAX.
The sky loomed overhead, telling him in no uncertain terms that something unusual was happening. Very fucking unusual.
The list of possibilities formed by itself in his mind.
Rapid onset of previously undiagnosed mental illness.
You've gone insane
Lost your marbles.
Cuckoo for coco puffs.
Massive cranial trauma resulting in hallucinations/memory loss.
You hit your head.
Bonked your noggin.
Cracked your nut.
It wasn't a terribly extensive list, and most of it was admittedly redundant. Not discounting the possibility of insanity, Jacob decided that lacking a headache or dizziness he probably hadn't suffered a blow to the head. Glancing to the side brought the remains of the door into view. It had been severed vertically, the clean line just beside the still intact stick-figure.
"No bloody way," Jacob said to the stick-figure, "No. Bloody. Way."
The fact she didn't say anything back gave Jacob some hope for his sanity.
"Okay, so it would seem I've gone through a portal slash wormhole," Jacob said to himself, "Gone through to where?"
Nothing screamed out to Jacob as he looked around; the landscape was much the same in every direction. Grassy hills spread out in every direction, dotted with the occasional tree, they hid what was further away but what he could see didn't differ at all.
"Grazing land maybe?" Jacob said to himself, his habit when working through a problem, "What I would give for a 'you are here' sign."
Jacob froze for a moment.
"Or you could look at your phone you idiot."
A moment later he had his phone out, code typed in and eyes locked to the signal readout. No bars. Not a good sign. Knowing the GPS should still work anyway he popped open the maps app he'd installed for his US trip.
"Come on," Jacob said to the phone, continuing his recent spate of taking to things that didn't respond, "Find a satellite already."
When the box popped up mid-screen with the words 'No GPS signal' Jacob swore at it. He crushed the inevitable Wizard of Oz jokes that popped up in his head.
"I am not bloody Dorothy," Jacob said, starting out for the closest hill.
Reaching the crest, Jacob scanned the distance for signs of life. He sighed with relief seeing a cluster of buildings and a dirt road in the distance. Again the relief died as he looked at the impossible sight before him.
"Okay I'm Dorothy," Jacob said reluctantly, gaze darting back and forth between the two moons that hung low in the sky.
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After Jacob had finally come to grips with his new identity as a dispossessed girl from Kansas he set about figuring out what to do. Buildings and road aside, Jacob wasn't quite ready to embrace the alien planet with too much haste. So he looked around at his landing site. He was no arborist, but the trees looked like trees and the grass was unmistakably grass. He could breath, and the sky was blue so the atmosphere was similar to Earth.
It was becoming clear to Jacob now that this was not the first time whatever it was that brought him here had happened. It was all too familiar, too similar for it to be anything else. If he could come through why not seeds, plants or air. Or animals.
"People, human people," Jacob grinned as he spoke.
It was a refreshing thought, the idea of aliens was nice and the possibility of meeting some was amazing but an alien planet was enough for Jacob; he'd work his way up to little green men.
Hang on, why am I assuming it only works one way?
Jacob looked up at where he'd estimated it was he came through, based on how much it hurt hitting the ground.
It would make sense for it to be more like a doorway than anything else. I wasn't sucked through, I just stepped through. There's nothing to say I couldn't just do it the other way around.
Jacob looked at the remains of the door, still severed in two.
It's probably closed, but I should check anyway.
He ripped a handful of grass and dirt out of the ground, crushing it into a makeshift ball. Jacob didn't have to throw it too far, which was lucky because it fell apart in mid-air. The pieces spread out, passing through the spot he'd picked with no change. A dozen more followed it just in case. Nothing.
Always one to accept the inevitable, Jacob gathered the bags that had come with him. The relative value of the items in the bags had changed dramatically. Food and clothing had become vastly more important than his laptop or phone. He repacked what might be of use into his laptop satchel, and put everything else into the wheeled suitcase. If he had to run the suitcase would slow him. Fortunately he'd been looking at a long flight back to Australia, so he had a change of clothes and some snacks.
Off to see the wizard...
"No," Jacob said, silencing the song running through his head.
He took a few steps, paused then turned back towards the half destroyed door. A few moments and a chipped nail later, the guardian of the ladies room was being dropped into his bag.
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It was, as Jacob had suspected, a farm. Even on another planet the fences, gates and runs made that clear. There was six buildings in all each constructed from wood, stone and what Jacob assumed was thatch. No glass or metal, brick or tile. It could have been plucked from history.
Jacob approached the buildings openly, listening to the sounds of voices and work drifting out of them. He'd thought of sneaking up to them, but he wasn't especially confident in his ability to hide his tall frame in broad daylight. When he first caught sight of the farms occupants, his suspicions about their species were confirmed.
She'd just stepped out of one of the buildings when he saw her, the door swinging on its hinges behind her. And she was very much a human. A cloth tied her hair back, several light brown strands escaping to rest upon her lightly tanned face. With a change of clothes she would have fit in anywhere. A smile came to Jacob's face as he realised that no matter what else this planet did or did not have, at least it had pretty girls.
