Where am I?

I think it was a Tuesday. I can't remember for sure. I had my watch, but I kept it in my backpack. I had no desire to know the day of the week, much less what time it was.

It was morning, I know that much at least.

I had just woken up. I found a nice little copse of trees near a creek. Perfect for camping. I pulled out an MRE for lunch. That would be a Meals Ready to Eat packet, otherwise known to the US troops as a "Meals Rejected by Everyone." I couldn't disagree more. Each packet had three thousand calories of tasty food. They had everything--chicken and rice, meatloaf, even eggs. And each one had a small packet of candy. I normally had about five days worth of the stuff with me when I camped. This time I had two weeks worth.

As I said, part of me didn't want to go back.

My back hurt from sleeping on the ground. I left my tent in the pack and slept on top of my sleeping bag. It didn't compare to my waterbed, but I didn't care. I was in the wilderness that I loved. The birds, the trees, the mountains....

The mountains....

I stood and ran to the edge of the copse of trees and faced west.

"What the...?"

The mountains were gone.

I ran further into the open. The hiking trail was gone, as was the small little pond that was about a hundred feet away. The small copse of trees was no longer small. I was at the edge of a forest that stretched far to the north and south.

Fear overcame me, and I ran back to the safety of the trees. I have been kidnapped, I thought. Someone drugged me, moved me and my gear to a new location, and then placed everything (including me) exactly in the same place relative to my original camping place.

Right.

I looked at the ground. It was muddy, but I didn't recall it raining the night before. The only foot prints were mine. There were no tire tracks either. I searched my gear twice. Everything was there. Whoever moved me had taken nothing. And they left no tracks. Did they move me by helicopter?

I shook my head. Occam's razor, I thought. I was coming up with a complex answer when there was probably a simpler one.

Sure, I thought. You just teleported too...wherever you are.

I sat for a while, thinking. No other explanations came to mind. I thought about digging out my watch and looking at the time but I didn't see the point. The only thing I could think of was to break camp and find something that resembled civilization. I shrugged, packed my gear, and headed out. I got perhaps ten steps before I saw him running toward me.

He ran full speed to my position, waving his hands at me. I let my backpack fall and took a defensive stance. I'd never had to use my martial arts training in a real situation. Fortunately, I didn't have to. The man turned away and ran into the forest.

"Get down man!" he hissed, and then dived behind a bush.

"Who are you?"

He shushed me, his voice barely above a whisper. "Just do what I tell you! It's a...oh Gods."

He pointed upward. As he did a shadow swept over the forest. I looked up, and my jaw hit the ground.

It was huge. Its wingspan stretched easily over a hundred feet. Its length from head to tail was almost as long. The large, thick body sailed over me as if it were a balloon. The belly was a dull pink, but the tail and the wings were a bright red.

The large wings flapped once, sending a wind through the trees that cleaned the area of debris. I fell over, only to be caught by the stranger who hid in the forest.

"Dragon," he said. "That's what I was trying to tell you."

"Dragon?" I gingerly stepped out of the woods. The thing moved fast, already growing smaller as it flew northeast.

"Yep," he said. "Ever seen one?"

I shook my head.

"Well, I hope you never see another. By the way, my name is Saul. Saul Kelde."

He extended his hand and I took it. His grip was firm and vigorous. "Good to meet you," I said.

"And you are?"

A million thoughts rushed through my head. I woke up in a strange place to be greeted by a complete stranger running from a dragon. Occam is turning over in his grave, I thought. It was then that I decided on my new name.

"John," I said. "John Carter."

"Nice to meet you, John." Saul looked to where the dragon had flown. It was already long gone. "Lucky to even meet you, frankly." He scratched his head. "For the life of me, I can't figure out how it didn't smell us. I guess it must have been too busy." He looked at me as if I had the answers. "But busy doing what?"

Only then did I really take a good look at Saul. He wore a leather shirt dotted with studs. It creaked as he moved. His pants and the shirt underneath his leather shirt--studded leather armor, I realized--were both a drab brown. His boots were worn, but made of good, sturdy leather. It was what I saw under his dark brown hat that threw me. I stared at his ears. They tapered into distinct points.

He noticed me staring at them. "Guess you've never seen an elf either."

I shook my head slowly.

"Well, I've never seen anyone dressed quite like you either."

I looked down. I had my gortex boots and poncho, camouflage pants, and I long sleeve shirt--all made out of materials that were probably like nothing he had ever seen.

"I guess so," I said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare at you."

He laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'd say you're out of your element anyway. Where are you from."

"Denver," I said, and then added, "it's a long way off."

He raised an eyebrow. "I guess so. You're going to Hommlet, I take it?"

Hommlet! I hadn't played that game in years. D&D, I mean. In fact, that was the last thing I played. The Temple of Elemental Evil. I remember as kids how everyone talked about how cool it would be to actually live in the world of Greyhawk. I dissented. Adventurers? No TV? No radio? Hiking through the wilderness in search of adventure might sound like fun, but I bet you'd spend most of your time cold and hungry, not to mention terrified ninety percent of the time. Fighting orcs and trolls, all wanting to kill you and probably eat you. And what if you ended up traveling the planes? Do you think it'd be cool to wander the Abyss or the Nine Hells? Do you think it would be "cool" to fight demons and devils? No, excuse me...I mean Tanari and Baatezu.

I looked up. Not to mention dragons.

"You okay?" Saul said. "You look a bit pale."

I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

He caught me as I fainted.