Hole

Amelia sat on a tree stump by the cliff and stared at the anomaly in front of her. A hole in thin air. Just a massive hole, large enough for her to climb through, and she had no idea how it had gotten there or what was inside it. From the side, you could hardly notice it was there, but from the front it was incredulously apparent. Out of curiosity, she had tossed a rock into it, and it had simply disappeared. Passed through the hole, and she hadn't seen it come out the other side.

She had no explanation for it. She had never heard of or seen anything like it in her life. It was as though someone had come along and simply torn a hole in the fabric of reality. The other side could be a different world entirely, or it could be a void, and anything that entered it would be lost forever. She had no way of knowing, but Amelia could not help but feel attracted to it. She wanted to know what it was, and how it got there, and where it led.

She also knew that she couldn't go back to the village and try and tell anyone about it. No one in their right mind would believe her. They wouldn't even try to go and see what she was talking about. A hole in mid air? That was crazy. They'd probably throw her out before they ever tried to see the hole. And even if they did, how did she know it would still be there by the time she returned? Every moment that went by was a moment she was losing towards learning what was happening.

Her mind was decided. She had to know more about it. But she also knew she should be safe about it. She drew her bow off of her back and two arrows, sinking one firmly into the tree stump she had been sitting on. To its end she tied a long rope she used for climbing trees and cliffs, and tied the other end of the rope to her second arrow. She knocked it on her bowstring and pulled back hard, aiming into the hole. She could only pray that it would strike something on the other side as she loosed the air and let it fly, disappearing into the hole.

She waited for a long moment, waiting for some kind of sign that her arrow had struck true. Becoming impatient, she tugged gently on the rope, and was surprised to find that it held. She must have hit something, then. Now she would have a way back out of the hole. Hopefully.

She slung the bow back over her shoulders and took a deep breath, then leaped into the hole.