With every step he took deeper into the green corridor, the forest shifted. The shadows grew heavier, the light dimmed gradually, as if the trees themselves conspired to block the sun. It wasn't a direct threat, but something in the air felt... unnatural. A strange stillness, the scent of damp earth, and the soft brush of leaves against his shoulders as he passed.
(Inner monologue)
"Beautiful forest? Yes... but it doesn't welcome me. It's not a forest—it's a velvet maze."
He kept walking. Time moved strangely—either too fast or too slow—he couldn't tell. Inside the forest, the sun was no longer a reliable guide. The sky had become a thin gray crack above the branches, and the air shifted between chilling and suffocating.
His body began to cry out from hunger, and the walking had drained him. He stopped near a massive tree, rested his forehead against its trunk, took a deep breath, then continued.
