Alex opened his eyes, not realising that they had been closed. Everything was different.

He was curled in a ball, lying on what he could only assume was the ground. But it didn't feel like the ground, instead he simply felt weightless, like he was floating rather than on solid earth. Around him he could hear the buzz of chatter too, as if from far away, like he was underwater and listening to the world around him. Beeping machines, hushed voices, a crying baby, coughing, shouting. The sideways view that he had revealed nothing but a plain of translucent white, with no people to be seen. There was no wind, no smell, just a vast nothingness.

Sitting up slowly, Alex looked around for more answers. The last thing he could remember was being in the car on the way to his grandma's house. He'd fallen asleep, but that didn't explain how he got here. This wasn't a dream, he could remember the dream he'd been having and it had looked nothing like this. Nothing he had ever experienced had looked anything like this. 

Somewhere in the unmeasurable distance there was a blob, which slowly came into focus as a person. A short, dark-haired and dark-skinned boy, who Alex assumed was around the same age as him, who shared the same translucency as everything around him. As the figure got closer Alex got to his feet, jogging over to meet him.

"Woah, woah, stay there!" the person shouted, drawing nearer and nearer. "I'm coming!"

Now he was closer, Alex could see the boy more clearly. He'd lost some of his translucency, but still seemed to be slightly fuzzy round the edges. He wore a simple grey tunic and was barefoot, his hair cut short and his eyes a deep and warm brown. His face gave away little emotion, except for his eyes which crinkled as if he was smiling.

"I'm Jordan." he said, skidding to a halt and holding out his hand for Alex to shake. "Welcome to the middle."