I'm a man named Raphael Bennett. I was born in 1995.

I was just an ordinary guy, working the night shift at a 24 hour laundromat, until one day everything changed.

Let me tell you about it.

                        It was 4 am. I was alone

in the laundromat, waiting for someone to come. People didn't usually come after midnight, I was quite bored.

 " THE BEGINNING. "

I really enjoyed working there. People often told me funny stories and were very friendly, but of course, there were exceptions. 

              Suddenly, someone crawled out of 

one of the washers. It was an old man I didn't know.

- What? - I mumbled to myself looking at the man.

I ran up to him. - Sir, are you okay? - I asked. - How long were you in there?

     - Ugh, I don't know. - said the man getting up. - What day is it?

- April 15th. - I said.

- Well then, .... about ... three days? - answered the man.

I was so confused, how was he in it? And THREE days?

I thought that I should call the hospital or something. He was just an old man, after all. I should help. Perhaps he has dementia? - I said to myself quietly, reaching for my phone.

- Lad, every night, this washer leads to another world only certain people can visit. - said the man. He walked out and said nothing. I dropped my phone, watching the man leave. I just stood there for a while, then looked at my phone that was laying on the ground. I picked it up. I didn't believe what I've just been told, however, something has been telling me to crawl in a washer and check. Sadly, I didn't realise that it's already bright outside. 

My shift ends in an hour. - I thought.

 " IS THIS A DREAM? "

It was the next day at the laundromat, or should I say night?  I was just sitting there, curiously looking at the washer the man crawled out of. - Maybe I should check.....? - I thought. I looked around the room. The cameras were yet to be installed, since the old ones didn't work very well and were put down. So there wasn't a way for me to embarrass myself.

I ran up to the washer. And just when I was about to stick my head in, the old man fell out.

- JESUS! - I yelled in shock as I jumped.

- Ah, you again! - said the man. He just appeared out of nowhere, I didn't see him there before!

-  W-what? Sir, where'd you come from? - I asked.

- The land of non human creatures. - The man replied. - Well, I should be going now. - He said leaving.

I looked at the washer.

It was old, I never saw anybody use it. It was slightly hidden, in the corner of the laundromat. I looked inside. The air looked a bit " wobbly " inside.

I put my head in. There I saw a huge place, full of mountains and old buildings. 

- Holy crap. - I said to myself taking my head out. - This can't be real.

I used to work day shift here, for a long time and I've been working night shift for only two weeks, so I've never seen anything like this. 

I looked around myself, then stuck my head in again and slowly crawled inside.

I fell on the ground from 3 meters. 

- WOAH. - I shouted when I hit the ground. I looked up.

The washing machine " portal " was a hole in a big tree.

Beside me was a little child licking a lolipop.

- Um..... uh... hi? - I said. The kid screamed and ran away.

I slowly got up and looked around.

I thought that maybe this is all just a dream.

But it all felt so real! I could feel the wind, I could smell the air. I tried pinching myself and I felt that too!

I had no idea what was going on I tell you!

             I just stood there. I was at the end

of a forest. Ahead of me were mountains, rivers and castles along with old little houses. I didn't know what to do. So I just went ahead of me. As I was walking through a meadow I saw many little children running around, playing tag or duck duck goose. I still wasn't quite aware of what was happening. I was just hoping that all of it wasn't real and didn't think about it.

The place had such an aura to it. An aura of peace.

It made me so relaxed.

I saw a village ahead of me and decided to go there. Everyone was so calm and kind to eachother. When I was in the village, I realised that all the little people were very short. They had elf ears and curly hair. Some had horns and some had long tails. One of them welcomed me in their land. - I suppose you're a friend of Old Man John? - They said showing me around their village. - Who? - I asked.

- Old Man John is a human too. He's the only human who visits us. I hope you visit us a lot too! But you have to keep this place a secret. How'd you find the portal anyway? 

- I think Old Man John showed me. It's at the place I work in. - I answered. - What's your name?

- My name is Mrs. Veronica Weaver. Yours? - said the little person.

- I'm Raphael Bennett.

I was slowly starting to believe it was all real.

I even hoped it was. The land of little creatures was very nice.

- Soooo.... I'm human. What are you? - I asked.

- I'm a little creature. We're all little creatures. Well, mostly. - Said Mrs. Weaver.

I thought it was a bit strange that they're literally called  " Little creatures ", but I didn't want to say anything, that would be rude.

- Little creatures are known across this world for being good with crafts and argiculture. But we're quite underestimated. All the other creatures, especially fairies think we're useless due to our small size!  - Said Veronica.

- Interesting. - I said. - You are quite a happy bunch. Can you tell me a bit about the portal?

- Well, only certain humans can visit this world. We don't know how many exactly, but for now, there's just you and Old Man John. Also, we can't see the human world.