_Day 1_

Mathew Kincaid awoke with a start and immediately realized something was very strange. He was in bed which was not his in a room which was not his, and was dimly lit by an oil lamp, not electricity. But that wasn't the strangest or most concerning thing. No, that was the naked girl in bed with him. From her hair, which was splayed on his chest, he was sure it was Miriam, his sixteen-year-old girlfriend.

He had to be dreaming, he was sure of it. Was it possible to dream that you woke from a dream while still dreaming? He didn't know, but that had to be the case. Nothing else made sense! If it wasn't a very vivid dream, and Miriam's dad found her in bed with him, he didn't like his chances of surviving to his twentieth birthday.

Matthew closed his eyes, willed himself to wake, then opened his eyes to find nothing had changed. He felt awake, and no dream had ever been this vivid, nor had he ever been in bed with Miriam, and he certainly would have remembered if he had! Thoroughly confused, and not knowing what else to do, he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to take him, though if it was real sleep or dream sleep he couldn't be sure.

Some time later, with light streaming though a small window, Matthew woke once again, absolutely certain that he was awake, not dreaming, but his situation had not changed — strange bed, strange room, naked girlfriend in bed with him. What the hell had happened? And perhaps more importantly, where the hell were they?

It wasn't her room, either, nor his dorm room. In fact, it appeared to be a rustic inn of some kind, though he certainly had never been in before. As he looked around, though, it also seemed strangely familiar. He couldn't explain why, but it felt as if he belonged, as if it were home.

Miriam stirred next to him and he wondered how she would react. As far as he could remember, they hadn't moved beyond kissing, though at the moment, he was disoriented enough that he didn't trust his memory. Thankfully, Miriam didn't wake up, so he had more time to ponder the weird situation. He closed he eyes again, thinking about the last thing he remembered.

They had been playing in their regular Saturday night _Dungeons & Dragons_ game, using the 3.5 rules, like any sane group, something they had done for the past two years. Try as hard as he might, Matthew could not remember the game ending, taking Miriam home, and going home himself. His last memory was of a saving throw he and Miriam had both failed against a sleep spell.

THAT WAS IT! That was what was familiar! This was the room at the Spotted Kestrel Inn, exactly as described by Pete, their Dungeon Master Matthew's best friend. How was that even possible? He _had_ to be dreaming! There was simply no way that he and Miriam were in the Spotted Kestrel Inn. It just wasn't possible no matter how real it seemed.

"Matt?!" Miriam exclaimed, recoiling. "What are you doing?! Why am I naked?! Why are YOU naked?!"

"I don't know," Matt replied, moving as far away from Miram in the bed as he could. "I don't remember anything after the saving throw against the sleep spell."

"I remember that, too! But after that, my mind is blank!"

"Look around," Matthew said.

Miriam did and gasped, "Mathias' and Miri's room at the Spotted Kestrel Inn! But how?!"

"I have no idea," Matt replied.

"Where are my clothes?" Miriam asked.

Matthew looked around and spotted the on a chair, but they weren't Miriam's clothes, they were Miri's clerical robes! And on the floor next to them weren't his clothes, but Mathias' garb, that of a swashbuckling rogue! And on the table was his rapier. It had to be some kind of trick, though Matthew couldn't explain it.

"On the chair," he said. "But look!"

Miriam gasped, "Miri's robes? What's going on, Matt?"

"I have no idea! Mathias' clothes are there, too."

"Uhm, Matt, did we…"

"I think I'd have remembered that! Don't you?"

"But I don't remember anything after I rolled that natural 1!"

"Me, either," Matt said.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"I'd say we get dressed, go down to the kitchen, get something to eat, then figure out what happened and how we can get home."