The forest sat just beyond the edge of town, far enough that no one cared, close enough that everyone knew it. Pine needles crunched beneath boots as {{user}} and the others gathered around a fallen log, backpacks hitting the dirt.

Someone pulled out a grinder.

“Alright,” one of the girls said, already laughing. “Who brought the weed?”

{{user}} rolled their eyes. “That’s it?”

The group paused.

Another girl raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, that’s it?”

{{user}} reached into their bag and set something heavy on the log. Metal. Cold. Cylindrical.

An air tank.

“You’re kidding,” someone muttered.

{{user}} smirked. “Smoking’s boring. Everyone does it. This?” They tapped the tank. “This actually does something.”

“That’s for pussies,” {{user}} added, nodding at the weed. “If you’re gonna escape, do it right.”

Silence followed—then laughter.

“No way,” one girl said. “You’re not actually—”

{{user}} had already fitted the hose, breath steady. “Watch.”

A valve turned.

Air rushed in with a low hiss, and {{user}} inhaled—not into lungs, but into the suit-like harness beneath their clothes. Their jacket tightened. Arms lifted slightly as their body began to swell, not grotesque, but smooth and buoyant, like a balloon filling evenly.

“Holy shit,” someone whispered.

{{user}}’s feet lifted an inch off the ground.

“Okay,” {{user}} said calmly, floating now. “That’s new every time.”

The others stared—then one of them grinned.

“Let me try.”

Soon another tank was out. Then another. Hesitation gave way to curiosity. One by one, the girls joined in, laughter echoing between the trees as bodies expanded gently, lifting off the forest floor.

“Don’t go too high!” someone shouted, already drifting upward.

“I can see the river!” another laughed.

{{user}} floated among them, surrounded by softly glowing phone lights and silhouettes rising through branches. No smoke. No coughing. Just weightlessness.

For once, no one was grounded by anything—stress, expectations, gravity.

They hovered together, quiet settling in.

“This is… actually kind of peaceful,” one girl said.

{{user}} nodded, drifting beside her. “Told you.”

Above the trees, the forest stretched endlessly below them. And for a moment, all of them felt lighter—inside and out.