The Booby Trap Blow Bubble - $5 Patreon Exclusive - WIP -10/10/21 (Patreon)

Galek, a hiker in his mid-20s and mage school dropout, was taking a special weekend to hike up the tallest mountain in his state. The young man was quite fit as he would always head to the gym before heading off to work, keeping his lean but modest figure in top shape. After working his butt off at his day job, and saving up for his extra expensive camping gear, he was ready to go on the hike he had been planning for almost 6 months now. The mountain was called “Wonder hill,” as it had formed over a period of two years due to extraordinary geological activity, according to the media. But more accurately, magic. Though the mountain was perfectly safe, it was home to a lot of supernatural activity, a lot more than what the world was used to, even with magic being a normal part of life. New species of birds, canines, and even insect life were discovered around the area regularly, and sometimes the night sky would even be a different color. But one of the strangest and most unexplained phenomena, was the plant life, with certain species of flowers being different colors in normal, and trees that grew rare vegetables that would normally be found underground, just to name a few.

Though a bit nervous, the unusual magical activity around the area only made him more excited to go. The trip would take him a total of two days, about nine hours to get to the top, and another nine hours to get back to the bottom, leaving him just enough time to sleep and for the drive home. Wearing brown shorts and an orange T-shirt, he was equipped with hiking shoes, bear spray, two canisters of water, 15 energy bars and a sandwich, an emergency tent, a flare gun, a sleeping bag, and a travel backpack just a name a few. Six hours into his hike, the sun had already begun to set, and unfortunately, he wasn’t even halfway up to the peak yet. Galek was still in the forest area of the mountain, leading him to believe that he may either be lost or may have taken a wrong turn.

Stopping in his tracks, the young man wiped the sweat off his forehead and slumped down to his knees. Galek felt absolutely gross, his ankles were covered in dust, and he had already sweated through his T-shirt. Despite the heat, he was starting to regret wearing shorts instead of full-legged pants. While he loved hiking more than anything, he would often fantasize that every trail had a public walk-in shower of some kind. Just then, as he stood back up, he noticed something bright and shiny floating out from some of the nearby bushes. It looked like a tiny bubble gleaming in the setting sunlight with a rainbow tint. Curious, he walked up to the bubble where it floated settling in front of him, watching it for a couple of moments before raising his hand up to it. Poiking it with his finger, the bubble squeaked like porcelain, but with the elasticity of rubber.

What’s more, the bubble seemed to create suds as he rubbed it, slowly spreading across the tip of his finger. Pulling his finger away, he rub the suds away with his thumb, and was astonished to see the dirt washing away from his skin. Galek’s eyes widening with astonishment, he grabbed the tiny bubble in both of his hands and began rubbing it like it was soap, covering his hands in cool pleasant suds. Suddenly, he noticed one of his hands sinking into the membrane of the tiny bubble, quickly pulling it away as he saw that his hand was now dripping wet, washing away the suds. Reaching for the bubble again, he gave it a small squeeze, and water seemed to drip out, as if it was a sponge. With that, he put his hands underneath and began washing the soap away from his palms. Smiling, it didn’t take him long to realize that the bubble was clearly magic in nature, being able to produce soap and water while still floating above the ground and seemingly being pop proof.

While it was small, it was more than enough to completely clean off his hands, and giving him just enough water to wash the soap away. It was obvious that the bubble was the result of the mountain's mysterious magic, but he had no idea where it could’ve come from. As he was lifting his head up, that’s when he noticed more bubbles floating out from the nearby bushes. There were only about three of them, but it couldn’t have been a coincidence, caching his curiosity as he Pushed the bubble aside, strayed off of the path and into the foliage. Pushing through thick bushes and branches, he eventually finally found a clearing where he stopped in his tracks, his face going completely blank in astonishment. In the clearing were dozens and dozens of clear soapy bubbles of various sizes. Galek hadn’t seen so many bubbles in one place since the last time he was at a birthday party, and of course the bubbles there weren’t magical soap bubbles.

Another unusual thing he noticed was how the surrounding bushes were more floral colored, almost pastel in comparison to the surrounding foliage, including the bush that he had just crawled out of. The only logical assumption was that he had discovered some kind of bubble bush patch. It was quite breathtaking to look at, like some kind of environment that you would only see in an anime or children’s cartoon. However, it wasn’t the beauty of it that excited him, as he wasted no time putting his stuff down before reaching out to one of the larger bubbles. Just as before, the bubble didn’t pop at his touch, creating suds that washed away once his hand permeated through the membrane. Holding his hands back up, Galek looked back down at his dirty body, chuckling happily as he began undressing without a hint of hesitation.