I awoke with a start when I heard the pounding of wood. Sitting up, I surveyed the area to find what the loud sound was. Standing with an axe in his hand, stood a man with very ruffled brown hair and ragged clothes. "Wh-who are you? Where am I?" I asked the man. The ragged man stopped chopping at the tree and narrowed his eyes. "Good, your awake. Take this." He handed me a heavy pack that was slung over a branch. When I opened the pack, inside was a dull sword, the same axe the man had, and a brittle pickaxe. "What do I need with these?" I asked. The man raised an eyebrow as if that was a stupid question. "You survive." He simply stated.
This was all so confusing to me. Waking up in a strange forest, with a strange man chopping down a strange looking tree. It all just didn't make sense. I stood up and took in the surroundings. There were tall trees with no leaves but a bunch at the very top, with squirrels and bunnies. As I walked further a cardinal flew up in terror when I approached. Walking back to the man, I watched as the tree he was chopping blew up in a shower of wood. He collected the planks and went on to another tree. All so confusing.
I rummaged around in the pack the man gave me and found my axe. It was heavy, and cumbersome, but I figured it would have to do. Hefting the heavy axe, I chopped away at an enormous tree that stretched high up to the clouds. It took me about 10 swings before in final gave way to many planks. As I walked up to the wood, it magically floated up and went into my pack. All so confusing.
After a long day of chopping and swinging the big axe, I had collected hundreds of planks, and my muscles burned like fire. Walking back to the man, which later identified himself as simply, "The Guide", I had discovered that the guide had built a small cottage with a door and windows. I pondered how he could build such a structure in such a short amount of time. Without knocking, I opened the door of the cottage and stepped in. The guide jerked his head up at me with a startled expression. "Sorry" I apologized. He sighed and went back to reading a book with a blank cover. "I thought you were something else" he said. I recognized how he said something else.
I sat down in one of the chairs that the guide had made. Tilting my head back, I let my head drop back and let out a sigh. "Long day huh?" The guide asked me, amused by my obvious fatigue. I grunted as a response. He chuckled at this, asking "did you collect any wood?" He asked looking at my bulging pack. I handed him the pack and he took about half of the wood inside. I slowly drifted off as he hummed a low tune to himself while reading his book.
Awaking in the chair I had dozed off in yesterday, I leaned forward and stretched. My muscles were still very sore from all the deforestation I committed the day before. Rising from my sitting place, I took my pack and slung it over my shoulders, then headed out the door. I was greeted by the sound of birdsong and the warmth of the sun. "Mornin'" the guide greeted me. I nodded to him and went on my way. Today I was going to explore a cave that was relatively close to our house. As I approached the mouth of the tunnel that led down underground, I gazed down into the darkness. Then I jumped in.