Chapter 13 Finding Issues When There Are None (1/2)

I slept well for the whole night, I was rested but hungry nevertheless. It was 5am when I woke up and because I had no breakfast to eat, I went out to start my tasks. I arrived at the well and noticed that there are again couple of buckets. I checked all of them again and only one was without holes. I decided to break the other ones. 'If they have to waste buckets everyday maybe they will stop doing this shit' I thought to myself and destroyed all the buckets except the one without the holes.

I finished much faster that day due to familiarity of the task and also because I arrived earlier then previously. I used some water from the well to wash my face then drank quite a bit, if I couldn't eat anything I could at least drink water to my fill. After that it was about 6.45am so I sat down and rested for couple of minutes before heading towards the woodcutter's lodge.

This time when I arrived, the woodcutter didn't come out. He already told me to just go behind the lodge and start my work. I took regular breaks and when the break got a bit too long I could hear a voice screaming ”GET BACK TO WORK!”. I wondered where did the voice go yesterday when I was working in the fields.

After finishing that task, I went back home and ate the breakfast. It was the same as last time but the bread was less stale, I guess they didn't have a lot of stale bread at hand so I got a better quality one.

Done with my breakfast, I rested a bit then headed to the blacksmith's workshop. When I arrived the blacksmith was not there. I shrugged my shoulders and just went to work. This time I managed to create three ingots with the breaks I usually did. As expected the blacksmith came back just before 12pm to check my work. I showed him the three ingots and he just said the same sentence as last time ”You may go now”.

When I returned to the house I was staying at, I laid down on bed and rested before the work in the fields. Because I had some time on my hands I decided to think about the fishing net. I wondered how to create it, If I had a design and everything already prepared, it wouldn't take that long to create it. I decided that the net couldn't be too large otherwise it would be too much work. Next would be the gap between each branch or vine in the net. Surely the smaller the gaps the better but the longer it would take to create it. I decided to create a net small enough that a fish about 30 centimetres long will not go through. Anything smaller than 30 centimetres could be eaten but this would require smaller gaps in the net and that would be too time consuming.

I had design in mind and the materials were already gathered. I just hoped that they were still there. This way it would take me an hour or something in that region to create the net and if I were to fish for one hour…. Maybe there was a possibility of getting some fishes.

There was also the problem with the hoe. I had to use stone previously but there were no materials in the fields I could use to make the tool from. I had access to the blacksmith's workshop and I worked with metal everyday but stealing would probably be too difficult. If I found some old and tattered metal, then melted it and created a tool from it. I could use it in the fields.

With these plans in mind, I left the house to start my work in the fields. This time I just went to my area and used the same stone to plough the earth. The voice shouting ”GET BACK TO WORK” didn't appear this time either when I took breaks.

The day passed quietly and uneventfully. I was hungry therefore I returned to my home first to eat the dinner. It was again two bowls of porridge and two breads. After devouring the food I took of my shirt and looked at my body. It was all shrivelled and looked extremely weak. Although I did get some food and water, it wasn't enough to return my skin and muscles back to normal due to constant physical jobs I was doing.

I was even more motivated to go fishing and get more food. If I was at the top of my strength I would be as strong as the blacksmith in this village, if not stronger. I again arrived at the river. I could see no one and the sticks I left previous day were still there. I already had a plan formed in my mind and so I started working.