Chapter 2 - Creatures of the Night

Chapter 2. Creatures of the Night

He pushed the cows face out of his and climbed out the water onto land. It stared at him stupidly. He shook himself dry and made sure that most of the water flew onto the cow. It backed away, annoyed and a feeling of satisfaction came over him.
Feeling a lot calmer, and annoyed after the wet wake up, he sat down on the grass cross legged and allowed the sun to dry him. He was staring at the ground thinking about nothing, allowing himself some time not to worry about anything.
After a time he let out a sign and stood up, stretching his legs that been to feel fatigued. He reckoned it was more mental then physical. He looked at the lake behind him. It wasn’t large only a stones throw to the other side, more of a huge pond then a lake. There was a huge tree on the other side with smaller ones around it. A river ran lazily into it from the east and there was a cave mouth which the lake exited into. The cave belonged to the cliff he fell off and there were no obvious ways of climbing back up. It seemed like his excursion to that mountain had to be called off for now.
It was a couple of hours before sundown and just before the idea of building a shelter came to mind he saw something on the other side of the lake. It filled him with something like the same anticipation he felt when he saw the holes in the ground but much stronger. He dove in the water and swam over to the other side. He climbed out of the water and stumbled over his excited feet toward the enormous tree. The wooden ladder that was pinned against the trunk of the giant tree looked fairly sturdy although it was slightly frayed on some of the ropes. He wiped at his forehead and looked at the top of the ladder. There was a complex looking tree house with a trap door at the top built inside the greenery. He clambered up and as he drew closer he couldn’t see any means of opening the door. Just as he stretched out his hand to push it open, there was a click and the door lifted up about an inch. He had stopped with his arm outstretched, he thought that there might be someone on the other side so he dropped down a rung on the ladder and the trap door lodged back into place. He frowned then put his foot back up a rung, the door clicked again. He was slightly impressed by the mechanism and with this realised this wasn’t built by a child, definitely not a cow.
He climbed through the door and looked around. The place looked like it hadn’t been used in a while, with some things that needed repairing as well. It was small and spartan, enough for one person to live. The door he climbed up from was in the middle and up against the wall. There was an unkept bed, to his left in the corner, with a chest at the foot of it, what looked like a carpenter’s or crafting bench to his right with the window above it that looked out at the lake. It was about 12 x 12 feet with a low ceiling. He was impressed. Although the tree was big it was remarkable how the builder had kept it hidden from the outside. There was nothing however that gave him any clues to the previous owner, except the thin layer of dust covering everything indicated that they had moved or worse.
It seems like I’m walking over footprints. Step by step.
He went over to the chest, feeling downhearted however, his luck wasn’t exactly favouring him. There was a squeak as he lifted it and the lid only went halfway up, the hinges must be rusty. He could still see inside though and made a mental note of what was in there.
1. Stone spade.
2. What looked like seedlings?
3. 2 Stone pickaxes.
4. A stone axe
5. A few arrows (no bow)
6. Leather leggings
7. And a stone sword

He dropped the lid shut and sighed. There was a slight feeling of disappointment at the bottom of his stomach but he was still glad he had a shelter, a shabby one at that. He decided he would give a look around the area once more and then go to bed just before nightfall.
Halfway through his descent a rung on the ladder snapped and he fell hard and his knees gave way and landed on his backside. He turned as he rubbed his lower hack and saw that the cow was grazing on the other side looking curious.
Only if I had a bow.
His search around the area proved uneventful, except a small area behind the tree he found which had a fence around it. There was a hole in the middle with water in it. The soil between the fence and hole seemed softer and had an idea what those seedlings may have been used for.
His mind flashed and a process of farming the seedlings rushed through him. If he could craft a hoe from the workbench he could harvest those seedlings here. He couldn’t remember anything before this strange day but the knowledge of farming was stored in his brain. He was feeling very fatigued at this point. The number of questions was reaching bursting point and a headache emerged from it. The sun had set so he trudged back to the tree house.
As he walked around to the ladder a noise came from the other side of the lake. It was hard to see the other side now but he knew it definitely was no cow. No, this sound was something more, something frightening. He heard a clatter then a shuffle somewhere behind him. A rapid tapping of legs and then a groan to his left and right. He was petrified. He didn’t think whatever these things were had seen him as they didn’t seem to be getting closer. Then there was snap, looking back it was possibly on a twig breaking, but at that time it might have well been the sky opening up and a bang of thunder echoing around him. Panic clutched at this throat and his body shot into action. He jumped for the ladder and hopped over the broken rung. Not caring about the creatures of the night hearing him. He clambered quickly up the ladder and dived up through the hole.
He violently forced open the lid which ripped off with a loud crack. He threw his hand inside and pulled out the stone sword. He was breathing hard now and looked out of the window knocking some tools off the workbench to look out.
The blackness engulfed everything. He could only make out the moonlight dancing on the lake as the water gently made its way into the cave mouth. He looked at his hand that was bleeding. It must’ve been from when he put his hand in the chest with haste, cutting it unnoticed. He dropped down from the window and crouched. He shuffled over to the trap door and laid his ear to it, straining to hear anything.
It wasn’t disappointment, or hunger that was filling his stomach like bile. But fear, cold, merciless fear. It made the blood in his ears pound, the sightless sound outside startle him, making him grip the sword tighter. Yes, it would be the thing that kept him awake, throughout that first night.