Mike Lewis: Day 33
It was at least eight in the morning when Mike finally awoke. He looked down to find that, to his relief, Raven was still there, and hadn't fallen out of the tree. She was still sleeping, sound and deep. He stretched his arms, rubbing his neck. He was aching from all of this kindness. I am being very nice, he thought, masaging his neck muscles which ached from sleeping in the tree. He had given the safer, more comfortable spot to Raven, while he had climbed higher to another fork in the tree. It was safe enough, but dreadfully uncomfortable compared to the other spot. He clambered past her, silent except for his chuckling. Look at me, he thought. Complaining about the quality of the tree's that I sleep in. He scaled down the rest of the tree, dropping the last ten feet with a thump.
He did his daily rounds, the same routine he did every morning for the past month. His traps all were empty in the forest. He went to check the fishing traps he had set over the stream. His luck from yesterday had not carried over, it seemed. Only one had caught a trout. It was a big trout, but still only one. He cursed as he eyed the other hooks. The bait had been nibbled off. He pulled in the trout and cursed again as it struggled against him. He wanted to kill and clean it as fast as he could, before Raven woke up. He didn't think that she'd be to keen to watch him butcher a fish.
Sure enough, she woke up just as he had cut off the head, making a scrabbling sound as she suddenly remembered that she was thirty feet off the ground. He quickly gut the fish, flinging the entrails into the stream. Maybe it would atract more fish. He threw the head in as well, and looked up to see Raven hugging the trunk of the tree as she made her way slowly down to the next branch. "Good morning!" he called up. "How did you enjoy your stay?"
She may have laughed, but it was difficult to hear. "I guess I liked it so much that I'm finding it difficult to leave." she said. Mike couldn't help but laugh. He started working on the fire. The embers from yesterday were still plenty hot enough to make fire. He blew on the coals, and the white dust blew away, revealing their beautiful orange glow, which grew brighter as he blew on them. Soon, after adding a few twigs and branches, small flames flickered to life, and he admired his handiwork. It was this "technique" that earned him the nickname "fire king" during Boy Scout camp-outs. All you had to do was blow really hard, and try your best to ignore the searing heat, and smoke. He had earned the reputation of being able to bring back any extinguished fire. And he could, so long as there were still embers. He looked up at Raven to find her still at the same spot.
"You having trouble getting down?" he asked.
"Yes." she replied. Well, at least she was honest.
She took her time climbing down. She was very high up. He tried to guider he down as best he could, calling up to her to direct her. "Shift all of your weight to your right leg. Your right. LEG."
"NO. I'M GOING TO FALL." she called back. Mike laughed again despite himself, and contemplated going up to get her. He was still laughing as he began to scale the trunk, using the thick creeper vines as hand and footholds. He was up to her in no time, and she seemed pleasantly surprised to see him. He almost laughed again.
"Hi." he said, grinning like an idiot.
"Hi." she replied.
"I'm gonna guide you down, ok?" he said. "Just go where I go. Remember how we used the vines to get up here?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"That's how we're gonna go down." he said.
It took a while, but eventually they got to ground level suffering no casualties. Realizing he had left the fish on the ground, he went to the stream to wash it off. When he returned, Raven was sitting at the fire. "Thanks again." she said, looking up at him with those eyes.
"Don't mention it." he tried, mentally trying to come up with the most attractive looking way to look humble while skewering a fish on a pointed stick. He ended up just throwing it on there, and made to roast it when she stopped him.
"Let me do it." she said. He wouldn't have let her, too. He would have probably said something like "no, I got it," but those eyes... Besides, he knew what it was like to feel useless. He nodded and gave her the fish-on-a-stick.
While she cooked it, there was an awkward silence, where Mike would wander around the fire, and near the lake, and pretend not to be staring. When it was done, they ate in an awkward silence. And then they just sat, staring into the dying fire. Finally, Mike stood up.
"Let's go exploring." he said suddenly.
"Exploring?" she said. I'm an idiot, Mike thought.
"Yep. I want to see what's around us. Map out the territory. Besides..." he began.
"We might not be alone." she finished. Mike nodded.
"Exactly." he said. She got up as well. "Take me to where you landed here."
"Landed? You mean washed up?" she asked. Despite the joke, she wasn't grinning all that convincingly.
"Yeah." he said, strapping on his machete and sheathing his hunting knife.
And she led the way into the forest.
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