Tuesday, November 5

Day 5, or 2,217 words of 50,000

Renaldo awoke as morning dew, having grown too heavy for the constraints of the spider webs in which it collected, dripped down on his forehead in slow, heavy beads. He brushed the wetness away, rolled his knuckles through his sleepy eye sockets, and leaned on an arm to sit upright. He blinked as he struggled to remember where he was and why. As his recollection formed, he shook his head to become alert and looked about for the sack.


After a moment's panic, he saw it behind him, pressed to the ground but now uncovered by his own body. He must have held it safely beneath him during his slumber. He lifted up the sack and felt within to assure himself that the rock was still in his possession. He smiled within to think he had used such an unlikely object as his pillow.


Having removed the remaining cheese and wine, he sat and set the sack beside him. This breakfast was enough for now, but he would need food again before his journey was over. This might prove a challenge without his hunting tools; in his haste to depart, he had left his bow in the gatehouse at the abbey. Coins, too, were left behind.


But for now, he was rested, fed, and ready to depart. He climbed with his belongings up and out of his slight shelter, brushed dry dirt from his tunic, and took his bearings. He was still in a part of the forest with which he was familiar. Indeed, he must have passed near here at least monthly while running errands or pursuing a small hunt. He needed to continue on.


He took off with a few running steps down the ground that sloped away from the fallen tree and then slowed to a steady, speedy pace--enough to keep his pulse engaged, but not so much as to lose his breath. Renaldo was a healthy man, and while he was not prideful for it, he could appreciate that his fitness was an asset, especially in this flight.

On like this he went for several hours until the overhead sun suggested it was time to rest, and a nearby creek afforded an easy, refreshing drink. Having sated his thirst, he took a moment to fill his wine skin with water and tucked it carefully under his belt. Checking first to be sure that the stone was also still in the bag, he cinched the sack, threw it over his shoulder and headed onward.


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Merci!