2 Adventure with Berries

I was not a hunter, nor was I meant to be one. Going into a forest without any experience, was not one of the best ideas I had in my life. Going into the forest without any supplies or weapons? YES, that would be somewhere at the top of my stupid ideas of all time.

Fortunately boars, wolves and bears were the most common hunting preys for hunters from the village, and I never heard of anyone meeting something more dangerous than a bear. My profession was craftsman. I could technically craft stuff from wood, but because I was broke and an idiot, I decided not to get any tools either. I could also tailor a bit, but then again no tools.

I left in the morning. By the afternoon, I managed to cover quite a good distance. When finally all the excitement subdued, it hit me. 'I will need a shelter, food and water'.

I panicked a bit... quite a lot to be honest. I then asked myself, "How hard can it be, to find food in the forest?". It was. The first thing I found were berries. I was very happy that I found something edible, berries... Yea. Not even half an hour later, I had to spend a considerable amount of time in the bushes. This event took its toll on my body as you can imagine. I learned my lesson, and didn't touch those berries anymore.

Thankfully, I found a small stream with clear water. Due to the adventure with the berries, I was very thirsty. Sating my thirst, I thought it would be better to find shelter somewhere near the stream. This way, I would have access to water at all times. I searched the area around the stream, and couldn't find any type of place I could use as my hideout.

I knew that sleeping on top of trees, would be dangerous. 'What if I move during sleep, and fall from such height?' I thought. I preferred to stay on the ground, just to be safe. Time passed. The only thing I was able to find, that would at least give me some protection, was an old tree stump hollowed out in the middle. It was already getting darker, which mean I had little choice. I had to use the tree stump. 'Some kind of "door" would be nice. Branches with leaves would be good for that. Maybe even some dry or fresh grass, as my bedding' I thought, and searched the area. I collected some branches, as well as a small heap of grass. I then climbed into the stump, and covered the entrance with branches the best I could. I used some leaves and grass as my bedding, and my new hideout was completed.

It wasn't very comfortable to be honest, but I was used to sleeping on the streets. 'It's not half bad' I thought. The next morning, I woke up with an itch. Turned out, some ants liked my bedding, and made a house of it. Of course they bit me in the mid time. It wasn't anything serious, but annoying nevertheless. I drank from the stream, and because I had nothing on me that could contain water, I could only leave to continue my journey.

Although hungry, I didn't touch any fruits or mushrooms on my way. I didn't know which were poisonous, and which were edible. Of course, I now knew one type of berry that was... dangerous. While I travelled through the forest, I noticed wild animals such as deer and rabbits. I was not as quick as deer or rabbit, and certainly I wasn't as agile. Hunting those animals was impossible in my case. To top it all off, I had no weapon either. Although I couldn't hunt those animals, I came up with a different idea. I tried to spot what type of things did the animals eat. This way, I could learn what was edible in the forest, and not detrimental to my health.

I saw that the rabbits mostly ate green berries. They never touched the berries that I ate… go figure. I tried the green berries myself. I didn't eat a whole lot at once, just tried one or two mouthfuls of berries. The berries had a bit of a bitter taste, but other than that very edible. I've waited for some time, I wanted to make sure that the same thing would not happen. After about half an hour, I was fine and felt no aftereffects. 'This means, I can eat the green berries' I thought. I've collected as much as I could into my pockets, and went along my way. I now had some kind of source of food, and berries were very common inside the forest. Finding them wasn't hard at all.

A sudden thought hit me while I walked. 'I didn't encounter any dangerous animals yet, but that doesn't mean I will not' I thought. I needed some kind of weapon, any kind would be much better than my bare fists. 'But what can I use as a weapon? Especially something that can be found inside the forest… berries? Yea sure, throwing the berries at a bear or wolf will no doubt guarantee my safety!' I thought.

A stick would be a good choice, or perhaps stones. I couldn't carry stones around with me though, that would be too tiring and inconvenient. 'Stick seems as the most convenient weapon. Although picking up any stick from the ground, will not make me more safe' I thought. I could either carry a large stick, and use its weight as my weapon. Or smaller but sturdy and pointy stick. 'Ha! but how would I make it sharp?' I thought. The option I was left with, was a large sturdy stick that weighted a bit. I searched for such stick around the area I was at. I found some contenders, but none were sturdy or heavy enough. Some even broke, after I slammed them on the ground just to test them.

I searched like this for one hour... One hour damnit! After that one long hour, I finally found a suitable stick. 'Who would've thought that finding a stick in forest, can be so hard. By the way, I should really thank those hunters one day. If not for them, I would surely encounter something bad already' I thought. I needed to carry the stick somehow. I came up with an idea to use some vines to make a holder for the stick. I could then strap it to my back and carry it that way. The vines were also quite easy to find and besides flexibility, they were quite tough too.

The day was almost over, it was time for me to find another shelter. This time, I noticed a cave. I wasn't stupid enough to just march in there, and proclaim it as my new hideout. 'What if there are wolves or bears in that cave?' I asked myself. I started observing the cave, but saw nothing after a while. I decided to move a bit closer.

When I was about 30 metres away from the cave, I thought of an idea. 'Instead of going there myself, I will throw a rock at the entrance, and see if something is there' I thought. Without hesitation, I did just that. One rock "thump"… quiet. I threw one more, again quiet. I thought 'Three time's a charm', and threw another one. Again nothing.

Now that I was 'sure' there is nothing inside, I made my way to the entrance. To my surprise, it really was empty. The cave was quite simple. Couple of boulders here and there, but other than that nothing else. I ate my dinner and almost immediately shat it out. There was some noise outside the cave, and it was getting closer to the entrance.