8 Between Hard and Harder Place

I slept till the morning and didn't wake up at night at all. The hunger struck again, so I found some berries to munch on. I had no idea why I felt as if I haven't eaten anything for a few days, since I ate last night. With my hunger issues partly taken care of, I packed my stuff and left. I had no desire to return to that place, or stay there any longer.

Although I resumed my journey, the simple task of walking required a lot of my energy. I had to make regular breaks and eat more berries, to be able to continue. 'Its as if my body is burning away the food I'm eating. My appetite was never this good, even a starving person wouldn't each so much' I thought. I had no idea why, except that boulder with rays of moonlight. The berries were not enough for me. In order to return to my top condition, I had to eat some meat. I had to hunt something, instead of relaying on berries.

I searched the forest like hungry wolf looking for its pray. This time, it didn't take long to find something. The rabbit munching on some berries, was a perfect target. I approached slowly, and hurled my throwing spear like possessed. I killed the rabbit rather easily, and was under the impression that my aim got even better. 'Is it because I'm so hungry?' I asked myself. I didn't spend to long on thinking about it. Instead, I started a fire, and roasted the rabbit over it.

After the meal, I continued my journey. Although meat kept my hunger away for a bit longer, I had to hunt quite often to appease my hunger. The time slowly passed. Before the sun completely set, I arrived at a small stream. I drank from the stream, then chose a suitable place to make a camp. The same old method of building the shelter returned, after which I had my late dinner, or rather tenth dinner already.

I was almost sick of the rabbit meat and berries. 'I ate so many rabbits in one day, no Human could possibly achieve that... I think' I thought. Ten or so rabbits as well as berries in the morning... If I were to use my previous eating habits as example, that would last me at least three days. On the bright side, my skin looked much better. I sat there looking at the fire, and contemplating my life choices. I didn't regret going to the forest to explore my life, although regretted going on top of that boulder. Suddenly, I heard some noises rapidly closing in on the area I was in.

It was already getting darker, and I had no clue what would pop out of the bushes. I retrieved my large spear, as well as the throwing spears just in case, and waited. What popped out of the bushes was… a bear. Not just any bear. A bear frantically looking for something full of hatred and rage. As if someone killed or stole its child. When the bear saw me, I knew I was screwed.

Without any warnings, the bear charged at me. 'Why me?!' I panicked. The bear wouldn't just let me go, even though we had nothing to do with each other. I picked up my throwing spears, and threw them one after the other. I managed to throw all five spears, four of which hit the target. That accuracy was something to be proud of normally, but it wasn't the time for that. Although the spears got stuck in it's hide, the injuries it sustained weren't severe. It slowed down due to pain, but still alive and pouncing at me. 'I need to kill it while I can!..', I then recalled something. I had one more thing I could throw at the bear. More precisely, the knife I received from the hunters.

The bear was getting closer. Fortunately, it ran in a straight line. This meant, I would be able to hit it much more easily. I aimed the knife and threw it at the bear. I threw like I would a spear. I had no experience throwing knives, but I had spears. With that , I was more confident hitting my target.

My aim was great this time, and the dagger piercer the bear's neck. The bear stood up on its hind legs, and roared in pain. I thought 'Now or never', and rushed at the bear with my wooden spear. I was aiming at the bear's mouth but the bear had different plans. My spear managed to hit the bear on its neck again, but the bear was having none of that and swiped its paw from my left.

"Swoosh" "Thud" "Crack"

I had no way to dodge that kind of attack. The result was me flying away a bit. The bear possessed such a strength, it actually broke my arm. Human and bear both roared in pain. I was still conscious, but with a broken left arm. My only weapon, the wooden spear was in my right hand. I saw the bear struggling to get back up. I crawled back up to my feet as well. Both of us were seriously injured, but the bear could kill me in any one of his attacks. I had to be crafty, if I wanted to come out alive.

The bear charged first, so I made a quick jump to the side. The bear missed, but before I could pick myself up, the bear was already returning with its charge. I had no other options left. 'I have to rely on that. It's either do or die now' I thought, and readied my spear. Before the bear arrived, I propped the spear on the ground, and pointed it towards the bear.

This life or death moment seemed to last eternity. The bear didn't have time to stop, or do anything else anymore. I knew it would ram the spear, but 'Will I survive as well?' I asked myself just before the impact.

"BOOM"

"ROOOAAAR!"

I lost my consciousness. When I woke up, it was dark. My first though was 'I died', but then I saw stars and a huge bear laying not far away from me. The bear had my broken now, wooden spear pierced through its mouth. I managed to survive again, but not without a scratch. My arm was broken, and most of my body hurt like hell. One of the reasons was the bears attack. I was in a forest with no doctors, medicine, no nothing. There was also a burning hunger in my body. I couldn't start a fire with one hand, so I couldn't eat the bear's meat.

I tried to look for some berries to eat, but found nothing in the vicinity. I slowly made my way a bit further away, and finally managed to find some. With my hunger taken care of at least a bit, I returned to the bear's carcass. I knew it was a carcass, because if that was not a carcass, then I would be dead already.

I was lost, and didn't know what to do next. 'With one hand broken, no medication and no doctors around, this can only go wrong' I thought. The worst part? I had no map, I just travelled wherever I travelled. I had no goal, besides to travel and explore my life. I thought to myself 'Although I survived, but in what state and for how long?'. Being unhealthy in this environment was deadly. I realised how stupid I was, to just go somewhere without anything prepared. I understood why the hunters that gave me that knife, laughed at me.

People say that you don't see the danger, until your life is at risk. Now with this enlightenment, I realised that what I did was stupid. I realised how childish my actions were. 'Thinking that hunting a rabbit and living in a forest was an easy. I should've been more thorough' I thought. I laid like this for a long time, contemplating my life and my bad decisions, until I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I was being moved. Something or someone was dragging me. I got startled and screamed "AAAH!", then that something let go of me. It or rather he said, "Boy, you are lucky I found you. Your arm is broken, and you look really bad".

It was a voice of an elder person. I couldn't see his face, he was standing behind me. I asked in confusion "Who are you?". To which the voice answered, "Right now your saviour, so shut up! Otherwise, I will not help you" I could feel being dragged again. Then he lifted me, and threw into some kind of cart. I shouted out in pain "ARGH", but the old man said nothing. I noticed that the cart also contain the bear I killed. 'No wonder he came with a cart, it was for this bear' I thought.

Then I heard a horse that was tied to the cart. The old man shouted "HA" and the cart moved. After some time, the scenery stared to change, and the forest thinned out. Few minutes later, I could see some kind of wooden walls, then buildings.

'I guess it must be one of the villages, that's inside the forest' I thought. I didn't ask any questions throughout the so called journey. The old man didn't speak either. We arrived at one of the buildings, where the old man stopped and got off the cart. I wanted to say my thanks for helping me, but the old man suddenly picked me up, went inside the house and threw me onto the wooden bed. When I landed on my broken arm, the pain I was... I could only scream "AAAAARRGGGH".

He closed the doors and... Nothing, silence. With one exception, that was me still crying in pain. I've laid there for a while still in pain and cursed that old man. 'That fucker just threw me onto a bed, even though my arm is broken!' I thought. I didn't know what to expect, but I was too hungry and in so much pain, I didn't care about that at the moment.

A while passed before the doors opened again. I saw two old men walk in. One of them said, "This is the doctor, he will take care of your arm". 'I recognise that voice…. Wait! It's that motherfucker!', though didn't voice my thoughts. "I will heal your arm, and give you some medicine. You look like you didn't eat for couple of days, we will provide some food for you too", the other man said. I was baffled and afraid. They treated me badly from the beginning, but then they offered treatment and food. 'Something is wrong here'. I couldn't do anything, I could only wait to find out.