Beds and Napping Monsters

Jax slowly rose from his slumber. He felt horrible.

That was his second night sleeping in this cave, and the simple cushion bed he had created for himself was not comfortable. The thin cushions sank into the rocky ground, allowing Jax to feel every edge and crack. It had worked the nights before since he was exhausted and his hunger felt worse than the bed he slept on. However, now he had gotten a full day of relatively relaxing work, a full stomach, and generally was safe.

There was no way that Jax could stand to sleep on such a crude bed, especially coming from a space-faring society with many comforts.

"Today, after cleaning up and eating some food, I'll go back to the crash site," Jax thought.

When he had searched through the debris before, there was a container that was filled with furniture, which is also where he found the cushions. If he was lucky there might be a small bed or at least the materials to make a real bed this time.

And so he set about his day, cleaning himself by the lake and starting a small fire to boil some water for the walk to the crash site. Once he ate a few fruits and some berries, Jax swung his drawstring backpack on and tied his water gourd to his harness with some stringy plants nearby.

The first time Jax traversed from the crash site to the lake, he had made a winding path, but this time he established his surroundings and created a much more direct path back. The whole trip only took him half an hour, compared to the hour it took him the first time.

Reaching the edge of the forest and stepping into the clearing, Jax noticed something very different about the debris scattered around. They were in notably worse condition than the last time he had searched through them. He began to walk towards the containers when he noticed from a distance another large container that he must have missed before. It sat there in the center of the containers and seemed to be in great condition. The only weird thing was it was much darker than the others and seemed to be.... moving?

Jax instantly became alert.

"Containers don't move!" Jax thought belatedly.

Drawing nearer and focusing on the "container", Jax could see that it was actually the winged beast from the first night's attack. Its chest slowly and steadily rose then fell. Its head lay on the grass, with all eyes closed. If he hadn't personally witnessed its attack, Jax might have thought this was a peaceful creature.

Looking back at the containers, Jax could now make out claw marks and holes pierced by the beast. The same type of wounds that were inflicted on Jax's last container.

It was still looking for him.

Jax slowly backed up, hoping not to alert the beast, until he was safely behind the wreckage of a container. Peeking out from behind his hiding spot, Jax watched the creature for what seemed like an eternity. It did nothing but sleep on that grassy field, not even rolling over or readjusting itself. A nearby wreck had shifted on the other side of the clearing, making a large metal screeching noise, but the beast didn't react at all.

"What a deep sleeper," Jax muttered quietly to himself.

Jax looked up at the sky again, it was nearing mid-day. The beast wouldn't wake up until the sun set.... hopefully. Quickly getting to work, Jax was determined to get a new bed today, at the very least.

He crept towards the container that held the furniture, to see what still survived. Inside there were assortments of couches and chairs, all made from either cloth or leathery materials, as well as some wooden tables and other dressers. Jax moved the chairs and tables he could out of the way, separating what he could and couldn't use into two sections, all as quietly as he could. Reaching the end of the container, Jax, unfortunately, didn't find a real bed or mattress. Looking back to the section of furniture that seemed useful, Jax set out four items that he would attempt to bring back.

First was a wooden table with thin metal legs supporting it. The surface looked as though someone had taken a vertical slice out of a tree and smoothed it down. Next was a simple wooden-style chair with a cloth cushion on the seat and backrest. The cushions were an off-white color, and with this Jax could finally sit and eat like a normal person when used with the table. The third item was a small nightstand, also wood, though a much darker brown color that made it seem mismatched with the chair and table. It was the lightest storage type of furniture Jax could carry, being able to carry it and the chair together at once. Finally, the most important piece of all. There lay a long light brown couch, what would become Jax's new bed. It was covered with a leathery material all around, and could easily sit three or four people on it. Most importantly, it was the most comfortable couch out of all the furniture.

Moving these four furniture items aside, Jax glanced back at the sleeping beast.

"Good, just keep on napping like that," Jax thought while smiling.

The chair, table, and nightstand were easy to move to the edge of the clearing, but the couch required Jax to muster all the strength to lift and carry a few feet, before setting it down again. He continued this until all his items were well away from the beast, allowing him to be a bit noisier. Jax dragged the couch from now on, taking quite a while to drag it back just to the lake, all while taking breaks to drink some water and catch his breath. He wasn't used to physical labor like this, all the cargo he moved on the ship was assisted by grav-kits and heavy machinery. Once the couch reached the lake, Jax made two more trips to carry the rest of the furniture to where he left the couch.

Taking a break on the couch by the lake, Jax looked back up at the sun, now much lower in the sky. He most likely only had a few hours left until nighttime. There was no way he could get all of the furniture back in time, so he decided that the couch was most important and that the rest could be retrieved the next day.

Dragging the couch back to the cave, Jax managed to squeeze it through the crack in the cliff, and position it inside his dark little cave. The sun was beginning to set, but Jax couldn't care less, as his whole body ached from the long workout he put himself under today. Laying on the couch, Jax slowly fell into comfort, before falling back to sleep for his fourth night.

...

In the crash site clearing, under the light of a half-full moon, the winged creature spread its wings, stretching awake from its slumber. That stupid creature that intruded was nowhere to be found. The only this it left behind was its nests, which the beast had thoroughly destroyed.

Looking once more at its surroundings, the beast decided that the stupid creature must have run off and out of its territory since the beast could no longer find it. Finally, its peace returned and it wouldn't have to worry about some intruder anymore.