Heating things up.

One leaf goes into the water, one fire dies into hot coals, one slightly burned hand pulls out the leaf.

Yes, we are starting halfway through the process of learning how to heat up water. Why? Because this is my story and I deemed it too boring to include, No I didn't do something dumb with the fire. No I am not embarrassed because of it. we can stop talking about it now.

I stood next to the fire, some rocks sitting in and among the coals heating up, my two perfectly normal hands held my newest creation, Behold!!! A Stick! using this amazing invention I can hold a sugar leaf well above a flame to stop any possibility of it catching fire AND it lets me walk away and work on other things like making a pointy stick, eating, crying, and tending to my perfectly normal hands. I even have some time to play with that spider in my leantoo, I was growing quite attached to it. both because I have no friends and because it doesn't run from me. I have been very careful not to let any of that devious sun light touch the poor thing.

Suddenly I didn't hear a ding. so I got up to go check on the water. I pulled on the stick I was using to hold the stem up I was careful not to let any water spill onto the fire and when it was away from the fire I dipped my finger into the water. the water was lukewarm and the leaf hotter on the bottom so I could probably let it heat up some more, but I was really thirsty so I started phase two. I placed the stick in the ground and went to go get some irresponsibly hot rocks from my irresponsible fire. I couldn't just grab them obviously, if you needed me to tell you that I'm glad I told you that. so instead I got four more of my greatest invention the stick, by stacking four of them together in a 2 by 2 and wrapping the bottom with a lot of blue grass and hope I can effectively make a claw to pull rocks out. so I opened the four sticks up and stuck them into my coals and fished out one of the rocks I had washed in the pond before heating them up. I knew it was a hot rock because the sticks instantly started smoking, classic sticks always smoking, that and the fact that it was glowing red. I put pressure on the rock to make sure it wouldn't drop. I felt the heat of the coals, I really needed this to work.

I carefully moved to rock over the grass to the leaf with water. slowly, step by step, sweat forming on my brow, I made it to the water, and with the slowness of a sloth dipped the rock into the water, it instantly started steaming and sizzling , I probably should make a system to catch that and condense it. but not now. if the rock touched the leaf it would burn through it. Something I learned the hard way, the rock stopped sizzling so I rotated it and it started again, but not as much, after a while I just had a mildly hot rock and some mildly hot water I returned the rock again and pulled out another one, and repeated the process until finally the leaf itself started coming apart, little bits of it floating in the water. I knew it was time.

I quickly put the rock I had back into the fire. I rushed over to a sugar bush and pulled out a handful of stems, I hoped it was enough. racing back to the leaf full of hot steaming water now. I threw the stems on the ground pulled on out and began pouring, from experience I knew it would start leaking thought the leaf soon. the water was too hot at this point. but I only needed to heat it up to that point, I could begin cooling it. I know it isn't the best way to purify it. but any bit helped in my situation.

I poured the water from where it currently resided onto a the leaf in my other perfectly normal hand, as it passed through the air it cooled off a little. I put the used stem on the grass and grabbed another stem off the ground. I then carefully poured it onto that one and then back to the second again and again. it was heating up too so soon I had to pass it to a fourth leaf. but after that the water cooled off enough I could stop using new leaves.

In the end I used 5 leaves and I had a handful of purified drinking water sitting in a leaf, it was warm but drinkable and I was going to enjoy it. a lot of work went into this small bit of water. half the day all for this. I was proud and happy. I slowly raised the water to my mouth, I could feel my dry lips I licked them as I touched the leaf to my mouth. I was careful not to lose a drop. as it poured down my throat I felt it's warmth enter my chest and into my stomach. I finished and took a deep breath feeling it's lingering heat on my breath. again I breathed, I was enjoying this moment. the water tasted slightly sweet. no doubt from the leaves it was once held by. and I let the moment sink it. I laid down and looked up at the sky. I saw the clouds pass by and for the first time since coming here I knew.

I would survive. it wasn't a question anymore. I might die to some animal but I wouldn't die to hunger or thirst. I wouldn't die to some water born sickness either. although that one was still a little unsure it was far less likely. I smiled and just stared. I did it, I had a way to stop myself from dying of thirst. I did it.

Of course... now I figured out how to do it in a much smarter way.

"Why didn't I just use a bunch of leafs tied together as a catch for steam?" I spoke feeling quite dumb. "I could just heat up the rocks and throw water on them. Catch the steam and let it condense into a stem. They seem to be water proof anyway. It would be way less intensive, way easier. It might be slower though..."

After some rigging, I got a small pit with a bunch of burning hot stones straight from my fire. which I had been consistent adding wood too. And above the pit a bowl of leaves held together with sap, grass, and hope. Suspended by some sticks a small twisted rope of grass that was nothing more then twisted grass and sap connected the inside of the bowl to a second bowl made of surgar leaves.

Took the other half of the day and it was starting to get dark by the time I finished but after testing it and seeing steam and water pooling at the top I was fairly confident it would work. So I went to bed after throwing some wood on the fire.

Ash was starting to pile up... I might need to move it soon.

My spider friend was no where in sight so I closed my eyes and rested confident I would be able to have a small amount of clean drinking water for me in the morning.