2 Intro Part 2

Every morning, I would wake up and go to the forest to hunt with my best friend Hans. No one could move through the woods as quickly or silently as he could and no one could wield a dagger as dangerously as he could. He was tall, blonde and very arrogant which made it very comical that he couldn't shoot a bow and arrow as I could.

I never miss.

Hans is very competitive and hates to lose so it drives him insane when I beat him at arrow shooting. One day after a spirited contest that brought him crushing defeat, he accused me of cheating and didn't speak to me for a week.

That being said, we had a high-quality hunting technique -based on our partnership- that never failed. After tracking our prey, Hans would circle around to the other side and then chase them towards me. Sometimes the way he startled them was enough to send them in my direction. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Today, our haul was three deer and two rabbits. A meagre result and not one of our best but it would do. All we had to do was bring it home to Abigail who would prepare the most delicious food with it that we could eat and also share with Aki and Yoshi.

Speaking of Abigail, I had known Abi all my life but had no clue who she really was or where she came from. She just sort of appeared at the farm and never left. Nobody looked quite like her. She wasn't as skinny as I was but she wasn't fat like the baker's boy, Nathan. She had dark brown skin and a large forehead that she tried to hide with her long auburn hair (I have a thing for dark-haired beauties). She always let her hair flow over her right shoulder when she was happy and wore it up in a tight bun when she wasn't. She also gets very irritated whenever I ask about her past so I gave up before long.

For now, I was content to just admire her, enjoy her food, and let her take care of my grandfather (until she was ready for me to confess my love!)

After hunting, when we got to the front door later that day, I was shocked when Abi burst through the door and jumped into my arms. I held her for a moment until I realized that her tears were soaking the collar of my tunic.

"Abi, what's wrong?" I asked cautiously. The only emotions that I had ever seen her display were annoyance and anger. Having her cry in my arms was a brand new experience for me.

"It's your grandfather," she said between sobs. "He wasn't breathing when I found him."

When we got to gramps's room, he was already dead.

***

The next few days were hard. I cycled through a lot of emotions; shock, anger, confusion and depression. What made things worse was the letter he sent to me. I couldn't bring myself to read it. It sat on my bedside drawer like a hungry lion patiently stalking its prey but I couldn't bear to dispose of it. It caused me a great deal of mental anguish.

I don't remember exactly what Hans said to convince me to open the letter and read it but it sounded like: "Quit whining, shut and read it already! Or I will!"

He's such a soft-spoken sweet-talker when he wants to be. I'm sure that's what Abigail told him to do. She knows me so well. Sympathy is for kids.

The letter went something like this:

My dearest Jon,

You've been more of a son to me than your father ever was. I'm sorry to have left you.

I'm sorry I've caused you so much pain. I wish I could've been a better replacement for your own father.

You've been carrying the weight of the world around your shoulders but you're only just a kid.

Please learn from my life and do the opposite.

I sometimes regret not doing more. Not seeing more. In some ways, I envy your mother. She was always so ambitious with her dreams and your father who always took risks and never settled for his lot in life. They are my mentors. If you want to learn how to live your life, look at them and not me.

I've taught you how to farm and hunt but I've never been beyond Lindisfarne.

I read you stories of Altair the sword king but I've never been inside a dungeon.

I see the way you look at Abigail but you don't have the courage to ask her out. I too didn't have the nerve to ask your grandmother out, she asked me but waking up next to her every day made me feel like the happiest man in the world.

Real loss is when you love something more than you love yourself.

Please find someone you don't want to lose and live life to the fullest. I know you'll feel some setbacks but it's not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

Your world is only as small as Lindisfarne. Make it bigger.

Love,

Harry Winchester.