Leppa had told me that we had to build a shelter, not for protection from the Apples, but for protection from nature. After all, rain might not have been our enemy, but it wasn't our friend either. Who wanted to get wet every time it rained? Not me, and not Leppa.
We gathered wood, branches that lay on the forest ground or that we broke off smaller trees. I carried them while Leppa ripped dried leaves off trees and brought them to the place we wanted to call home. It was a spot in the shadow of the forest, but close enough to the structure to be able to see them, and prepare for another attack if it was needed. We doubted — well, Leppa doubted — that they'd attack again. The soldiers wouldn't want to, and Mr. Apletre was dead. I didn't know who now led the Small Apple Organization, and by that, the whole structure, but I also didn't really care.
When we had gone to try and find a place to build our shelter, we had searched for a long time, going out quite far into the forest; at the end, we could even see the border of it, where the sunlight started to pierce through, but that was when we stopped, it was too far. I had said it's better if we go back now, we could get lost, and Leppa had agreed. We had walked back silently, both disappointed; I was disappointed because I thought we'd find a magical place, where we'd immediately know that that was it, and it didn't happen. I imagined Leppa had a similar reason to be disappointed.
We then walked back, my heart sinking: it really made me realize that we hadn't found a place to live. Silence dominated, neither of us had the courage to break it. We exited the forest and sat down under our tree, watching the sun set, and suddenly, I knew: it was the feeling I had been waiting for all this time. I spoke. "Leppa, this is where we should build."
"You think?" A light smile lay on his lips; it made me wonder if he had known all along.
"Yeah. Here, right here."
"Why not?"
We had gone to sleep and woken up, knowing that that day, that was today, would be a big day.
Now I was happy to have chosen a place so close to the woods: it made the gathering of supplies easier, as we didn't have to carry them a long way.
"Is that all we need?" I asked, dumping my load of wood on the roots of the tree.
"I think that's it."
Leppa showed me how to sort the branches by straight ones and gnarled ones, so that we could easily build makeshift walls. He told me that he planned to, one day, make bricks out of the clay that lay at the bottom of the river, but that would take a lot of time; right now, we needed a temporary shelter, that would be done quickly. We stuck branches in the soft ground at an angle and crossed them so that we had a sort of a tent. It would be tight, but I didn't mind too much, after all, Leppa now was my partner. Didn't partners live close together? I sure hoped they did.
That night, we lay down in our new home, and as I expected it was very tight. I was curled around Leppa and he was tightly curled around me; I know that a few months ago I would've doubted my ability to sleep in such conditions, but I slept better that first night than I had ever. I slept deeply, the whole night through, and only woke up when Leppa gently shook me and said that it was already late.
"Huh?"
"It's 8:00 AppleHours, Appel! You need to get up!"
I grudgingly pushed myself up, tested in my pocket if all items were still there, and stood there, in front of our little tent. It really looked ridiculous in the clear sunlight.
"We'll have to rebuild that soon."
"Yeah, didn't I say that we'd use clay?"
"Mhm," I agreed. "Now?"
YOU ARE READING
After An Apple's Death
Adventure[Humour / Adventure] The World of Living Apples has always thought about what happens after an apple dies. I'm an apple. And I died. Others told me I had to be the test subject for their experiment. For that, I had to kill myself by fire. I kill...
