A Sealed Note

[BurgerDaddy]

I’m sealing this note, knowing it may never be read. 

How many times will I revive from death? I know, eventually I will die again, so, in case I cease to be, and another comes to this world when I am gone, here is my story.

 

I woke, I began to exist, for no reason I know, a seraph in this world. It is a beautiful and scary place. The forests are danger, I got that figured out right quick, and nights ain’t safe to be out in the open either, so I set myself up at the base of a mountain cliff, where I can keep my back to the solid stone, feels safer, y’know?

Spent a bit of my time farming and setting up a space, it’s simple, dirt and cobbled stones, but it’s home. Water flows down from the cliffs above and allows good farming. As time went on the weather was getting colder, skies were gettin’ darker, and as I was feeling a bit settled in my space, so I got to exploring more… started making paths of stone and earth. I was out one day taking in the terrain, seeing what I could find in the world. I had a mostly worn copper pick and my first prospectin’ pick, freshly made, was tryin’ a make sense of this new tool a bit. I popped up from grabbing some copper an I noticed it was gettin’ towards sunset… so I started my meandering home.

I frequently check about for them rifts any time I’m out as dark approaches, dangerous things, never feel quite right being near them even in the broad of day. Wasn’t much of them to be seen though, and I felt right safe being out, so I figured, heck I can push it into dark a bit, I’m gonna gather myself up some nice mushrooms for dinner. Love me some wine caps.

 

I started walking back home and… suddenly, very suddenly, there was a lot more rifts around… things felt a bit, “Apocalyptic” (wait that’s a thing?) I had no idea how bad it was gonna get… admittedly I panicked at this point.

I ran full tilt for home, knew I wasn’t making it before full dark, that terrifying all enveloping blackness in which danger hides. Through the woods I ran like a panicked animal… just keep moving, don’t get slowed up on the steep hills…

I made it back into known territory, was close to home, dodging around rifts all over the place. And that’s what caused me to jump a familiar, narrow little canyon… just a bit to the right of where I usually do.

Turned out it was a bit wider there… and much, much deeper. Truly, I expected to die when I hit bottom, but I didn’t, the pain was severe but I clung to life. Bandages? Why would I even carry those! Waste of space if’n ya ask me.

I quickly checked my surroundings, an arrow would do me in about now, and I knew enough to know one would arrive for me before long.  I was standin’ on a tiny ledge, all blackness below. The walls across the chasm were dark at the edge of torchlight and sloped away, down into the depths. I turned my back to the void and mined frantically into the wall, carving enough space to stand in, and packed the space behind me with dirt.

Ok. I’m safe now… I just gotta make my way back to the top… with this… very worn out pick. 

It turned out it was not enough pick. Have you ever used a copper pro pick to dig a tunnel? To say the least, it is tedious. (Also comes with an excess of useless information.)

Eventually I knew I was nearing the surface, because I heard them. A swarming horde of drifters had sensed me clawing my way up. They waited.

My slow climb had given me time to shake off my wounds a bit, but my hunger pushed me on. I certainly didn’t plan on eating my mushrooms raw! I my mind I could already smell the stew cooking back home.

I held my breath, poked a hole in the ceiling and prepared for the worst. There were quite a few of them, I lost count, but they couldn’t swarm me in my narrow tunnel, my spears kept them at bay. Clawing hands clipped me once, twice, but they got worse from me, and eventually there was a pause in drifters pouring in from above, and I made a break for it.

Fear had been my enemy, but this time… swiftly, and calmly. You know the path, don’t be a fool, just follow it. Arrows fired from the darkness but missed their mark. A shivering rust hound snapped at my heels, the pack chased after, but could not keep up. And so, at long last, I made back to the walls of the farm, dashed through the door of my house and spun around slamming it behind me. I was home.

 

I caught my breath, and then prepared a hot meal with my hard earned mushroom. I stored my copper and other freshly gathered things and looked out one of the few tiny windows in my little cliff side hovel. The sun rose slowly on a chilly fall day.