Enar's Vacation - Open Beta

Chapter 30

3135 Words

This is a beta version of Enar's Vacation. Changes can - and probably will - be made as a result of reader feedback. I hope you'll enjoy it and I hope you'll take the time to give me some feedback. It will help me make this story the best it can be.

+++

Morning came all too soon.

Enar woke up with a start. In his dreams he'd been running from tree to tree, looking for a toolbox that was never there. Hot on his heels Amanda had driven a gazebo pulled by large dogs, and all the while Rolf had laughed and laughed at him from the gazebo roof.

He sat up in bed. The burrow lay silent all around him. Nothing moved. Dim pre-dawn light filtered in through the window. He was awake, and it was light enough to see. Might as well get going. With a groan, he swung his feet over the edge and stood up. No honest fylk should be awake at this hour.

The door swung shut with a click, and the morning spread out before him.

Stillness.

He waited where he stood, reluctant to intrude on the world.

Silence.

Wisps of mist danced among the trees, and morning dew draped everything in shades of grey.

Alone.

Everyone, and everything, still slept.

He should be annoyed with himself - and grumpy. He'd disappointed his hosts, and he'd forced himself a chore he'd be far better off without. If he'd just been a mature and responsible individual he could have been still in bed, sleeping for hours yet, before waking up to a rustic countryside breakfast with the family.

He should have been annoyed with himself.

Should have been.

With a shrug and a smile, he stepped away from the door, set foot on the path, and went to correct his mistake.

He tried keeping on the trail, but he hadn't taken many steps before his legs and feet were soaked from brushing against wet grass.

As he passed the pump, he gave it a nod, but didn't stop to talk. He'd stocked up on water last night and didn't need more now. There would be a stream on the way and he could drink from that. No need to carry more now.

Down on the porch - just at the top of the steps leading up to it, not by the door - he found the backpack he'd used the other day. Inside lay a package, also just like last time. He hefted the bag up on his shoulders and set of down to the gate and the road, to the inn and the cider-house - to far-away Storvak.

Excited.

He reached, and passed - without incident - the cider-house and walked, for the first time in many years, alone on an unfamiliar road. He'd never been here before, hadn't had any plans on coming this way. Yet here he was, exploring, breaking new ground, on his way to meet the morning.

All things considered, walking with Bolvar didn't really count as being alone.

He'd definitely get himself a dog when he got back home. He'd get a dog and a new apartment, and he'd call Amanda and they'd go visit, he and his dog. He could stay with uncle Herb - in his guest room.

Maybe he'd bring his dog here next year.

The forest stood still and quiet around him, waiting for the sun to finally rise. The road wound its way up a densely forested hillside - not a hard walk, but steep enough that the pre-dawn light still hadn't fully pushed the night away.