'I think I'm actually gonna die this time after all....' he thought as tear streaks rolled down his face from the corner of his eyes.
He struggled for a while before he crawled over to the middle of the shed and rolled over, facing the ceiling of the shed as blood pooled on the floor below him.
'I have to try and eat something before I actually die....and probably clean off this blood before it attracts lingering predators'
He crawled to the end of the room and slowly raised himself up in a sitting position before he rested his back on the wall behind him.
Then he tore a part of his bodywear and used the torn out part to wrap around his injured thigh, to slow the bleeding or stop it all together.
"This should do it" He groaned as he tightened the knot of the cloth tied around his bleeding thigh.
His stomach began growling again to remind him of its emptiness, and how easy his family made feeding and caretaking look like when it was actually harder.
"I'm going alright!!"
He slowly rose to his feet as he glanced around, some broken parts of the shed sprouted out of their lines, old and dried out, they could be used as firewood if done properly.
But then he recalled the whole shed was made of the same substances, which meant a stupid mistake and he could be lighting the whole place ablaze regardless of how small the fire was.
"What to do, what to do..." he muttered, pressing his fingers against his throbbing temple as his thoughts churned through the haze.
He shook his head, shaking off the unwanted thoughts that churned in his head before he raised his head toward his surroundings again
"I can actually pull this off.." he turned and saw some rusted, short metal bars used to hold up the window frames.
Then he glanced at the curtain like material that covered up the entrance to the shed.
'I probably shouldn't use that yet...'
Then he glanced at the far end where the fishes landed on the floor, splattered. Some pieces had stuck to the wall and other places.
"I've got nothing else to eat...soo, it should work out fine" he murmured as he walked slowly to the far end of the room to where the metal bars where.
Then stopped right in front of the wall, and stared at it for a while, he noticed some cracks around the window frames which he could use to pull out the metal bars.
'I'll have to be careful so I don't pull out the whole thing instead...' he thought as he stroked his chin.
With his weak hands, he grabbed the bar of worn-out metal and began pulling in the opposite direction.
It wasn't as easy as he thought, he was weak, and the bars were embedded deep inside the wooden wall.
As he pulled, a sudden thought struck him. He stopped and glanced at the frame of the window.
He ran his fingers along the edges until he found a point that jutted out, then pulled at it. Slowly, the entire frame came loose, revealing compartments hidden inside and the metal bar was one of them.
'I knew they had to insert the metal bar one way or the other...I guess I was right'
He stared at the frame for a while before he moved closer and stared inside the compartment, noting everything inside before he began pulling on the metal bar, until he eventually pulled it out.
"Finally!!" He gasped as he finally took in air.
But it was only one out of four remaining bars, and he needed to pull out each and every last one of them if he wanted to build it.
'One out of four huh...' he sighed as he placed his fingers around the next metal bar, and began pulling it.
Soon enough he finished pulling out all the metal bars within the window frame, then he sat down for a while to catch his breathe.
'Living alone is way harder than I thought...I've never relied on my intellect while being hungry like this before, it was so easy back there' He stared up the wall.
Then he rose to his feet, packing up all the metal bars onto his hands with a loud sigh escaping his lips.
'But I'm no longer there, and I can't be sitting around thinking or I might actually die of hunger'
He drifted to the center of the room and dropped all the bars to the floor, then he bent low and started arranging them one by one in a crosshatch then rose to his feet and stared at it for a while.
'Seems good...now how do I light this up? I didn't actually think of the most important thing before I started pulling out these bars!!'
He placed his hands over his face, lost in thought. After a moment, he slid his index finger sideways, revealing one eye, then slowly opened his right eye and glanced around the shed.
'A fire? The rocks close to the riverbank can serve as a fire catalyst right?'
He knelt down and thought for a while before he finally came to an answer.
'Yes indeed they should be able to...their rough texture and feel should allow them to cause sparks on the wood, but those beasts...I wonder if they're still out there ...'
"I guess there's only one way to find out" He said, rising to his feet and heading for the door.
With his stomach still growling loudly he made it to the door, opening and peering through it he glanced around to make sure nothing was on the other side of the door before he opened it fully.
Then he slowly descended the tree, holding each branch like his life depended on it because it actually did.
When he got down, he dusted his hands and glanced at his blood spilled around the place from the earlier run.
'I'm glad nothing has found me yet..'
He raised his head and looked around before he started making his way toward the riverbank.
With careful steps, he emerged from the bushes, eyes scanning the area to make sure the beasts were no longer nearby. Only when he was certain the coast was clear did he break into a run, heading straight for the riverbank.
Along the way, he caught sight of leftover fish remains, gnawed bones and shredded flesh, the heads crushed nearly to pulp.
'Typical scavengers…' he thought, eyes lingering on the torn carcasses for a brief moment.
Then he looked up and hurried to the river's edge, dropping to his knees beside the flowing water.
He picked out the stones that felt right, rough, solid, with just enough weight. Then he grabbed a few backups, just in case the first didn't work. If he could, he would've taken more. It was always better to be safe than sorry.
With that, he turned and made his way back to the shed.
He grabbed the branches and climbed the tree again, the stones weighing lightly in his pockets, as small as he could manage.
Once he reached the top, he pulled them out and spread them across the wooden floor, laying them out carefully for selection.
After a few careful selections, he gathered the broken pieces of wood scattered around the shed and piled them on top of the metal bars. Then, picking up the stones he'd chosen for testing, he crouched low and began striking them, hoping for a spark.
'Come on!!, just a spark!'
The first flicker of flame flew into the wood, a glowing promise of hope... but nothing happened after a while of waiting. So he began striking the stones again, harder this time.
He used every ounce of his remaining strength to strike the stones against each other as hard as he could, a few sparks flew into the wood again. This time he took the initiative to blow some breeze into it to ignite the flame, and as hope would have it, it worked and the flame ignited.
"Yesss!!" He screamed out before covering his mouth with his palms.
'I need to be less noisy to avoid attracting unwanted attention'
Now with a flame, he would no longer feel cold from the drench in the river and he could now make food.
'I hope it lasts long enough...'
He gathered all the fish parts that were still edible and packed them together.
'Now how does one grill a fish? I've only eaten one but I haven't seen them make it, dad always makes us wait inside while they grilled it, I don't know why' He thought for a while before picking up a piece and dumping it into the fire.
He watched as the piece burnt to ashes right in front of him.
'Hmmmm, I guess that's not how it's made.'
He stared into the fire for a while as his thoughts churned inside his head, looking for a way to go around it.
"Maybe I need to hover the fish around the fire for heat to come in contact with it?" He thought out loud.
'It's worth a try..'
He grabbed a piece of fish with his bare hands and held it over the fire, hoping to warm it.
But the heat surged up too fast, searing his skin. With a sharp hiss of pain, he flinched, and the fish slipped from his fingers, falling straight into the flames.
'It's so hot!!'
He blew against the scarred region of his wrist.
"I have to use something to hold it above the fire..." he glanced around the area and saw a piece of wood he didn't add to the fire.
"This should work" he crawled over and grabbed it, pulling back to where he squatted.
He slid the stick through the fish and positioned it over the fire, watching patiently as the edges began to darken and crisp.
He smiled as he watched the fish roast, a quiet warmth blooming in his chest. A small sense of happiness tugged at him, along with the weight of new knowledge earned through struggle.
"New knowledge acquired.." he smirked.