Four Weeks - The Beginning

Struggle

Relwer and Alan meandered along the winding road to the facility, through the woods. After a while, Relwer stopped.

'I am exhausted. I need some rest,' he said.

'Oh come on man! The Neilodros aren't resting,' said Alan.

'You err in your pronunciation of that word, my friend,' said Relwer.

'What?' Alan asked.

'There are no neilodros. If you meant Neilodrons, you erred in your pronunciation,' Relwer clarified.

'Huh? Yeah, whatever!' exclaimed Alan.

Relwer looked at Alan for a while, trying to decipher why Alan said 'whatever'.

'But you are correct in saying that the Neilodrons are not resting. Alas, I must recover my strength and gather my wits. I am spent, Alan. I have to rest now, if only for a little while,' said Relwer.

'Alright, fine! Where do we crash for the night?' Alan asked.

'We are not crashing anywhere, tonight,' Relwer said.

'Ugh! Do you know a place that we can stay at, just for tonight?' Alan clarified.

'Oh. That, I do,' Relwer said. 'Follow me.'

Relwer lead Alan some way farther and then stopped, dropping his bag on to the ground. Alan thought the shelter didn't seem like it would offer much protection from harsh winds, poisonous insects, stones and pebbles that lay on the ground, the crunching twigs strewn all across, or possible forest animals lurking about. It did not seem like much of a shelter at all, to Alan. It was a little bit of open space ensconced in a group of coniferous trees. The sounds of bird and animal like species in the region did not sound fainter than in any other region of the forest that they had been through, thus far. Alan could think of no reason to regard the place as any sort of get away from the quarrelsome mid-forest lifestyle. He did, however, acknowledge that the forest was indeed a beautiful sight to behold, all the way through their travel.

He waited for a while, hoping that Relwer was going to say that he had been thinking where to go next from there. Relwer walked all around the place, examining things. In a little while, he put down his bags and then, bent over to open them up. He was looking for something in them.

'This is it?' asked Alan. 'This is your shelter?'

'This will make a fine shelter,' said Relwer.

Alan waited for Relwer to change his statement. Relwer's unflinching manner very quickly dissolved that expectation until eventually, he said, 'Are you kidding?'

'I'm not gonna be able to sleep on that crinkly floor with all the delightful crackling ferns and rustling foliage all around,' said Alan.

'No, no that's why I brought hay,' said Relwer, removing some from his bag.

'Hay?' remarked Alan.

'Yes, the very best on Raeon. These will facilitate a most peaceful sleep,' said Relwer.

'You came from Earth right? Never happen to see, I don't know, a bed there?' asked Alan.

'Even on this planet, if you remember, you had woken up in a bed. We are no strangers to beds. But, strange scents can attract forest animals to us and so, we must make do with something natural,' said Relwer.

'What, so there is a chance that an animal might find us here?' asked Alan.

'Oh, don't fret Alan. It almost never happens and even when it does, they usually bite off the head first,' said Relwer.