The Woods ✔

Human Territory

As soon as the truck's tires hit the tarmac and moved over it with a constant hum, Caden sat up straight in his seat and watched out for the first signs since the hunting hut. Humans tended to mark their territory excessively with not only their scent but also randomly placed objects. And out of all of them they seemed to prefer brightly coloured signposts with their colonies' names on it.

Caden looked out for one specific name and had to wait only for a few minutes until he spotted it. Dayton. And somewhere in Dayton was Oak Lane.

Since the condition of the street was much better, Michael drove faster and trees flew by with frightening speed. Caden gripped his seat with both hands and didn't even risk to blink. On the one hand, he was glad to end the time crammed in the old truck as soon as possible but on the other hand, he didn't want to die in said truck. Imagining what would happen if they made acquaintance with a tree made him feel extremely sick.

Michael brought them safely into town and Caden scrambled out of the car as soon as it came to a halt in the hardware store's parking lot. It felt good to have solid ground under his feet again.

"We'll get the supplies for the repairs, then go grab a bite to eat and afterwards you can look for books," Michael explained while locking up the truck although Caden doubted that anyone would want to steal it.

They grabbed one of those big shopping carts and entered the huge building. The scent of wood, paint and other foreign things assaulted his nose and Caden sneezed. Michael chuckled quietly and led him through the high rows of shelves which were stuffed with everything one could need to build something. They even sold toilet bowls.

Michael stopped in front of the drip rails and produced a crumbled slip of paper out of his back pocket on which he obviously had jotted down notes. After mumbling to himself and comparing the different shiny drip rails he settled for one that was about two feet long.

"Remember the lovely puddle in front of the kitchen window?" he asked while placing it on the cart. "This will put an end to it."

Caden nodded and followed him down another aisle, trying not to gore him with the drip rail from behind.

While Michael searched for a glaze to protect the wood of their cabin from the often rough weather, Caden wandered off to look at the animals that were sold here, too. There were the obligatory goldfish and mice but also some rabbits and even turtles which munched on some salad. He gently tapped against the glass of their terrarium but either they were naturally deaf or they simply paid him no mind because none of them reacted in any way. Nonetheless, he had to admit that they were pretty cool.

Colourful fish were swimming around in several aquariums but he wasn't fond of slippery scales and preferred watching the fluffy rabbits and guinea pigs. The rodents shared an enclosure and varied in size and colour.

"Caden!"

"Coming!" He got up and jogged in the direction that smelled the most of paint and nearly made his eyes water. Michael had loaded the cart with several bins - they had to cover a whole cabin with this stuff - and studied his notes.

"Are turtles deaf?" Caden asked curiously and Michael shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know but I've never talked to one," he admitted and Caden hummed quietly. The turtles likely had to deal with people tapping against the glass all day and simply ignored the disruption. Poor turtles.

Michael collected some packages of nails and other stuff, too, and thereafter went to the check-out line. Obviously the cabin was in pretty good condition. Besides the puddle under the kitchen window birds liked to bathe in.