The Walker

He doesn't know how long he has been walking. The sky had already turned dark from the clouds building overhead, so he has no way to tell the time of day. He has been walking for what has seemed like hours. He has seen no movement besides himself and the shaking leaves. He is all alone in these woods. All alone in these never-ending woods. He could have sworn he had seen that tree twice before. Or maybe it was that tree he had seen before. It was hard to tell in this darkness. He already had to light a second torch after the first went out. It won't be long before he must light the next one. Maybe he will find a way out before that happens. It is probably not going to happen though. He shouldn't really get his ho-

CRACK!

A blinding light flashed in front of his eyes as a huge bolt of lightning struck a tree some ways in front of him, jolting him out of his trance. He watched with wide eyes and an open mouth as the now-flaming tree collapsed to the ground, soon catching the brush around it on fire. He was unable to tear his eyes away from the spectacle unfolding before him: the flames climbing up two more trees, the smoke billowing up towards the treetops...

It was only when he heard the screams that he ripped his eyes away from the flames. However, these were not the screams of men, but rather those of all the forest creatures fleeing or being burned alive. Rabbits swarmed by him, squirrels jumped away from the burning trees, some of them already smoldering. A herd of deer bounded through the trees to his right, and an almost endless stream of birds flocked away from the flames.

CRACK!

Another flash of light, and another flaming tree collapsed to his left, causing the flames to spread even closer to him. Coughing from the smoke that was beginning to gather around him, he stumbled away from the fires, and ran as fast as he could. The fire lit up the forest around him in an eerie orange glow, and he could vaguely make out the forms of the animals continuing to scatter.

As he ran, he heard more thunder off in the distance, and knew that the fire would soon become massive, and that he had to get out fast. He saw more flames sprouting off to his left as he ran, and that only caused him to run faster, despite the burning in his chest. He ran, faster than he ever remembered running. He imagined himself as the wind that had ripped through the forest not too long ago, tearing through trees and brush with inhuman speed.

After what seemed like an hour, relief finally hit his face. This relief was in the form of a big, fat raindrop, that was soon followed by thousands more, as the clouds in the sky finally began releasing all the water they had been building up. He slowed down to a walk, and began laughing. Somehow he had escaped the raging inferno! Someone up there must be looking out for him.

A flicker of light ahead of him caught his attention. He whipped his head towards the source, and found what he had been waiting so long to see.

'A village!' he thought enthusiastically.

He bounded forward once more, whooping for joy, not caring if he woke anyone up. His excitement got the better of him however, for he soon found himself slipping in the mud. He fell forward towards a tree, and released a cry of surprise before his world went black.

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On the outskirts of this village lied a hut, in which lived the family of Hans Steinkopf. The family had been enjoying their dinner, despite the rainstorm outside. Hans was a carpenter for the village of Thirstead, and the forest in the backyard made it easy for him to get wood to work. His wife, Camela, was a matronly woman with braided brown hair, who was always doting on their children, Jakob and Tristan. Tristan had just asked for Jakob to pass the bowl of chopped carrots when they heard the shouting coming from the woods.