I spent some time looking around for a good spot to build my new home. Although I knew that I needed nails, I still hadn't decided whether to build my little house on the ground or up in the branches of a tree. Both possibilities had their advantages.
If I built my home on the ground then I would need to place pillars as a foundation, and build the floor such that it would be elevated above ground, to prevent flooding. That meant hard work digging holes in the ground, and I didn't even have a shovel, but it meant that I would be free to make my house as large as I wanted, in whatever shape I wanted. On the other hand, a tree-house would be well-elevated above ground and would offer better privacy and security in case a person or animal came sniffing around.
I looked both for trees that had thick horizontal limbs, and for places where the ground rose up. I didn't want to be at the bottom, where the water would flow to during a rainstorm. However, those places that were most suitable for a house due to their relative elevation only had a thin layer of soil above rock. That's when I realized that I could have the advantages of both types of houses, by using the tree trunks as my pillars of support and building my house between them.
I remembered the wood forts the boys in the village liked to make for their games. I didn't participate in them, but I concentrated on my memories of how they were constructed. I vaguely remembered that they would gather straight, thick, long branches, saw them into equal lengths, then tie them to tree trunks. They would then place an additional pair of such branches on top of those pillars to create a frame, and on that frame they would lay out branches as a floor.
I went around looking for branches that met the requirements, collecting them from the ground, or cutting them off of dead trees. I used my ax to cut off the little branches that grew out of them to give them a smoother shape that would fit more snugly in place, and sawed them into equal lengths, then fastened them to the trunks. I had my pillars. I then repeated a similar process for the frame and floor.
The next step was the walls. By tying branches on the outside of the support pillars for the floor I could create a slot between those branches and the trunk of the tree, into which I fitted branches for the wall. As the wall got higher I added more ropes to tie those bracing branches to the tree trunks, to keep the wall branches tightly in place. That gave me 3 walls. One side I left open, but it was the narrowest side. Perhaps in the future I will find a way to build a door, but for now it will be enough to use a heavy cloth that I could nail or tie over the opening.
For the ceiling I tied branches on top of the wall branches. I'll need to find some way of making the ceiling water-proof, but for now it will at least provide shade and a feeling of home. I'll also need to seal the walls to prevent drafts during the cold months, but keeping the shelter breezy would feel more pleasant during the summer.
With the roof complete, I finally had something that I could call a home, if only marginally so. It was barely long enough for me to lie stretched out inside it, but at least it was tall enough to stand. I put my pack inside and tried to take a nap. I felt tired after spending all day working to construct my house, but the floor was too bumpy to feel comfortable, so I went to rest on the ground outside. I'll need to add a bed to my shopping list. Still, despite how shabby and uncomfortable it was, I felt satisfied at building my own tiny house, and finally having a place that I could call home.
Every time I slept I would experience nightmares. They came just as frequently now, weeks after my escape, as when they first started. This nap was no different, and I jumped up gasping and clutching my head. Even after waking up I still felt as if Liliana's eyeless corpse was pulling my hair while shrieking its accusations at me.
Although my grief dulled somewhat during the weeks that passed since my escape, I still found myself crying whenever I started thinking about the past. Keeping myself busy with activities that occupied my mind, like hunting or building my tree house, helped keep me distracted, helped me forget the pain and feel at least a modicum of happiness, but even that was tinged with loneliness. I couldn't avoid it. I spent all my life living with my family, and then with Liliana and Henry. Now I was completely alone, with not even a stranger anywhere around me. Even if I screamed, there was no one who would hear me.
By the time I woke up it was already dark. Since I spent the whole day working on my little tree house I didn't get any hunting done. I was so engrossed in my work that I forgot to take a break to eat, so aside from breakfast all I had was those sweets I bought in the morning and I was feeling famished. Luckily there were plenty of small animals that came out at night, and with my excellent hearing, night vision, and sense of smell I had no trouble finding them, stalking them, and pouncing on them.
Before long I had a few rats roasting on spits over a fire. I made sure to thoroughly cook them on all sides before biting in, to cleanse them of any parasites or diseases they may be carrying. The taste was somewhat similar to rabbit, but with a very faint oily flavor that reminded me of urine, and the tails were crunchy, although not as tasty. I saved the rabbits I caught so I could trade them the following day.