Devan awoke with the sun shining in his eyes. He was not sure what was going on with himself last night, but he was just going to chalk it up to just being alone for too long. In the back of his mind, it still left him wondering just what was going on.
Devan shook it off so that he could get himself together and get his day started. He knew that everything was going to rely on him getting that log prepared and in place. He was trapped here until it was done.
His mind drifted back to when he was just lying there looking out into the night. He wondered if there could have been a ship out there passing the island in the night. Not that it mattered, but out of the time that he had been here. It was the first time that he felt like there might have been one out there.
All that did was show him all the more how important it was that he got his raft ready and out in the water. Devan figured that if he could have been out there last night, he might have had a chance to be rescued already. But there was no use in thinking about what ifs or if Onley's. Things were what they were and since you can't go back in time to make other choices you just have to deal with what you have.
As he started to move, he couldn't believe just how stiff and sore he was. He thought that he must have done more than he thought he had. It must have been moving the log around to get it all cleaned up. He knew that it was going to take a lot more effort to get it finished and drag it down to the beach than he had first thought it was going to. But once he got it in the water it would be easier to move. He knew that it would float and take all the weight out of moving it. He would just have to watch the waves. He didn't want to try and fight against them.
Devan sat up and rubbed the stiffness out of his arms and legs. They were left feeling sore, but he was able to quickly work out the stiffness. He ate quickly so that he could get to it, but he made sure to eat a little extra today. He figured that he was going to need all the energy that he could get his hands on.
Grabbing a few things, he set off back down to the beach. So that he could trample down the path to the log. He figured the more trampled the path was the easier time that he would have to drag the log. Devan knew that he could drag it with some of the limbs still attached since he was dragging it by the trunk, but it was just more to drag. Since he was not using them for anything, it was just better to take the time and cut them off now. The only thing was that he hated cutting them off with his daggers dulling them. If he pulled it down and put it on the fire he could burn them off.
He knew he had two options first was to drag it down as it was. He would not be able to pull it in the water and then try and burn off the limbs. Second, he could make a fire here and burn them off, but it would take a lot of effort to get everything ready for a fire. Especially when he would have to gather all the dry wood and then dig some kind of pit so that he would not have to try and turn the log when it was on fire. If he could even, get it dried out enough to burn. It was worth thinking about and he would have considered it more seriously if the limbs had been solid, and he would have had to use his daggers as a saw or an axe.
He did have to chop at them a little but the work that it would take to set up a fire would have been more than just cutting them off. Hours passed as he finished cleaning up the log, but Devan was happy with it once he had it completed.
Devan looked up at the sky and noticed that hours had passed, he decided that he was going to take a break before the laborious task of dragging the log around. He ate and drank so that he was feeling refreshed before he was going to attempt pulling it.
He looked down at the log and knew that it was going to be a pain, but it was not going to be as heavy as just dragging it. Once he thought he was ready he took a few deep breaths. With a groan, he grabbed it with both hands and lifted it as he pulled. It moved a step and the log slid along the ground as he pulled.
He had wished that it would have been in the open ground then he could have made a few things for it to roll on. But that was just wishful thinking as he pulled it along he knew that he was only going to make it 4 or 5 steps before he was going to have to set it down again. Devan thought that he probably should have chosen a smaller log and then just risked the chance that it was going to be tall enough and strong enough to weather out a storm, there were no signs that there was going to be a big storm anyway. But it seemed like this time of year that it was only a few days between storms.
He knew that he was just thinking this way because it was so heavy and so hard to move. Just as he thought with every time he dragged it. It was becoming a little harder and was taking him a little longer to recover to do it again. It was not long before his arms were starting to feel like they were made from rubber. He knew that he would have to hurry if he wanted to get it ready before night, but he just didn't have the strength to do it no matter how bad he wanted it things were just not going to work out. Then he realized that it was better if he had all day the first day, so he just had to get the raft ready and then push off first thing in the morning even if he was going to have to fight against the tide a little.
Devan thought about the way that he was building the raft knowing that he was building the raft to survive a storm without falling apart. It was going to be a bitch to get it to move the way that he wanted. Let alone to try and push or paddle it. But if there was any kind of wind, he should be able to use that to move the thing. But first, he had to get it built all the way. Devan looked down at the log, it was now like his nemesis. He was not going to give up until he had it where he wanted it. No matter how many times it was going to take setting it down, and picking it back up to get it there.
Devan could tell that his body was becoming more reluctant to want to pick the log up every time he did. He was surprised that the thing was overwhelming him so quickly but that was because he had underestimated the weight of the log to begin with. Still, it was what he was dragging it over that was really slowing him down. It seemed to dig into the foliage as he pulled it along. Then when he dropped it, the log would let go. If he didn't know better, it would have been like it didn't want to leave the woods. He was sure that he was just imagining it. It was just the way that he had cut off the limbs that were catching things as he lifted and moved them.
It didn't matter if it was the way that the limbs were cut, or it didn't want to go he needed it and it was coming to the beach. Devan started to get discouraged because of the slow progress that he was making and the fact that he had to just keep setting it down and rest.
Devan sat it down, wiped the sweat from his eyes, and thought how glad he was that he didn't have to do this all the time. Breathing hard he looked down the path that he had left as he dragged the log it clearly showed that something was dragged through there, but it showed something else, how far he had managed to pull it. The feeling of accomplishment helped reenergize him at least a little at least enough to drag it another 4 steps.
Devan got to the point that he just couldn't stand to pick it up anymore for a longer time. He knew that he was just going to have to take a longer break and let his arms rest. His arms were not the only things that were complaining, his back was screaming at him, but his arms hurt the worst. He knew that he was going to have to do something soon or he was going to get to the point that he was not going to be able to move.
Devan took this time to walk back to the beach and into the water hoping that the cool water was going to help him recover but he only went in far enough that he could sit down he didn't want his muscles cramping up and then making him drown.
The water felt great, it was refreshing but he knew that he couldn't stay in the water too long or he was not going to want to get up and get back at it. With a smile on his face, Devan thought that he could use the water and get into it as a reward. For getting the log into it after all he was planning on using it to help him move it.
Walking to the water was beneficial in two ways first it was giving his muscles time to calm down and to get ready for the next effort. The other benefit was the fact that he got to see that he really didn't have that much farther to go. He was going to have to drag it a few more times than he would be able to pull it out onto the beach. Once it was on the beach, he could just roll it into the water. It was going to take a little effort to roll it but nothing like what it was taking to drag it.
Devan stood up straight and then he could feel his back screaming. He was going to have to be more careful about how he was lifting it. Devan looked down at his hands and he saw that they had a bunch of blisters. He had been proud that he had never acquired calluses meaning that he had never done a hard day's work in his life. But now he was thinking if he had calluses on his hands then maybe his hands would not be hurting as much as they are now. But he still did not want to look like he did hard labor. He was too good at killing and he believed that one should always do what you are good at. Leaving the rest to the ones that were good at doing it, including the hard labor jobs.
At this point, he knew that he was just delaying the inevitable and he needed to get back at it and get it done. As he walked back to where he had left the log setting, he did his best to flatten out the path he was going to use to get to the beach.
As he approached the log, he dug deep in himself knowing that it was going to take about everything that he had left, but it was all he really had to do. So, he gripped it tighter lifting it higher not caring what pain he was going to experience and just pulled with everything he had.
The log slid and he didn't stop pulling till he had it on the edge of the beach where he collapsed into the sand. Breathing heavily, sweating all over, he had never put forth that kind of effort in his life. Laying in the sand he felt the sun shining on him and all he knew was that he was so glad that that part of it was over. Even if he had to pull it a little to turn it so he could roll it he wouldn't have to drag it anymore till he was ready to put it on the raft. He was going to be able to use the ropes that he had to help with it. Making everything so much easier than doing it by hand.
Devan tried to get up without any luck, in fact, he tried just to turn over and couldn't get his arms to work. So, he decided since he had no other choices left to him that he was just going to take a nap in the sun.
Things hit Devan harder than he had thought that they were going to and as he awoke from his nap hours had passed and the sun had baked any bare skin that he had showing. The good thing was that he found himself at least able to move once again even if it was extremely painful at first.
Devan found that the more he moved the better and the looser his muscles became. He saw that it was getting to be late afternoon, but he still had time to get the log to the water and get it to his raft before the sun would set. At least he was hoping and that was what he had set as his goal. That way if he was able to get up and move around tomorrow, he could set off as long as he could get his mast in place.
Rolling over now was not all that hard but was still quite painful as every muscle in his body complained. He was just glad that he didn't have all that much bare skin showing because the little bit that he had was now painful.
Devan forced himself to stand and as soon as he made it to his feet everything went dark.