The Abandoned Cabin in the Forest and the Sound of a Reborn Hammer
It was their second morning waking up in the shelter. The chirping of birds echoed through the forest, and the children’s sleeping faces looked noticeably more at ease than the day before. Even so, the fear of beasts attacking or their food supply running out hadn’t disappeared. As Akio carefully gathered the leftover firewood, he was formulating a plan for the day.
“Alright, everyone. I’m thinking we’ll head a bit farther out today to look for food. Also, I want to find a safer place for us to live.”
When Akio brought it up, the children returned his gaze with faces that held both anxiety and anticipation.
“Ayane and Alto, you two come with me. Kenta, you’re the man of the house today—look after the shelter. Keep an eye on Miko and Yume and make sure the area around here stays safe. But whatever you do, don’t wander off.”
“Okay, got it!” Kenta puffed his chest with pride at being entrusted with the task. Ayane and Alto also nodded and began preparing to head out.
With Ayane and Alto in tow, Akio carefully set off in a different direction from the day before. Using the instincts honed from years of work on construction sites, he read the terrain and the way plants grew to guess where people or animals might have passed, or where there might be a water source nearby.
“Akio-san, look! There are lots of red berries over there!” Alto pointed.
“Alright, let’s check them out. But don’t eat them without asking me first.”
Fortunately, they were the same edible berries they had found the previous day. The three of them worked together to gather them into large leaves that served as makeshift baskets.
After walking for a while, Akio suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Hmm…? What’s this…?”
There were unnatural, straight grooves in the ground, and a row of old stumps spaced evenly apart. Looking closer, faint traces of a path, trampled by human feet long ago, continued beneath the undergrowth.
“Looks like someone used to come through here,” Akio remarked.
At his words, tension flashed across Ayane and Alto’s faces, no doubt considering the possibility that whoever had been here wasn’t friendly.
“It’s alright. It’s pretty old. Let’s proceed carefully.”
Shielding the two children behind him, Akio followed the faint trail.
The remnants of the path eventually led to a small clearing. In the center stood a small building, covered in vines and moss, as if being swallowed by the forest.
“A cabin…!” Ayane gasped.
It was a simple log cabin. Part of the roof had collapsed, and gaps in the walls revealed the interior beyond. The door was barely hanging on its hinges, crooked and tilted. It was clear that no human hand had tended to this place for many years.
“Could’ve been a lumberjack’s or a hunter’s temporary lodge.”
Akio approached cautiously, observing the surroundings. Though the foundation was little more than a pile of stones, the thick pillars were still firmly planted in the ground.
“Akio… do you think we can use this place…?” Alto asked hesitantly.
“Yeah, with some repairs, this’ll be a far better place to live than our shelter.”
Akio placed his hand on the crooked door and slowly pushed it open. Inside, it was dim, filled with the smell of dust and mildew. Dead leaves covered the floor, and along the walls lay a rusted, well-used axe, a handsaw with a chipped blade, and a small, soot-stained pot in the corner.
“There’s even a few tools left… That’s a stroke of luck.”
Akio picked up the rusted axe. The handle was half-rotten, but the axe head itself still had decent thickness. Lightly running his hand over it, he unconsciously muttered in his heart, Hang in there for me, alright?
At that moment, the stubborn rust seemed to loosen ever so slightly, as if the tool itself had responded. With some maintenance, it might still be perfectly usable.
Akio turned back to the children and spoke with conviction.
“Alright, let’s make this our new home!”
Ayane and Alto’s faces lit up instantly.
“Really!? Yes!!”
“There are walls and a roof…!”
The first step was clearing the thick vines and overgrown weeds around the cabin. Akio found a suitable stone to use as a hand axe and began cutting the vines. Ayane pulled up the weeds as instructed, and Alto carried away the thick vines that Akio had cut.
Later that afternoon, Akio returned to the shelter to fetch Kenta, Miko, and Yume. When they learned about the cabin, they were overjoyed and eagerly joined the cleanup efforts. Kenta, full of energy, hauled small branches, while Miko and Yume gathered trash and stones from the ground with their tiny hands.
Beads of sweat glistened on the children’s foreheads, and their cheeks were smudged with dirt, yet their faces shone with life. The realization that they were building a “home” with their own hands, and the comforting presence of a reliable adult like Akio, seemed to fuel their determination.
Akio examined the cabin carefully, determining which parts of the roof framing were still usable and which needed replacing, and mentally sketched out how to seal the gaps in the walls. They didn’t have many tools, but with what remained in the cabin, the stone tools from yesterday, and most importantly, his own skills, they had enough to start.
“Today, we’ll clean up the area and make a place where we can sleep. Real repairs start tomorrow.”
When Akio announced that, the children responded enthusiastically, “Okay!”
By evening, the area around the cabin looked remarkably tidy, and the inside had been cleared of dead leaves and debris.
There were still holes in the roof, and drafts would slip through the walls. Even so, being able to sleep inside a building, sheltered on all sides, would surely bring the children far greater peace of mind.
As he prepared the campfire, Akio looked up at the cabin.
“Looks like we’ll have a better night tonight… The real work starts tomorrow.”
His voice carried both exhaustion and a quiet sense of accomplishment, along with determination for the future. The children’s cheerful voices echoed softly around the cabin.
What do you think about this chapter?
