Whatever my alien overlords had in store for me, I wasn’t sure how much I could trust it. The bridge seemed legit, and I wanted it to be so. As long as I didn’t wander too far into the other side of the river. Like they even needed to warn me about wandering too far. There were monsters there. I was having a hard enough time with a wolf. And them. And ghosts.

With all this information swirling in my mind, I stumbled back to my feet and put in the last log for the bridge. Monsters weren’t coming for me. That was all the information I needed to know.

The words shivered and changed.

0/20 boards

It was dark. It always felt dark in this area of the woods, no matter the time of day. Clearing a path from the river to the house always sounded more enticing as the sun was lowering in the sky. I had little stamina left, so I used the last of it to cut one of the logs into boards and stuck it in the bridge. Then I carried a single mound of clay back home. There was no need to waste that time refreshing stamina to not add to my resources.

I stored the clay in the storage room before eating a fried egg, getting half my stamina back. With the sun sinking toward the horizon, I realized something. The wolf timer had a good two hours more than what I was expecting to be this time of the day. I wanted to keep an eye on it, but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be here for a good long while. That would be amazing to have more time. I was already almost done with one day, and only had three more left. And, if I could stay outside instead of inside for the hour before I was allowed to sleep, then that, too, would be fantastic.

I put the stone blocks into the main fence of the house, waiting.

0/3 broken glass

I sighed. Hopefully that would be it, but I couldn’t be sure. That would be quite the defense, though, having broken glass. Either way, I needed to cross the bridge and gather sand.

I started another five stone blocks for the greenhouse before heading back toward the bridge. It was getting dark, but I could still see. Besides, I had my flashlight.

Wait. My flashlight. It died last night. Did I dare go work on the bridge if I didn’t have a working flashlight?

I was not going to the other side of the river without a working flashlight. Not at night. Not with my imagination.

I entered the garage, opening the drawer of the rusted batteries. I then glanced at the flashlight in my hand, then back at the batteries. I tried pressing them together to see if that worked.

“It works for building things,” I mumbled to myself.

I unscrewed the top of the flashlight, then flipped it over so the batteries could tumble into my hand. What I saw in the fading red light was the batteries from the flashlight were in the same rusted shape as the ones in the drawer. I guess the flashlight drained the batteries until it looked like this.

“That’s not… flashlights don’t do…”

Did I really want to have a conversation with those alien overlords again about the logic of this game?

I left the garage and checked the clipboard. There was nothing there about buying more batteries. Maybe this was one of the reasons why I needed to upgrade the garage. Maybe that would give me more insight into this.

I was losing daylight. I had four logs out there, and stamina to burn. The wolf wouldn’t come for a while.

I returned to the river, finding the logs and breaking them into boards. It didn’t take too long. After using up all the boards, I cut down one more tree and broke those into boards, and it ended up with perfect math so no boards remained. That alone was a nice dopamine hit.

I waited for something else to show up, but the bridge was complete. I blinked, staring at the other side of the river as the sun sank below the horizon.

Yes, I told myself I wasn’t going to cross the bridge at night. Yes, my imagination would undoubtably get the better of me. Yes, I was probably going to regret this.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

But if I could bring five bags of sand back? If I could start making glass now? The sand was right there. Right at the edge of the bridge. I didn’t have to go far. They weren’t coming for three more full days. If nothing happened, I would be at full sanity tomorrow.

Could I do it? Could I be brave to start making glass tomorrow morning? Have the courage to walk over to a side full of monsters without a flashlight to get some sand?

I didn’t answer, because my feet were already on the bridge, crossing it. Despite how much the information cost, it no doubt helped me not feel as scared. Which meant I was still terrified out of my mind, but I wasn’t a crying sobbing mess.

The closer I got to the edge, the quicker my feet traveled across the bridge. It was dark, but the wolf wouldn’t arrive for another two hours. I had so much time.

As soon as I got to the edge of the bridge, something stopped me. My heart almost imploded when words appeared in my vision, slightly glowing because it was so dark.

Entering Monster Territory

Still wish to enter?

Y/N

The moment I said yes, my feet became unstuck, and I stumbled off the bridge. Then something changed in the corner of my vision and I glanced up. Instead of a sanity bar, I had a very low red health bar. It was indicated by a red heart. There were still no numbers, but that low of health compared to what my stamina was made me nervous.

All the more reason to get working. I dropped to my knees and started filling five bags worth of sand.

There was clearly something in these woods. I had only seen a small portion of it with that one stick monster, but the hairs on my arms were standing straight up as I finished the first bag of sand and filled another.

There was a screeching noise that seemed far away, but it still sent a shiver down my spine. This side of the river seemed far more alive than my side. There was just the wolf creature, and perhaps a few other wolves. This side I heard chattering monkeys and rustling bushes that could be monsters. It was loud, it was terrifying, but if all the noises on this side of the river ever went completely silent, I would drop everything and run.

The bridge was right there. If the sun was up, I’d be sitting in its shadow. It wasn’t far. I was safe. The monsters wouldn’t cross the bridge. And the information told me the bigger monsters were not interested in trying.

I filled my fourth bag of sand, my eyes darting around in the darkness. It was fine. I was fine. In fact, I was so fine, I wasn’t even talking out loud. Talking to myself, even quietly, usually meant I wasn’t fine. Because I wasn’t. Doing that would be stupid. Why would I talk out loud to myself in a forest full of monsters? I’ve totally never done that before.

Just in a house full of ghosts.

Once the fifth bag was filled, I let out a breath as the forest echoed with noise. I lifted two bags, ready to spare the stamina when I realized that two bags were exactly what I could carry. I didn’t question it. I simply moved to the bridge and dropped the bags at the foot of it before retrieving the next two. Then the final one. I stayed on the bridge but moved back and forth carrying bags of sand to drop them at the edge. I didn’t feel completely done until I about stepped off the bridge and everything froze.

Entering Wolf territory

Still wish to enter?

Y/N

Once I mentally chose yes, my health points disappeared and my sanity bar returned. I dropped to the ground, still a good hour until the wolf came and it was completely dark. I started giggling, then trying to stifle my laughter. I did it. I went over to a side with monsters and gathered sand. It was terrifying. I wasn’t sure I could do it. But I did. I crossed the damn bridge with my sand and made it on the other side completely fine.

Sure, it was a sandy bank right at the foot of the bridge, but considering how frightened I was and how much I was convinced I couldn’t do this in the dark, I had done it anyway!

I still giggled, full of euphoria, as I started carrying two bags back to my house. I dropped the other three bags at the base of the bridge on my side of the river so I wouldn’t have to cross again. It was dark. The house was probably already being haunted, and I didn’t have to listen to it. Not only that, but I also just did something really hard, and I was super proud of myself for it.

Once I got the five bags of sand safely tucked away in my storage room, I glanced at the tool. It would keep cooking those stone blocks until they were done, halfway through the night. Which meant as soon as the morning hit, I would start making glass.

Finally.

This was a win today. After so long trying to figure out how to get sand, I got it. To celebrate, I pulled out my to-do list and saw it, at the very bottom, crossed off.

Repair all damages caused by them

Make glass

Strengthen the wall around the house and greenhouses

Upgrade garage

Purchase third article of cleaning clothing

Build bridge to collect sand

Now all I had to do was make the glass and finally repair the damages done by them. Those two items had been remaining on my to-do list for a very long time.

The wolf timer started blinking red, and I smiled as I went around to the front of the house. I slipped inside the house and made sure the front and back doors were locked before I went to bed. I didn’t look at any reflective surfaces or focus too long on if I could hear anything on the second floor. I walked into my house and collapsed onto the bed.

It wasn’t until I already mentally chose sleep that I realized I was starting to call this place mine.