The heat woke Demus. He groaned. He was drenched in sweat, and in a lot of pain. Mostly his back and arms. Bright sunlight seeped through the cracks between the boards.

... "Whaaaaaat..."

--- "Whenever I finish a job, I should clean-up, maintain my tools, and put them away properly. My body is a very important tool that I have not maintained at all.'

The boards above him creaked rhythmically in sequence, and then a voice murmured:

~€- "I don't know why I don't like the Reeve. I do know, since he'll be here any moment to discuss some sort of problem with an orphan boy, if I were hiding somewhere near, I would be very, very quiet." Then a rolling sound happened. There was a squeak and a whoosh, and two men were talking, but Demus couldn't make out what they were saying.

Then, as they moved closer, he could.

== "...short, scrawny, always wears a man's grey tunic like it was a knee-dress."

~€- "Did he do anything wrong?"

== "He has changed, recently. You never know what puberty is going to do to a kid. I need him under control, to nip any kind of trouble-making in the bud."

~€- "I've had no trouble, Reeve. No sign of trouble at all."

== "Well, keep an eye out. Those who don't know you might think..."

~€- "What?"

== "...that you're weak, vulnerable."

~€- "Ha! Hahahahaha! Is that what you think?"

== "Of course not! Have a good day." The crunching of the Reeve's feet on the ground faded away. The boards creaked again as the chair rolled on them. In a few minutes it was back.

~€- "I don't know for sure if anyone is here. I'm going to lunch at the marketplace. When I get back, there will definitely no longer be anyone else here. Also, find some other place to sleep. I don't know which neighbor ratted you, but this place isn't safe." Shortly after that, everything was silent.

Demus lay there for a few minutes wondering what to do next.

--- "Much of this bad feeling is from poor breathing. I should breathe deep a few times, then really fast."

... "Oh piss off!" Demus crawled a bit, moved the wood and stood up. Argh!!! Headache!! Holding his temples in his left hand, he crouched over and went to the bush. The grey tunic had been moved! Carefully he picked it up and a smaller, sky blue, button-up shirt fell out.

... 'It's so clean! Uh, hello?'

Demus folded it up, slid the tunic on, rolled up the folded shirt and held it under his left arm. He staggered around the neighborhood, and to the marketplace.

... 'Am I in here? Hello?'

Finally he found a shady place to sit, thought about things, and started crying.

Jenna from the market walked across the road to talk to him.

÷+* "Are you alright, Deemo? What's going on?"

... "I'm an orphan, I don't know if I'm going to eat today, or where I'll sleep tonight, and now the voice in my head has abandoned me."

Jenna swept him up into a hug.

÷+* "I know things can seem really bad at times, horrible, but you're young, you're strong, you're healthy, and all of your problems are solvable, given time. Sometimes, when I've been mean to the voice in my head, it is quiet for days. But keep asking it things, and follow whatever advice it has given you, and it will talk again. Buck up, boyo!" And she turned and walked back to her stall.

Sitting there, sniffling, Demus decided to breathe deeply for a while.

At about his fifth deep breath...

--- "So! What did I miss?"

... "Where was I?"

--- "I decided that I needed to piss off for a while, so I did. What's the problem?'

... 'I thought I was gone forever! I wouldn't answer my calls... I'm just very scared! What's gonna happen?'

--- 'Okay, I need to calm down. Breathe deeply, yes. Nothing has changed! I just need to find a better place to sleep, and I find a way to make things better and better. Yesterday was better than ever before, right? How's my headache?"

... 'It's gone! Wow! My back still hurts, and my arms, but nothing like my head did. Thanks!'

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--- 'I really need to stretch, and squeeze my muscles. Can I find a safe place outside the village?'

... 'Yeah! Toward the lake or along the high-road?'

--- 'Let's try along the high-road. There should be a wayfarer's respit with a stream....'

... 'Oh, I know the area!' Demus started to scamper, groaned and slowly walked out along the main dirt road to the stone pavings of the high-road. It was only two feet higher than the surrouding lands.

..... It took the rest of the morning to slowly walk to the respit. The pain got worse as Demus walked. He fell onto the wooden bench feeling all the muscles of his back and legs go tighter. He sat there gasping for breath.

.....The sun was high, the day was warm.

--- 'Okay, adjust how I'm sitting, can I try for straight on both butts?'

Demus groaned but complied.

--- 'Good. Now close my mouth, and inhale, then hold it, two, one, exhale! Good. Inhale, hold it, two, one, exhale, hold, two, one. Very good! Keep doing that for a while. (a few moments pass).

Can I stop leaning against the bench-back? There, put my shoulders right above my butts. Good. Inhale, hold, four, three, two, one, exhale, hold, two, one. Inhale, hold, four, three, two, one, exhale, hold, four, three, two, one. Good. Keep doing that. (More moments pass).

... 'Always start with my arms and neck. I'll say the position, I'll get into the position, then inhale as deeply as I can while pushing into the stretch, then I'll hold the stretch, and exhale. I'll do that for at least one whole breath, but three would be best.

... 'First position, put my palms on the back of my head, elbows up and out to the sides. Pull the elbows to the middle, right in front of my face. Am I ready to push? It will hurt a bit. I'm going to turn my face up to look straight up, and point my elbows straight up, and hold for the breath. Annnnnd, go!'

... "Ahhharghhh!! Ow! Ow!"

--- 'Excellent! Ease back to the start, and let go, breathe however I like.'

... 'I felt that in my lower back!'

--- 'It's all connected.'

.....Carefully, --- lead Demus thru stretching his neck the other five ways (far look left, far look right, chin on chest, left ear on left shoulder, right ear on right shoulder).

... "Whoah! I feel kinda woosey!"

--- 'Is it good?'

... "Yeah, but kinda weird."

--- 'Does my neck hurt anywhere?"

... "No, the neck-pain is all gone!"

--- 'Excellent! Now hands and forearms. Remember the breathing pattern. Palm to palm, finger to finger, fingers pointing up. Let the left fingers go slack. Press to the left with the right fingers. Go! Very good! Now, do it again, but just as I'm done holding my inhale, I stiffen up my left fingers and press right against my right fingers pressing left, until 'three' of holding my exhale, then let my left fingers go completely slack again. Annnd, go! There I go!! Very, very good! Now I'll do the right fingers slack. I got it! Excellent! Rest a bit.' ... continued to lead Demus through the other three forearm stretches (r palm pulls back of l hand up & in, l palm pulls back of r hand up & in, pigeon-toe wrists together).

--- 'How do my forearms feel?'

... "Tingley! No pain!! This is amazing!"

--- 'Indeed! My body is an amazing tool! So, stand up, turn to face the bench. When I 'go', I'm going to lean forward, grab the back edge of the bench, straighten a line between my wrists and my butts, and then I'm going to pull away from the bench with my left butt, finish exhaling, rest without standing up, then pull away from the bench with my right butt. Ready? Remember the breathing! Annnd go!'

.....Punctuating Demus' groans were some alarming 'pop-crackle!'-sounds.

... 'Oh my -- Buff the Mighty!!! That feels sooo gooooood!'

--- 'Indeed! Now the other side.' Demus complied, and as he finished, he stood up straight with a huge smile.

... "All the pain is gone!!! I can walk! I can probably run!"

--- 'Very good! We need to do that twice a day, just after getting up, and just before going to sleep.'

... 'Okay. I just noticed, I'm really hungry!'

--- 'Aren't there some blackberry bushes near here?' And Demus stepped out into the wild forest.

*****

As the Sun drifted past noon and the heat of the day surged into being, Demus sat on a log, purple smeared all around his mouth. He was still hungry, but he had definitely had enough berries. He yawned and wondered if he should fish.

... 'Again, I don't have any bait.'

--- 'Bait's pretty easy to get, go around the town and head over to the lake.' Carefully, Demus complied. It took about two hours. Walking along the shore, Demus came to a low point in the lake's surroundings, where the water spilled out into a waterfall, which then became a substantial stream.

--- 'Oh good! Wet dirt is what I need! I should climb down there and walk along the stream's edge.'

So Demus did that.

--- 'Very good, find a damp, crumbly spot. Get out the rod, open it up, and stick the handle into the soil about three inches deep.'

... 'Weird. Okay.'

--- 'Now hit the thin part of the rod with your left hand. You want to make it shiver and jangle.'

After a few moments, the ground around where the rod was began to move, and a bunch of worms wrythed out.

... "Excellent!" Demus cried, scooping them up and washing them off in the stream.

--- 'Don't drown them!' Hurriedly Demus carried them back up the slope to the shore of the lake. He found a good spot to sit, cradled the remaining worms in his left palm, put one worm on the hook and cast his line out.

After a few minutes,

--- 'Have I forgotten something?

... "Huh? Oh! Yeah!! Ummm, -I'm glad to be alive!-."

--- 'Annnd?'

... '-I, uh, I thank to be alive!'

--- 'Needs a little work. Anything else?'

... "Uh, nope."

--- 'Won't it be cool...."

... "Won't it be wonderful when I catch a fish today? I can just taste the fish, cool and juicy!"

--- 'How does that make me feel?'

... "Happy! Satisfied! Excited!!! I can hardly wait!"

--- 'Excellent!'

Immediately, there was a tug on the line. Demus reeled it in, pulled off a small fish, put another worm on the hook, then tore the fish open, cleaned out its guts with his thumb, rinsed it in the lake, and chowed down, avoiding the bones. It was soooo goooood! Barely had he finished before there was another tug.

--- 'Eat that later, I've got a few hours before sundown, and I've got a lot to do if I'm going to sleep safe tonight.'