The previous evening a strange dinner party took place between a beast and a man. It was a small thing really, simply a shared meal of raw meat. But it would lead to much more than that.

As the sun rose the man in the forest found himself alone again. Bear had vanished. Indeed the name was lousy but the friendship had felt real the night before. So the man found himself saddened. But he soon brushed it off and began to plan.

He realized it the night prior. He can’t leave this place. There are many reasons why but each was vital.

1. This place has water. There was no promising it would last forever but for now it was in abundance. Obviously a river would be better but its wiser to take what you can get.

2. This place has food. The amount we ate last night was small. Less than one of the dangling legs was eaten. If properly preserved the meat could last months. The beast was huge.

3. The area was partially cleared due to the depression of the pond. Anywhere else it would be nearly impossible to find a six foot area without a tree or thorned bush. Here with almost minimal work a large area could be prepared to build a shelter.

Basically all his needs would be covered if he stayed here. Obviously some work had to be done but this was his life we are talking about here. Work was a given. If one wants to survive they have to work.

He found himself suddenly extremely capable. He barely sat down for a half hour and he had a small roaring fire. After trail and error with a few stones and his knife a nice shower of sparks ignited the cattails by the river side. He quickly fed it small twigs and branches until it happily purred and gulped at the logs in his hands graciously.

With warmth covered he needed a roof. He scanned the area carefully considering all the aspects. Terrain could be adjusted with a bit of difficulty, he could even remove trees if need be. What worried him however was the thickness of the trees. Some his knife could chop after a bit of effort but most were as thick as he was high.

Finally the perfect candidate suddenly became clear.

Around two hundred feet from the pond sat a fallen tree that had taken its entire root with it. The clump of earth was easily twice his height. With a little work and some of the larger leaves littering the forest he imagined a fairly nice abode. The hollowed trunk could even be incorporated.

With haste he began carving at the trunks of thinner trees around the area. A small grove vanished in a blink of an eye. The knife made the dense timber into butter. Its edge refused to fold despite his lousy finesse.

With squared timber in hand the construction came together quickly. It almost could be called a home if its roof were a little more sturdy.

Once happy with the design the man returned to the watering hole. Luckily the unrest last night had scared most of the carnivores from the area so his meat stash was still safely hanging in the tree.

Carefully cupping at the pond he drank the water with a smile. Its taste was like candy. Even the mud drifting inside wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as it sounds.

The area around the pond was beautiful. Deep burgundy flowers emitting pungent unique odors, hazel buds on the trees that seemed to react to the touch of a human but not another plant. Poking at them proved great fun for the man, despite his age.

Finally over smelling the flowers, the man began skinning the beast. He had left it too long already. Luckily the bear had urged him to remove the guts the night before so at least that had been properly done.

The pelt was tough, even with his rough technique of skinning it rarely tore. It was almost a perfect pelt if not for the slice near the arteries in the legs. In the end it looked like a large blanket set on the ground extended. Imaging it for a moment the man shivered in anticipation. This must happen.

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But that is for later. For now he continued to cut at the meat of the animal. It seemed to be logical shapes. The soft meat near the spine was a single piece, the ribs were separated into racks of 10. The legs were too large to leave alone so five large chunks was taken from each.

He finished around when the sun was directly above. He washed his hands in a secondary puddle and began preparing the meat for preservation.

He had only a single choice. And luckily the necessaries were all nearby.

The man scanned the area for proper length branches. He needed the meat to hang several feet above the fire for many hours.

It would be ideal for the area to be contained but little could be done about that.

Or could it…

Carefully the man brought some red hot coals towards his newly built house. Obviously house is an overstatement but now it would be getting a fire place.

The house itself was adjacent to the large hollowed tree. One entire wall was tree trunk. But if that tree trunk could be opened from the inside and insulated, it could act as a nice smoker.

With that in mind he set off.

It wasn’t hard. Clay from the pond filled the void he carved into the trunk, a vent was carved in the top and the main construction was done. All that was left was transplanting the fire into it and firing the clay.

Easier said than done but luckily none of the cracks were more than superficial. With the task done he began work choosing a wood to use as a smoke emitter.

Dense ones, soft ones, bamboo-like stalks, even a tree that fought against its own harvest, all were attempted. The bamboo ones emitted a sugary smell but it didn't seem to make enough smoke, and its color wasn’t proper. The soft one was rare amongst the forest and it also didn't emit a puff of smoke so that was thrown out. Finally the dense one was left. It was impossible to harvest in large quantities. But not for the same reason as the soft. It was actually extremely prevalent in the forest. The issue was it was nearly impossible to cut these trees down. Even this sample was painstakingly carved from the nearby tree.

Work would be needed but its smelled indicated that it would be worth the work. It was tangy and pungent smoke. The thought of meat permeating with the scent made the man’s stomach growl fiercely.

He laughed and began work cutting more chunks from the trunk. He only inched along in the hour he worked but the chips were aplenty. He had more than enough to start a first batch. He snatched a large hunk of meat from the fur sack he had placed in the house and set it above the fire in the make-shift smoker. Thinking better he cut it into inch thick slabs. Then he took the chunks of wood and spread them above the charcoals he had painstakingly brought from his pond-side fire. They quickly ignited and emitted the smoke he craved.

He placed the cover on the smokey oven and began to contemplate his next move. Obviously this smoking business would take several hours, so lunch would have to be prepared separately.

He walked back to the pond and set a small chunk of meat over the fire. Its smell was intoxicating.

No, wait. It had only just begun to cook, something else was emitting this amazing scent.

The man looked around but found the area as empty as he had left it. Eventually landing on the source the man was surprised.

Beside the fire one of the reddish flowers he had observed earlier had been unearthed. It rested carefully against one of the rocks that had been closest to the core of the fire.

It was bone dry. As the man carefully lifted it, it crumbled like ash. Luckily he set a hand underneath it and caught almost all of the flower petals as they fell.

He carefully brought it to his nose and inhaled the warm aroma. It literally warmed his body, he felt heat in his nostrils yet simultaneously it was comfortable not insulting. He wanted to stuff the handful in his mouth but he restrained himself.

He eventually stuffed it into malleable lime green leaf he had found earlier. He hung the pouch at his belt carefully and returned his attention to the meat. Its one side was done so he spun the stick carefully.

It would be a good meal. He was sure of that.

The man eventually returned to his shack happily and flipped the meat in the smoker. The process was going well so he began carving more chunks from the dense tree. While sitting he chose to name the wood, Stone wood. Or rather stone trees. He felt the name fit so he continued his work with a smirk. ‘At this pace he might bring the tree down by the end of the week.’ Such thoughts bounced in his head as he mindlessly cut bits of wood from the tree.