I decided to explore the rest of Farmer Michael’s house to work up my appetite. A quick search for the essentials.

It took me the entire two hours before I tired, but at least I found myself a pair of shoes that fit, some change of clothes, and a better and sturdier backpack to keep everything in. I searched for a flashlight, batteries, or candles for tonight, something inconspicuous, but no luck.

I didn’t need another scraped knee from how uncoordinated I was becoming, so I headed back to my room to get a mid-evening nap.

With borrowed sheets from the other house set on my bed, I prepared myself for a nap except I forgot one more thing. A stealthy bath.

I tried removing all my clothes but my shirt and bra were fused to my back as if superglued.

So I sat in the tub with my fused clothes, filled a bucket with warmed water, and as silently as I could, dunked the first bucketful over my head. The water helped and I removed my clothes in forceful tugs like a bandaid. My clothes were ruined with some burnt tar residue in the same two vertical lines as the bark in the forest. At least I wasn’t turning into a spider as these weren’t leg holes and the leak from the staff was contained. It’s just a fluke, I’m safe now. I lied to myself.

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Grabbing a bar of soap, I set to scrubbing down the grime. I gave myself another rinse. Once I opened and applied the shampoo, I felt myself relax. A nice earth essence of forest herbs and mountain flowers. I closed my eyes and almost drifted off, dreaming of a magical forest and not the scary forest trek that I just escaped. Another two rinses later and I was clean. After drying myself off, I wore a nice clean set of clothes.

I had food, shelter, and my staff was laying beside me in bed, time for my much needed nap. Except sleep didn’t take me. I tossed and turned in my bed. I should have finished my soup. Easier to fall asleep on a full stomach. My bed wasn’t this saggy before.

Based on the severity of the body indentation on the mattress, some heavy old balding Goldilocks had taken my bed for some time. It could have been anybody. They could be coming back here at this very moment, and then I would be the intruder in their bed.

The moment of panic came and passed. Whoever used my bed was long gone. The old sheets lay musty, dusty, and caked with dirt. Plus, from my mini harvest, I got the feeling that I had the whole farm for myself, and nobody ventured to this place anymore.

Finally, my leaden eyes sealed shut, and sleep overtook me.

I slept maybe an hour or two when I was woken up by a big boom and the shaking of the bed and window.