Harsh land Opening chapter

By the rules of Tykes family all boys must be able to pass a rigorous test of manhood when they reach 20 to show that they can care for themselves and their family and also to prove that they can begin the quest of finding a wife, the most feared yet anticipated part of life. Much to a mothers grief when a boy turns 20 he is escorted blind folded to the border of his country, to a point his father decides. He is turned until he is too dizzy to stand and told to wait until he hears the great call of his family's horn, at which point he can remove his blindfold. When he opens his eyes he is alone and has no bearing of where he is. In one hand he has a large knife, the other holds a bow. A water skin hangs at his belt and an empty quiver on his back. And so the test begins...

If he finds his way home he is a man. Many mothers have said their final goodbyes because of this test. Some have waited many years before seeing their sons again. And many mothers have been driven to madness and gone in pursuit and also been lost. Tyke however was much more fortunate. He was blessed with good strength and intelligence and as a result his test lasted only three seasons and when he returned he was given much praise by his family and now that his father was nearing his fifty's, a good age by all standards. Tyke was expected to lead his family with vigor once he had found a wife. A challenge that had long inhabited his dreams and contributed to many sleepless nights and when Tyke did sleep it was shallow and brief. After dark he would unhinge the panels of his window to climb the vines and roots that cascaded the outer walls of his home in order to find his regular spot amongst the rocks and boulders that crowned the house and there he would sit as his thoughts would drift off with the sounds of night and be lost in the moonlit twilight. His eyes fixed as the air rolled musically through the grass of his fore-fathers. Visions of distant places he had never explored before danced behind his eye lids and if he kept his eyes shut he could almost jump to his feet and run off heedlessly through the lush green fields of his dream. But his eyes would open and the dark tail of a cloud would be lashing at the moon as it passed to reveal that he was surrounded by a grey and silver substitute.

He decided that early this morning he would embark on a small voyage to the furthest reaches of his land and to walk under the light of an unfamiliar sun. His excuse would be that if he was to be leaving soon in search of his wife then it would be wise to keep a sharp edge on his senses as part of preparation for the dangers involved in finding a mate but more realistically it was a chance for him to escape the company of his family and to let his imagination explore the idea of finding someone to love in a land he has never seen before. Often the thought of finding another home crept into his head which he tried hard to ignore. This was a feeling that had tormented him from a very young age and the more he shut it away the more it played on his mind and more so with the dawn of every day as the land was entering the last weeks of winter and this being a ripe time for the beginning of any journey meant the day of his departure was close at hand.

After returning to his bed for a few hours of sleep he rose and began packing his things for the long day ahead. Once his bag was stocked and he was dressed in the necessary arrayment he woke his father who was pleasantly surprised with his sons eagerness. I think it would be considerate of us to let your mother rest without the worry of todays walk said Tykes father 'Tarn' as he unfurled his covers. Have you set the table son? Yes dad. And collected a bottle of tonic from the stream (as it is customary to serve tonic generously at the breakfast of any journey in the house of Tykes family, and all the better if stored in the water of a stream that is fed by the mountains). Ahhhh!! exclaimed Tarn. Nothing more encouraging than tonic at sunrise. I'm sure many walks would have gone unfulfilled if it weren't for the enticement of a good fill of drink beforehand. I owe many thanks to it in fact. I thank it for your mother every day, he said with a cackled laugh at which point he was already pouring his first mug.

So they sat and finished breakfast as the sun poked its head over the sill of the kitchen window and Tyke listened while his father described the many dangers of setting out alone and of course the many dangers of courtship referring often to his own experiences. But to Tykes discomfort he could see much seriousness in his fathers words, even if they were for the sake of a joke. And a shadow was cast on his fathers usually jolly face but Tyke said nothing and went on drinking and eating until the table was bare again. Well me lad! Many thanks for ya services this mornin as he clumsily rose from the table rubbing a satisfied appetite. Tarn walked Tyke to the front door and stopped him on the first step from the threshold and placing a quivering hand on Tykes shoulder he announced, My boy! or shall I say 'my man'! I see your longing son. For mountains, for storms, for wind, for snow, rivers, creeks and the ends of the earth and I know them well for they were my longings once upon a time. I see that you long for a journey and I suspect that it goes beyond finding a women, so I say this to you. Your journey began many years ago my boy! before your first memory. Don't be to quick to jump over a puddle if what your looking for may be found walking around. Choose your path carefully because you might not be able to go back and choose another if the one you chose takes you into darkness. Anyway me lad, enough talk from a drunken old fool. You had best be getting off. The light of day should be used fully! And I will be watching when you are walking up this path tonight. He smiled at Tyke and with a firm slap on the back he saw his son off. Good bye dad! don't forget mums breakfast too. Goodbye!...

And so Tyke set course for the eastern borders of his family's territory, a vast area of broken forest blanketing rolling hills. The outer reaches of this territory are mostly unknown to Tyke, being only 20 he has not been permitted by family-law to wander into these wilder regions until recently.
He walked comfortably with regular stops to rest and examine his surroundings and was making good ground. By the early afternoon he had ventured out of the gentle slopes of his home land and into the more broken and rocky hills. Streams weaved in and out of each other through the valleys and the trees were thickening many of which were unidentifiable, a mix of pine and rain forest.

The sun had risen high and was now descending into the afternoon when Tyke stopped and found a comfortable place amongst the eve's of the forest to eat, drink, kick his boots off and have a rest before he turned back and made the final hike home.
He had let time get away from him as much as his thoughts and the day was beginning to fade. The relaxing smell and shade of a blueberry bush was partly to blame. Soon it would be too dark for him to be able to make a safe trip home, many uncomforting sounds can be heard after sunset that would put a shiver in the stoutest of men.

A thought came to his head, the vision of his old man standing anxiously at the door of the house with the remainder of this mornings tonic as the suns fingers groped at the woody hilltops before failing into a dim red glow along with much of Tarl's hope.
Sorry dad... Didn't mean to cause a worry. But what should I do? I've come too far into land I've never seen before. If I make for home now I might end up lost and I don't see the need for a second test of man-hood and I surely don't like the Idea of being lost for another three seasons. On the other hand if I stay-put I had best be finding a high place to sleep and even then I must be on guard. There are tree climbers far less friendlier than spiders and much larger...

Tyke stood for a moment at the edge of the forest and starred solemnly at the horizon of a distant mountain range, he wondered what was on the other side. He wondered if on the other side of those mountains is where his dreams had taken him the night before. Reluctantly Tyke turned away and ventured back into the woods in search of a tall tree, preferably one without any neighbors.
After a short walk he came across a tree of great hight. Its grey bark was shiny, smooth and it stood out amongst its family. The branches of many trees scratched at its trunk but none in reach of its canopy. To get to its first branches Tyke began to climb the nearest tree. It wasn't long before he got as high as he needed before he could crawl out and reach between the trees interlocking limbs. Once he made it to the trunk it was very easy going as the branches were firm and straight. He could get from branch to branch easily as they had grown roughly in the fashion of a spiral stair case.

At the summit of the great tree's canopy the trunk split into six branches. It seemed to Tyke that it was reaching out to grasp the sun much like he would for the prize of fruit. In fact he thought the tree to be very life like indeed considering the growth pattern adopted by its fingers. The inward facing side was rather bare and pale whilst the outward side was course with bark and scattered with small twigs and leaves. Tyke thought this to be odd because the trunk was silky smooth. Well! 'thought Tyke' If this is an arm, Id hate to be of an annoyance to its owner.

Tyke unrolled a thin matte in its palm and sat quietly with his legs crossed as he watched yet another sun dip behind the mountains and smolder into a smokey red haze, as did his father, many hills away. It seemed to Tyke that the tree had leaned slightly in the direction of the sunset but he took little heed of this as sleep crept into his head.