Old School: Rolig

Here's another old-school Kimberly piece of writing. This is part of a story I was writing when I was 19, i think. It's meant for young-adults (i.e. jr high/high school)

He lived under a log; Rolig did, deep in the fortuna woods. It was warm and damp in his log, and not very roomy. Nevertheless, he spent many a day and night tidying and organizing his little log until everything was exactly the way it had been in his little imagination. He used a tiny knife to cut shelves into the wood, and to cut around knots that he used as coat hooks. He made comfortable (although moist) furniture out of moss and clay; he gathered rocks and made a fire-pit to cook his food. Whenever he gathered any food, he wrapped it very neatly in maple leaves to preserve it, and then he lowered it deep underground where it was still cold even in the spring and his food never went bad.
Rolig had also collected quite a lot of food. He had walnuts, acorns, pine nuts, blueberries, blackberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, wild cabbages and carrots, preserved meats, and very nice fruit jellies and jams that he had made by himself with much care at his kettle by the fire. As you can tell, Rolig had it rather well. He was never hungry and always comfortable next to his cozy fire on his moss chair!
The world outside of Rolig’s log was the domain of the Fortuna forest. It was a busy and bustling forest where wild animals were active and happy. They had everything that they could ever want—healthy trees full of leaves, open spaces with tall grass, even shady places like caves where they could rest if they wanted to.
The animals never fought with each other. They had everything they could ever want, so nobody had any urge to try to take someone else’s. When you have enough food, enough space, and enough companions and friends, there is no need to go and fight. Every night, Rolig sat under his log and looked at the fire. The only sounds to be heard were a few crickets chirping sleepily, and the fire crackling. The moon shone like a silver orb; it was rich and full. There were animals stirring outside of his log, but they were silent… absolutely silent. Tempted by the moon, Rolig looked towards his door and walked toward it. The light from the moon was so bright. It was so bright, but it did not illuminate the sky. Rolig stepped out under the stars that night, and they were so bright and clear that it brought a tear to his eye. They shined so brightly and hopefully and Rolig said to himself:
"There are so many stars. But they are so far apart, scattered all over the sky beyond what I can see. If I was one star and I looked all around me, would I see the other thousands like me, or would I think myself completely alone in the night sky?"
Rolig kept looking at the stars above, and this thought lingered in him. It followed him back into his log and tickled at the back of his mind like a persistent child. He felt sad for the stars and wondered if they could move together even if they did see and recognize each-other.
Rolig sat down at his chair by the fire- it was crackling and bustling and seemed to be busy with something very important. He sat and looked and thunk and thunk and had a mug of cloudberry ale before unknowingly drifting into sleep. His sleep was clouded by vivid but incoherent dreams. He saw dead things—dead plants, dead trees. Then, he heard shrieks. Someone was crying. Someone else was laughing. Rolig felt sad, but was unsure why…
When Rolig awoke, he was startled at finding himself in his chair rather than in his cozy bed. There were still embers burning in the fire and he rushed to pour well-water on them to extinguish it, only to realize that he would need to restart it for his morning tea. He sighed. Why had he fallen asleep in his chair? And how could he have slept the entire night through like that? With quite the crick in his neck from the strange sleeping position, Rolig began his daily routing rather irritated by these annoyances. This startling morning had made him forget completely about his thoughts of last night.
But even though the thoughts were forgotten, they were not gone, and they left a strange meandering trail in Rolig's mind, so that when he was pulling water from the well, he felt as though he were under a heavy cloud. Somehow, the daylight didn't seem as friendly as it used to.
"The sun doesn't shine just for you, Rolig." He thought. "It shines and shines should you hide under a rock or should you stop existing altogether."
He moved rapidly on the uneven ground, his wooden pail in hand and the cold water splish-splashing onto his warm bare feet. There were areas of heavy trees and then areas with only stumps, so the shade was never the same. The land could be hot or cool, bright or dim, depending simply on the angle of a tree to the sun. Rolig knew this land so well. His bare feet had been taught a lesson or two by the sharp twigs and pinecones. His feet moved swiftly and he took long bounds over shrubbery with ease. If you ever run across him in the wood, you shall see only the flash of his pitter-pattering feet and he will be gone. His daily errand of fetching well-water was done very hastily on his part. He did not rush because busyness, for he was quite at his leisure. He rushed simply because it was an errand, and when we do errands we feel that we must be hasty or they should never get done. If it were not for this fact, Rolig might have spent many hours fetching water and enjoying the morning in the woods.
As we were saying, Rolig rounded the familiar bend, climbed up the hill and then raced down (his favorite piece of the journey). But as Rolig reached the bottom of the hill, he saw a strange patch of leaves. It seemed to him unnatural, but before he had time to avoid it, he stepped on the patch of leaves. There was an instant metallic "CLANG!BANG!" and at the same time, bursts of pain shot up Rolig's leg. He felt an unbelievable amount of squeezing metal teeth biting him, and he grasped the device and pulled it apart, freeing his leg. The metal jaw snapped shut and Rolig's mangled leg was left in the wake.
It bled and bled, his ankle did. He pulled off his under-shirt and tied it tightly around his ankle. This was the worst of the pain yet, and he would have screamed, had he not been so brave. There Rolig lay. He sat and was amazed- not scared- just amazed. The metal beast that attacked him once did not move again. It was obviously lifeless, but how could something lifeless be so hungry? His ankle throbbed, and he felt light-headed. His familiar woods now felt somehow foreign and threatening to him as they swum in circles around him. He was nervous and felt defenseless against attacks; he would be easy prey for whomever was allied with this savage metal monster.
Had Rolig been made of stuff less strong, he would have fainted where he sat. But that was not his style, for instead of falling into despair, he roused his deepest, most hidden feelings of anger and liveliness.
"Never would I let this iron beast take my life as well as my blood!", he promised himself, and with that promise, his blood started pumping and he felt and used the sun's warmth and energy, managing to bring himself to his knees.
"Aargh!!" groaned Rolig as he dragged himself to his feet. Blood poured out of his ankle, and he wondered when he would be bled dry. He started limping home. It was slow going, and eventually blood had been cut off from the ankle and he could barely feel it at all. There were things along the way that had never before hindered Rolig, but that were now terrible obstacles He still carried his pail of water the entire length of his journey home, though. He certainly had a strong and brave heart inside of him.
After much pain and much light-headedness, Rolig finally made it to his log. He replaced the dressing on his ankle and washed it well. He also had a few pieces of meat, to replenish his strength and he drank some cherry ale, which he thought would cheer him, but only made him desperately sleepy. He felt a little insulted, and a little bit as though his pride had been taken from him. He fell, once again, into an uneasy sleep with thoughts of metal jaws and bad surprises floating in his head. Rolig slept deeply, and his thoughts of bad surprises slowly evolved into a complex dream. It was one of those dreams that feel both more real and more bizarre than woken life; a dream that you never forget but never believe. He was in the middle of a plain-- nothing but grass and wildflowers all around and not a tree or a soul to be seen. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. Then, with a flash, he was in a valley, with endlessly tall, sheer and jagged mountains surrounding him at every direction. He sat up quickly out of shock and looked all around him. Again, not a soul was to be seen all around. But, this time, whether out of apprehension or clairvoyance, Rolig could feel someone's presence. He felt eyes and breaths directed at him. He felt as though he was being observed and closely monitored. He was not afraid. Above him a single star hung in the sky like a water droplet about to drip and plop down. The shining star was right above Rolig and as he watched it; it grew larger-- closer. It was moving towards him... or he was moving towards it... He could not tell which. Then, the light was all around him and his body was radiating from it. Slowly and peacefully the giant star overwhelmed Rolig and he was joyously engulfed inside of it. Light and only light all around. It was beautiful.
Bang! Rolig awoke with a start. He quickly looked around himself and gathered his wits once again. He felt quite out of place and ill at ease after his dream... even in the broad daylight of the morning. The pot that had fallen and awoken him lay peacefully now on the floor. Rolig stared at it-- it was very still and very quiet, but seemed to have personality. "What a power that little pot had... to awaken me with such a fright!" Rolig said aloud. "Never has done that before, now, has it?" It was quite odd, really. There was nothing but stillness and silence all about and the pot was lying there in the middle of the floor. It almost seemed as thought some power had overtaken it. It was almost as if it was meant to awaken him, Rolig thought to himself. The words "meant to" resonated in his mind. This, again, was a strange and unpleasant thought for Rolig. He was, after all, quite bound to think that his log and its surroundings were safe and free from menace. His past few experiences had shaken that belief. Nevertheless, Rolig was nothing if he wasn't persistent. He put these thoughts aside and started to boil some water for his tea.