Flight of Fancy

Nobody really noticed that the chopping of the wood was taking such a long time. Everyone was just pleased in the fact that nobody had got hurt. He told all of his family that it was better to be safe and slow than quick and perhaps injured. They seemed quite content with that, especially his father who was probably still thinking something would go wrong, especially through an act of carelessness.

So, everyone was satisfied. Nobody paid any attention, they just let him get on with the work. He was able to spend a good three to four hours working in the forest each day, approximately three quarters of which was spent working on his project, whatever it would turn out to be.

He needed to do a lot of tasks he hadn’t done before, like fine welding. At first, he was quite awkward and clumsy, but he felt he was getting the hang of all the aspects as time went by.

The further along it was coming, the more accomplished and happy he felt. His mood rubbed off on his wife as well, who shared his views of the world. They both appeared to be having a brighter outlook on the future and not everything was as bleak as they had previously thought.

He would get up every day with a renewed sense of purpose and bursting with energy, eager to go out and continue working the process of assembling the… device. He guessed it probably would be a device of some sort.

It didn’t look like much, but there was some sort of purpose and logic to it that he was starting to notice. He had quite a while to go, though, before he could switch the device on. Somehow he even doubted anything would happen. In some way, it didn’t really matter. As long as he did his best and learned something in the process. If nothing else, he had already learned patience and was getting to know different facets of himself.

Sometimes getting to know yourself is the most difficult bit because you’re always surrounded and occupied, either by other people, by things you should be doing or even by your own mind creating scenarios.

He was certain he would be able to test it in a few days. Despite being slightly afraid of it not working, he couldn’t wait to find out the results of his labour. There was also a fear of his exuberance for life being forever lost, either because the device wouldn’t work or because the project would be finished.

But it was best not to postpone such things.