The morning was clear and quiet. The sun shone through the foliage, bathing the grass and bushes in golden light. Fireflies flickered faintly in the leaves, as if showing the way. He stretched out on the soft grass, raised his arms to the sky, and took a deep breath.
"Well..." he muttered. "Time to get started on the day."
He walked through the forest, carefully studying the unusual plants, strange bushes, and soft grass. The forest looked completely different during the day: calm, bright, inviting, but still a little alien.
Making his way between the trees, he noticed that he had already collected several berries and roots during the day. But then a problem arose: he needed to carry all this somehow, otherwise he would have to keep returning to the same place.
"Okay... I need some kind of... container?" he said, stopping. "Something to carry things in..."
He sat down on the grass and began to think. He didn't have anything suitable. He tried to put the berries in leaves, but they just rolled away and scattered on the ground.
"Um... well, okay, let's try again..." he muttered. "Maybe if I put a few leaves together..."
He twisted, folded, and tied the leaves, but they either fell apart, tore, or didn't hold together at all. Several times he accidentally tied his hand to the vine and had to spend a minute freeing himself.
"Damn... who knew it would be so difficult," he muttered, brushing a sticky berry off his hands.
After several attempts, he realized that leaves were not an option. Then he noticed thick, flexible branches and long grass and decided to try to weave something like a bag out of them.
"Well... if this doesn't work, then... I'll carry it in my hands," he sighed and began to weave.
The first prototype fell apart in a second. The second one tore when he tried to put the berries in it. The third one got caught on a bush and tore. Sitting on the grass with branches in his hands, he muttered:
"Okay... this is starting to look more like something..."
But he didn't give up. He experimented, weaving branches with plant roots, trying to tie knots with grass, inserting pieces of bark for stiffness. Several times he accidentally fell on a small bush. But he continued.
Finally, after numerous mistakes and comical situations, he ended up with a clumsy, crooked bag that could be slung over his shoulder. It was flimsy and falling apart in places, but it could hold the weight of berries, branches, and everything else he wanted to collect.
"Finally..." he sighed with relief, adjusting the strap over his shoulder.
"At least it's something, so I don't have to carry everything in my hands."
With his new tool, he felt a small but important sense of control over the situation. The forest no longer seemed so unpredictable—at least for now.
He looked around and saw the giant tree in the distance again, which had seemed so unreachable just yesterday.
"Well..." he muttered, clutching the bag over his shoulder. "It's time to go there..."
But then he looked at himself and froze. After all the falls, running through the bushes, and experimenting with the bag, his clothes were dirty and covered in grass and berries.
"Um... wait..." he muttered, pressing his hand to his shirt. "I can't go to the giant tree looking like this..."
He went to the nearest stream, sat down on a rock, and began to carefully rinse his clothes in the cool water. At first it seemed like a simple task, but the fabric was still covered with sticky berry pulp and pieces of grass. He ended up in the water several times trying to clean his clothes.
"Well, there you go," he said, wringing out his clothes. "Who knew that washing clothes in the forest would be such an adventure?"
When the clothes were almost clean, he hung them on branches to dry in the sun. He sat down on the grass, watching the gentle flow of the stream and the play of light on the leaves, and decided to wait a while until his clothes were ready to wear.
"Okay... so I'll have to take a little break," he muttered with a slight smile. "And then... to the tree!
The sun warmed his back, and the forest was quiet and peaceful during the day. He felt a small sense of peace—a rare moment before the next stage of his journey to the colossal tree.
When his clothes were dry, he put them on. He took a deep breath, adjusted the bag over his shoulder, and stood up.
"Forward..." he said quietly, almost in a whisper. "To the tree. To that giant tree..."
And with that thought, he walked on, full of determination and curiosity, ready for whatever else the forest had in store for him.