Alrighty now, jest three mo'. Sweat seeps through his gray and dense undercoat as he lifts the heavy, iron axe. Thwack! The creature brushes the halved log away with the axe's head. Thwack! Another halved log gets brushed away. Come on, just one more, now. The iron axe is sorely lifted up. The summer sun's warmth was oppressing his furry body, the humid air drenching it in sweat. Thwack! The iron axe impales the soft and slightly muddy soil. He wipes the sweat dripping down his forehead with his paw. Huffing and puffing, he slumps away to rest his body against a nearby tree. He gives his heart some time to calm down as he watches bullfrogs jumping from lily pad to lily pad, marsh rabbits eating cattails, and Great Blue Herons hunting fish in the shallow lake in the distance. Seeing those Great Blue Herons enjoy the waters made his tongue crawl out of his mouth like a predator looking for its natural prey.
He lopes through the lush forest, twigs snapping, bushes rustling, the sunlight peeking in through the leaves, birds chirping. His paws trot towards the water's edge, his toes tingling with excitement. His snout navigates the moist soil, letting all the silt and the minerals rub against it. As he stretches out his paw towards the soft looking water, he hears a splash in the distance. His head spikes up and he looks around frantically. Alrighty then. He returns his snout to the soil. Splash! A furry-looking axolotl with a bright, blue, scaly skin leaps out of the water and over the sun, zooming back down into the water, cutting the soft and wet surface with the most precise precision of their arms. The creature stumbles back, holding onto his chest with his clenching paw. Sweat droplets seep down his furry forehead, his pupils dilate out of his shiny, amber eyes, his heart racing with childlike excitement. He swallows the lump in his throat. Timber! He gasps as he looks back frantically. The wood! "Shoot! I completely forgot." Timber says as he gathers himself. He scurries back through the lush forest, the lime green leaves of the low branches bushing against his dense undercoat.
His paws break hard through the grass as he arrives at his chopping station. He gathers all the chopped logs and trots off to a small hut. The small hut had vines wrapped around and hanging from it and was held up by shaky and thick wooden beams. The walls, the roof, and the stairs were made of wood beams stacked horizontally. He stumbles around on his hind legs, trying to hold onto the halved logs.
"Maria, I done got 'em!" Timber calls out as one of them drops but he shrugs it off.
He feels a hand rub his furry head. "Good boy. Now just put them all in the furnace."
"What're they fixin' to be used for?" Timber asked.
"I finally perfected it" Maria replies solemnly as she walks with a purpose to the small kitchen.
"What's been perfected?"
"The recipe to make more money, so we can stop getting sick." Maria grunts as she carries a metal tray of unbaked coins with this lime-green pigment to them.
"Well now, are we fixin' to catch us some fine rabbit?"
"More than your stomach can handle." Maria smiles as she slides the tray in the furnace and dusts off green remnants from her tired hands.
"Let me know when the coins are baked." she says as she rushes back to her wooden desk and scribbles away on some documents.
Timber sits in front of the furnace, letting the fiery orange flames grasp his coarse face firmly. Thoughts begin to wander through his mind like a deer wandering through a forest. I ain't never laid eyes on a fish like that afore. Arms? Like some human critter. And it was so darn big it made a mighty splash. Could be enough grub to last fer weeks. Shoot! Why'd I run off? Man, if I ever laid eyes on that fish again, I'd wrestle it right barehanded.
Ding! Timber's deer lay down to rest. "Maria! Them coins is all baked up." Timber calls over.
Maria rushes over to the furnace. "Okay, so if there's 18 emerald coins that should be enough for…36 pounds of rabbit, which might last us for around a few weeks—"
"I done seen a mighty big fish leap outta the lake today." Timber interjects excitedly.
Maria is caught off guard. "You saw what now?"
"A big fish!"
"…a big fish?"
"Yessiree, it was a-bouncin' outta the water. It could feed us fer weeks on end!" Timber spreads out his arms.
Maria sighs as she covers herself with a black hood. "Timber, you know you're not supposed to be further than the radius of this hut?"
"Well, what of it?" Timber chuckles. "So…it's unsafe to explore beyond the house." Maria raises her eyebrows. "And I done come alive!" Timber grinned. "Doesn't matter," Maria grabs a rope, "I don't want you wandering far away from the house," and stuffs it into her bag. Timber chuckles some more to brush it off. "I'll be back in a few hours. I'm still going to go to the market to pick up some rabbit," she walks towards the wooden door, "Don't bring any wild animals into the house." She points back at Timber. "I swear it," Timber smirks.
Timber lays on the wooden floor as his ears listen to the horse galloping away. His back struggles to relax its muscles against the hardness of the plank. Well now, ought I to use the arm hook or the right hook to catch that large fish? I reckon the arm hook's the way to go. Yup, I fancy that. Hold on a minute…Timber sits up. Is 'em fish still out there, I wonder? He curls his brows as he picks himself up. If'n they ain't, I reckon I'll be real mad. He trots out of the door. I oughta git this here job done 'fore Mama gets back. He feels the warmth of the sun on his face, smells the fresh summer breeze, and his canine smile crawls out from his lips. He darts through the brightened up forest like a school boy finally being able to play on the swings. With each paced step, he could feel twigs break, soil imprinted, and insects cracking under his paws but his eyes were in the water. As long as his eyes were on the water, he could feel saliva dripping from his muzzle, his tongue itching. He trots towards the lake's edge. A single toe is dipped and quickly retracted. Yeouch! Timber howls. The lake might have been having an attitude, but he must get that meat. He eases his entire body into the water like he's getting into a swimming pool. He turns his muzzle into an inflated balloon and doggy pals deeper and deeper underneath the surface.
Alright where are you fish— A slimy lasso grasps his hind leg. Timber tries breaking free but the grip was as strong as a child not wanting to let go of his mother. He starts frantically doggy paddling upwards, but he keeps getting lassoed back down as if he was prized cattle to be won. The surface becomes so out of reach that his paws relax back down and his balloon begins deflating. As water enters his lungs like a dispenser pouring water into a cup, his consciousness slipping away as white coloring dye disperses in water. Maria's going to be so mad. His eyes slowly close. The water begins to feel like a warm hug he's been missing for so long. Perhaps it was that warmth that made him start having vague visions of two wolves much older with patches of lighter grey fur. The more feminine one begins pressing on his chest like a doctor trying to revive a patient. Timber's eyes instantly break open as he turns to his side to throw up water. As he coughed up the remaining water bits, he could feel a scaly hand rubbing against his furry body.