I sat on the hilltop looking down. Below I saw the silence of my town. Settled peacefully into a rut that only a few had any idea what mud had gotten into it, the wagon wheel of progress slowed to a halt, or more amusingly from up here, it spun in place, going back and back again to the same innovation. How on earth could stereo sound still impress so many people? But I guess that's the way of the world. I knew history repeated itself, but seriously, it was a bit of a letdown.

I smiled, though. I was done with them all. I had set out with exactly three apples and 15 copper coins in a knapsack and a kitchen knife in my hand. Also, I was wearing straight-up jeans, no metal armor or anything for me, and a t-shirt that was far too comfortable to pay the holes in it any heed. At that point I turned around and headed down the far side of the hill. The grass was sorta green, which was better than the dead grass I had left behind. I meandered down the grade and found myself in a valley with a nice little stream. Trees filtered the sunlight upon me and I knew it was time for a little break and one of those apples.

Crunching into the delicious cherry-red apple I looked around. A sudden chill came to me, and I knew then that my kitchen knife would be necessary in a few moments. Mountain lion, bear, something unknown was watching me. But I wasn't going to get all worried. I had protection.

So down I sat with my back against a tree and the knife laying safely next to me and my hand on the hilt. I waited. Moments turned into minutes as I waited for the beast to appear. Minutes lengthened into large amounts of minutes. Still, I knew the beast would appear. Then I would kill and harvest the meat and make better protective clothing for myself, with an added bonus of such hides making me more stealthy.

All was going to plan as I waited for the beast.