The morning air felt cooler than usual. The fog still hung low, as if reluctant to leave the forest floor. Max was the first to wake up; he couldn't sleep as soundly as he usually did.
He stood silently near the fireplace, which was still smoldering, gazing around with a sharp yet calm expression. For the past few days, the fireplace had continued to burn. Whenever the firewood was nearly consumed by the flames, he would toss in more dry branches or larger pieces of wood to keep it burning, repeating the process to maintain the fire.
He turned his head back toward the cave entrance, which he had sealed with woven leaves to completely block the wind from entering. “How amazing, seeing them sleep so soundly.”
It was somewhat amusing to him to see those who had complained the most about th
