Chapter 1: A Hut in the Forest
The first light was a grey thief, stealing the shapes of things from the dark. Eden woke to it, as she always did, without an alarm beyond the ache in her lower back. She pushed aside the heavy furs, the cold air of the hut rushing to meet her naked skin. She sat on the edge of the bed, the wood groaning under her weight, and stretched, a long, unselfconscious arc that made her joints pop.
Her body was a map of her life. Her breasts, heavy and soft, swung with the movement, their skin a delicate web of silver lines against the pale tan of her skin. She ran a hand over the curve of her belly, the coarse thatch of black and grey hair at her groin, and stood. The floorboards were cold and grainy under her bare feet. She scratched at the dense frizz of hair in one armpit, then the other, inhaling her own sweaty, sleep-warm scent. It was familiar. Honest.
She dressed slowly, methodically. A pair of worn linen trousers, soft from countless washes, and a thick, woolen tunic that smelled of woodsmoke and dried herbs. Order was a bulwark against the chaos of the forest, and against the one inside her. Every item in the hut had its place. The herbs hung in precise bundles from the rafters. The clay pots were arranged by size on a rough-hewn shelf. The bed was always made, the furs smoothed with a firm hand.
After pulling on thick socks, she walked to the small, grimy window and looked out at her garden, a neat patch of defiance against the encroaching wilderness. Then, a pressure built in her gut. She let out a long, resonant fart, the sound loud and undignified in the quiet room. She didn't flinch. It was just her body. Just gas. She picked a finger, digging for a stubborn piece of sleep in her nostril, and examined the prize for a moment before flicking it away.
Her morning water was next. She lifted the chamber pot from its corner. It was a sturdy thing, wood reinforced with metal bands, with two handles worn smooth by her grip. She carried it outside, the liquid sloshing gently, and emptied it onto the compost heap at the edge of the clearing. The sharp, smell of piss rose to meet the damp morning air. This was part of the cycle. Everything returned to the earth.
Back inside, she stoked the embers in the hearth back to life, setting a kettle of water to boil for tea. As she worked, she talked. "Another day, Bartholomew. The carrots are looking stubborn. Might need to talk to them."
A shadow moved on the perch she had fashioned for him near the door. The raven cocked his head, one glossy black eye fixed on her.
"I know, I know," she said, as if he'd answered. "Patience. You always say patience." She poured the hot water over a handful of dried mint leaves. "It's just the silence sometimes. It gets... loud."
Kraa, he croaked, a low, guttural sound.
Eden smiled, a rare thing that softened the wrinkles around her mouth. "You're right. I chose the silence. Better than the other kind." The other kind—the kind filled with judging eyes and whispered words. The memory was a cold stone in her gut.
She spent the morning in the garden, her hands in the dirt, weeding and pruning. The physical labor was a meditation. She rocked back and forth on her heels as she worked, a steady, soothing rhythm. For lunch, she ate a piece of hard cheese and an apple, sitting on her stoop and watching the light filter through the canopy.
The afternoon sun was warm. She decided to bathe. She dragged the wooden tub into the center of the room and filled it bucket by bucket with cold water from the stream, then heated stones in the fire to warm it. As she sank into the water, she sighed. This was a different kind of cleanliness. Soap and water for the skin. A different, more private ritual was for the soul.
Later, the hut was clean, the garden tended, her body tired. The chamber pot was back in its corner. A deep, restless itch began to stir in her, a familiar hunger that the order of her day could not satisfy. She looked at the pot, then away, her jaw tight.
"They wouldn't understand, would they, Bartholomew?" she murmured, her voice low. "No one would. They'd just see a freak. A disgusting old shit eating deviant."
The raven was preening on his perch, but he paused to look at her.
"It's just... earth. It's all just earth we're made of and return to. Why should the process be so... shameful?" Her confession hung in the air, a fragile thing. Bartholomew offered no judgment, only a soft, clicking sound from his throat.
She walked to the door, opening it to the cool evening. The forest was a wall of deepening blue. "Sometimes," she said, not turning to look at him, her voice barely a whisper, "I think the world out there is the truly filthy place."
She closed the door, latching it firmly. The hut was her sanctuary, her kingdom. And within its walls, every desire, no matter how dark, had its place. She blew out the candle, plunging the room into a darkness broken only by the faint glow of the embers.