Chapter 2

'Come on, hurry Harben and chop that tree' said Kelcol 'this is the last stone, the council wishes for it to arrive before the next full moon', Harben did as his father told him and chopped the birch tree with his dull stone exe. This task was hard but he was accustomed to it, this, the council said will be considered as a task fitting the transition of becoming a man. Harben was glad that he had this opportunity to prove his worth, at the age of nine, Harben was a mature young man, and his father Kelcol was reaching his golden years at the mature age of 24, Harben chopped down the tree and placed it under the heavy stone. They tied their hempen ropes around the huge stone and began to pull. The surrounding hills were not green yet, Harben told to him self, when spring arrives it will be green and the red deer would roam these hills, Harben was getting hungry, after only eating mutton and mushroom this winter, which was colder then most, the deer meat he so craved for, was yet out of reach.They pulled the stone inch by inch, each time replacing the last tree and moving him to the front of the stone, their progress was slow but they would get there, in time for the spring festivities, to witness the ceremony they have waited for, even before Harben was born.