Independence

New chapter, hope you enjoy.

Give me your comments comrade.

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This is a massive leap forward. I no longer need to rely on my mothers milk. Today I plan on going outside for the first time and walking around a bit. It has only been 3 days since I got my first piece of bread, but with so many more calories compared to the average I've had for my whole life I've been feeling great.

It is early in the morning and like normal my 'parents' are still asleep and they will be for quite awhile, they only wake up around 11 each day, it is around 7. Did you honestly expect them to be early risers?

As I approach the 'Door' ,which I just hung rags acting blinds and a windshield, I see glimpses around the cloth. I've seen many glimpses of town outside the house but I've never seen a fully past the rag.

As I move the rag out of the way I see a couple of rows of houses almost identical to my own, plain wood planks many broken wall planks, and some roofing ones too only cover by hanging cloth.

I walk around the back of my house, and I'm kinda surprised to see a forest on the backside of the row of houses mine in on. This is great, finding a forest was part of my main plan for food. If there were a forest near my home that could potentially help my food problem, I have basic foraging knowledge so if the forest isn't too exotic I could get some food from there.

Even if there is no fruit or anything, leaves and even grass if necessary would solve my fiber needs.

Taking my chances, I walk into the forest to see what I can get from it, hopefully at least there are some edible leaves.

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I've been looking for a couple of hours now, not going any farther than 100 meters into the forest in order to not encounter any animals, I have found many grasses and leaves that look edible, I know some of the tell tale signs of poison with that and comparing their looks to all the poisonous plants that I knew, none of them fit the description. With all that known I completely filled my stomach. They were gross, just straight leaves and grass, of course they were but compared to feeling a full stomach after all this time. It was worth it 100 times over.

It is around 2 now and my body is getting tired from walking and being outside all day, so I finally decided to go back home. After getting inside, the sound pounding walls covered my entrance and I passed out on the floor in a satisfied heap.

I still need to solve my protein needs but it's alright for now, leaves and grasses hold very slight protein. So if I eat enough of it I should be fine, at least till I get bigger.

The next day, my adventures continue. Today I woke up even earlier since I slept a lot the previous day. As I head out to the back, I actually see another person walking down the street that lays between the rows of houses, they were nothing special but since they are the first person I've seen other than myself and my parents, it is quite the event.

When I make it back there I get my full of some leaves and sit just stare at the sky kinda just cloud watching, after being inside for 6 almost 7 months straight it is nice to just sit and enjoy the air.

After a while of laying there admiring nature, to pass the time and somewhat pass the time since there is not much else for a baby to do. I start to play with the grass, or more like I'm weaving it. Why? Just cause, and it can help my finger dexterity. Since I'm a baby, even if I have an adult mind, my body's motor functions and muscle memory has been shot to hell. All my material arts, sure I have the memory and of the techniques and situations my body won't react correctly without very slow and steady movements. That is not good and needs to be fixed. While not entirely, that is partially why it took me so long to walk.

Well the first step to fast movements is slow movements, so it's time to start weaving grass.

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After a week of this straight, my plans begin to crumble to the ground. It's beginning to get chilly, winter is coming and my parents and I have nothing to our names but this damn shack. I don't even know that for sure. I didn't know when I was born or more specifically what season it could be, but I knew if it was like earth then after 6 months of warm cold it was on its way, but there was no way for me to know if it was like earth so I had to take a chance. Well it didn't pan out, it's getting cold and my plans are shot, my parents have nothing for winter and I'm screwed.

I can let this be it, to survive I have to get to work. After snagging a bit of flatbread while my parents were 'busy' I headed out. The only way I can see a baby surviving winter with nothing but an uninsulated shack and some grass is clothes and or some blankets. Even a hole in the ground is better insulated than that shack but even then something could wander in and or snow could trap me in and no 7 month old could climb out of that.

I'm gonna have to up my speed if I want to get all that done, but luckily my speed is steadily increasing. I should be able to finish what I need in a reasonable amount of time. For the finer details though I could use some knitting needles or crochet hooks. Good thing I have an idea for that. I look around at all the trees that surround me, some have low branches but none are even close enough for me to grab them, but some dead branches have fallen and are laying on the ground.

After searching for a bit I found some relatively long ones. Next is to find a small rock, which was not too hard. Now it's just gonna take some time. After saying that I sit in the ground and start working the rock into the sticks, I have to be gentle since these sticks are dry and dead. It's gonna take a bit with my baby muscles but soon I'll be back to work.

It took a day to finish whittling down the sticks into crochet hooks, this will increase my speed a bit and help with the edges and corners. like with the whittling though, I'm gonna have to be careful to not break that ass they are even thinner than they were before.

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It's been a month, and the first snow is here. Luckily though I managed to make a shirt and a two layer blanket, it is enough to comfortably cover my toes, so barely enough for an adult chest. So hopefully my parents won't take it, since it won't help them too much. With that I've also taken to hiding it, or at least try to be discreet with it. Knowing them, or more like not knowing them, they might just take it out of spite. There is a loose board in the house that reveals a small space under the house, I'd say barely enough for a teenager. Though that means plenty for me.

I've taken to hiding the blanket down there during the day and sleeping down there. Since it snowed I'm gonna wear my shirt now, I hope they just don't say anything about it. They won't say anything about it to me directly but it's funny sometimes since I know what they are saying to each other and they have no idea. Fun little pass time, at least till they start to flirt, then I can't stand their behavior and the second hand embarrassment may take me before the cold does.

As I walk into the house I see my father give me a glance as someone just enters his house. As much as they don't care about me, if something enters your home you're gonna look. Then a smirk makes its way to my face as I hear him comment on my shirt.

"Where'd he get that from, did he steal it, aww they grow up so fast. Just like his old man" The grown man says in a fake proud tone as he looks away with a nonchalant expression.

Kinda underwhelming to be honest but to think about how much this guy doesn't care is baffling me. I deadpan every time, I'm kinda trying to impress him now but nothing is working.

Though remembering what he just said piqued my interest, it doesn't take a lot these days. He said, "just like his old man." Referring to how he thought I stole it, I kinda already knew what he did but to have it confirmed feels good. You gotta focus on the little things when all you have is a blanket, shirt, and crochet hooks to your name. This is gonna be a long winter.