a soft breeze tickled the face of grogoogagan, waking him from his slumber. he blinked a few times, suddenly being blinded by the sunlight. once his eyes adjusted, he saw that the sun had not yet gone down completely; he was up early. this was a good thing, for he could do his chores early and have the rest of the night to do whatever he liked.

grogoogagan rose onto his four legs, all covered with light brown hair. he had six claws on each of his feet and hands, which were also covered in fur. he had only two arms, but they were massive, larger than tree trunks. he was about ten feet in height, just barely missing the ceiling of his cave. he would have to move soon, seeing as he was still growing.

hemlaties grew steadily for 17 years. each year, they gained exactly 1 foot of height. this meant that gorgoogagan was about ten years old. after they stopped growing, they had to make marks on their cave walls.

grogoogagan stepped out of his cave, watching as the sun sank. the village at the base of the hemlaties’ mountain would be settling down and going to sleep soon. this made it easier for grog to get his chores done.

grog had the daily tasks of collecting water, firewood, and rocks from the river. the river was two miles away, and he had to walk four miles total, two of which with a bag of rocks. it was tiring, but not nearly as much as others had to do.

grog started with the rocks every night, since it took the longest. he walked to the river, frightening a poor traveler in the process. grog didn’t mind. he’d be terrified of himself, too.

after collecting about 40 rocks, grog walked back. the rocks were a popular snack among the hemlaties, and the best ones were from the yikalope river. this resulted in grog’s daily task.

after he brought the rocks to the rock pit, he collected the water. they had their very own river winding through the mountain in which they lived in, but it took a lot of strength to haul up the buckets. luckily, grog was very strong. after he finished that, he had to get firewood for the heart.

the hearth was located in the center of the mountain, equally heating everything. it had to be fed throughout the day, and grog was one of the hemlaties selected to feed it. all he had to do was snap branches off of a few branches and bring them to the fire. once he did that, he was finished.

what was he going to do with all this free time?