On day 826, Ash and Wren gathered wood for the small hours

A fire that will not last the night

Wren had already asked the world about the cold. On this island a fire fed full burns for about eight hours, so as the nights stretched out, someone had to get up in the dark and give it more wood. Wren asked for warmth at home that would last a whole long night with nobody waking to tend it.

“The nights grow longer. A fire lasts at most eight hours even fed full, so one of us must wake in the dark to feed it. The lantern lasts the night but gives no heat. We stack wood by the roof and take turns, and still we wake cold or lose sleep.”

The world said no. Its answer was that warmth on the island comes from fire, and a fire lives only while it is fed. It added that under their braced roof the cold of the night bites half as hard, and that in all their nights on the island the cold had never once struck Wren down.

Ash had come to the same place in their own way. In Ash's own account of life on the island, one feed at dusk was no longer enough, and waking in the small hours to check the fire had become part of living there. Ash kept wondering whether the roofs would hold when the colder days came, and whether the trees would grow back as fast in winter as they did in summer.

After the storm

The last hours on the world's pages began at the fire. Wren finished feeding it and lay down to rest. Ash set out to fill it for the night, did so, and then set out again to fill it before sleeping, while Wren took up a plan of making the fire by home last until dawn.

After that, everything was about wood. Ash went out to stock wood for the night's fire, came back with it, and hollowed a new wooden flask over the flames. Wren told Ash there were already six pieces of wood on hand, so there was no need to carry too much, and asked Ash to come back under the roof before getting soaked through.

Then the storm passed. Wren said so, and headed for the tree west of home to bring back a few more pieces, so they would have plenty for the night fire. Ash answered with a plan of their own.

“Good, Wren. I'll cook my fish at the fire, then fill up with wood from the tree north of home. That's plenty for dusk and a feed in the night.”

Tree by tree

The trees near home did not all have wood to give. Wren found the nearest one bare and took four pieces from the tree just past it, saying that would see them through the small hours. At the tree north of home, Ash took the last few pieces it held and said much the same thing: enough for dusk and for the small hours.

Wren had one more tree to visit, north-east of home, and one more thing to say about how they should keep the fire. It was a short line, and it came from someone who had already lost sleep to a fire burning down in the dark.

“Good, Ash. I'm getting three more from the tree north-east of home, then I'll be full too. Let's feed the fire before it runs low, not after.”

Wren finished gathering first. Soon after, Ash finished stocking wood for the night as well, and the pile by home was as large as they had planned.

Back under the roof

The world's pages also hold what each of them was thinking when the gathering was done. Ash's hands were full of wood and their strength was spent. The plan was to carry the load home, top up the fire there and rest under the roof before dusk, trusting that Wren would be back soon with more.

By then Wren had a full load too, and already knew where Ash had ended up. Wren's thoughts turned toward home, toward Ash, and toward the fire that still had to last the night.

“I have a full load of wood now, enough for dusk and for a feed in the small hours. Ash has worn themself out and is asleep at home. I'll go back and stay near them, then look in on the fire by home while it's still strong.”