Chapter 6
By morning, the hole was complete. What that meant was, there was a straight shot down to level one, that opened up onto the balcony overseeing the ‘Canyon of Forever,’ and then there was another hole that went down to bedrock. John informed me we don’t have the tools or power to break through bedrock. I went to the bottom and found the room was secure. There was a door at the bottom that led out into the bottom of the ‘Forever Canyon.’ He was happy that he had recovered the iron pickaxe and most of the materials he had collected prior to death. There was a toolbox at floor one and at bedrock. There were ovens at bedrock. Outside the door at bedrock, was a stone fence and some gate. There was a lava pool, a water fall, an underground lake, and obsidian. Inside a chest there was some gold that needed smelting. Some red stone. Some lapis lazuli. There was more iron needing smelting.
“We’re going to need find more coal,” John said. “I think if I can make a bucket, we can harness lava power.”
“That sounds dangerous,” I said. “Danger is our middle name,” John said.
“Are you still mad at me?” I asked.
John pulled me closer, side hug. We looked out into the depths of Forever Canyon together. Lava reflected off some distant minerals, maybe emeralds, maybe diamonds, maybe gold. It actually looked quite beautiful. There was distant skeleton, wearing armor, pacing an area as if he were on patrol.
“No, Eston,” John said. “Look, this place is dangerous. It can be frightening. Knowledge is the first thing that keeps us safe.”
“We need knowledge and rules?” I asked.
“You can’t have rules without knowledge,” John said. He pointed to a skeleton on cliff face in the distance. I have no clue how he got up there. “Skeletons have a range. That’s knowledge. That means they can only shoot so far. They can only see us from so far…”
“How do they see us without eyes?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” John said.
“It’s a great question. Maybe sound through bone conduction… But no ears… We learn what we can and we use that knowledge to keep us safe. We’re safe.”
“But creepers…”
“Can’t go over the fence or open gates,” John said.
“But they are obsessive little creeps. Relentless.”
We returned to the surface. John did some math and dug straight down, all the way to the bottom. This was to become our ‘supply drop.’ Anything that needed smelting went here. Trash went here. Trash would be sorted into box, or dropped into the lava. John found more iron on the way down and made a bucket and sheers. He also made a hopper to drop things into the chest at the bottom of the supply drop. We finished the day gathering, and even collected sand to turn into glass. Iron was the first thing we smelted, followed by sand. Soon, our mountain house had windows. I put trap doors on the windows for security. John approved. We were crafting team! Until, that is, I made the diamond hat and shovel.
“OMG, no, Eston, seriously?! Why?”
“Because I love you,” I said.
“Why do you always say that when I ask why?” I asked.
“Because why questions are hard,” I said. “And I love you.”
“OMG, diamonds are hard to acquire,” John said.
“It’s a solid hat. It will keep me safe,” I said. “So would iron,” John said.
“You’re hoarding the iron,” I said.
“No I am not! I am trying to make us tools. I need another block of iron to make an anvil,” John said.
“Hoarding,” I said.
“Okay, I am holding onto them,” John said. “The diamond is a precious resource. We don’t have enough to be making shovels. Do you understand?”
“We can find more,” I said. “It’s not that easy,” John said. “I am sorry,” I said.
John sighed. He sat down on the stone floor. I came a little closer.
“I made you something, too,” I said. I presented him a diamond sword. “It’s not a light saber, but I bet it can do some damage.”
“A stone sword would have been sufficient,” John said.
“You’re supposed to say ‘thank you,’” I said.
John accepted the sword. He felt the balance of it. He said ‘thank you,’ and put it in his quick release inventory slot. He motioned me closer. I came closer and he hugged me.
“I am sorry I got loud,” John said. “We’re stressed,” I said.
“Not an excuse,” John said. He took something out of his inventory and handed it to me. “I made you this. It’s a compass.”
“Wow,” I said. “Thank you. This is cool.”
John nodded, and watched me walking around the house with it. He then went up to the garden rooftop, collected enough wheat to make bread, and had two wheat remaining. He shared bread with me.
“Come on, let’s go fishing,” John said.
We went fishing. He caught three more saddles. I caught fish. Salmon fish. Cod Fish. Puffer fish. All I catch is fish! It’s not fair. As we returned to the home, there was a sheep nearby. John sheered it. Out of curiosity, he held wheat in his hand. It followed. I laughed. We walked and it followed. Several friend sheep followed. Next thing we knew, we had three sheep in the designated pin for sheep. We also had lots of wool. John fed two of the sheep wheat, and before you knew it, we had a baby sheep.
“We’re not killing them,” I said. I was sitting on the fence.
“We are not,” John agreed. He was leaning into the fence.
We were watching the sheep when a flying things swooped down out of nowhere. It tagged my diamond hat, but did no discernable damage. I tumbled off the fence and ran inside. I yelled at John to come inside where it’s safe. He stared up at the menacing phantoms circling like vultures, and retreated into the house. One hit the door and flew away.
“I don’t like this world!” I said.
John hugged me. “Go get some sleep.”
“Will you sleep next to me?”
“Yeah, I better sleep, too,” John said.
John crafted a bed, set it next to mine; it was separated by a chest. As we laid down, we practiced our gratefulness.
“Thank you wool,” John said.
“Thank you sheers,” I said.
“Thank you sheep,” John said. “Thank you baby sheep,” I said.
“Thank you diamond hat,” John said. “Thank you you,” I said.
“Thank you you,” John echoed.
“Maybe we can stay here forever,” I said. “I thought you hated this place,” John said.
“I want to be with you,” I said.
“I love you, too, Eston,” John said.
“When I go back to California, can I take Chester?” I asked.
“Go ask your mother,” John said. I am sure he was quoting Doctor Seuss. “Haha,” I said.
“Chester can come back with me, right?”
“You tamed him, he has to stay with you,” John said.
I asked about the moon. It seemed to be just opposite of the sun. The stars moved fast enough across the sky to make a person dizzy. John speculated it’s a small planets. I said, ‘or it’s rotating very fast.’ He agreed.
“Do you think this is like a video game?” I said.
“It doesn’t feel like a game,” John said.
“Games are pretty sophisticated,” I said.
“And they’re only getting better. Maybe we’re in Minecraft, 2121.”
“That’s funny,” John said.
“If you could request an update for this mythical 2121, what would it be?”
“A creative mode, where we can fly around like superman, and have infinite supplies,” I said. “And make a place where monsters can’t hurt us.”
“Minecraft 2121 sounds like a nice place. Somewhere, over the rainbow,” John said.
“Would you sing to me?”
John sang. I fell asleep. We started a new day. We both felt surprisingly rested.