He walked through the forest, exploring the territory he appeared to be stuck in. He’s seen many a strange sight in this mystical wood, and expects to see many more. Some of his previous encounters had been extremely dangerous, so he moves with caution. The branches above him try to sweep around and grab him, but he quickly ducks and runs away a short distance. A boy nearby struggled to cut wood with a rusty ax bigger than he was.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Thank you very much, yes. Take the ax for a few minutes and give me a chance to rest, that’s all I really need, is a little rest.”

He took the ax and began to chop wood.

“Ha! I tricked you!” shouted the boy, “You’ll never be able to stop chopping wood until someone else takes the ax from you.”

The man was shocked initially, but he settled into the task, chopping wood and making a neat pile. He vaguely wondered where the wood was coming from, but didn’t worry about it too much, as the manual labor was relaxing and he could be mostly free from thought. Eventually he got tired, set down the ax, and continued on his journey.