Today was the day. Arthur walked through the door and let the heavy bags fall with a thump onto the wooden floor of the cabin. Outside the low sun of a summer afternoon lit up the spaces between the woodland trees. Inside a few streams of light slipped through the old and heavy curtains. The room had few adornments, just an old pair of antlers that hung above the fireplace and had been there since before he got the cabin. There was a bed with crumpled sheets along the left-hand wall and opposite that was a counter and an old cupboard. The whole place carried a faint scent of rotting wood.
Arthur left the door hang open behind him, letting in more sunlight, as he strode over to the chair and table that occupied the back wall of the cabin. He sat down and stared intently at what he had in front of him: a gnarled log that he had picked out specifically after the snow melted away some months ago.
He leaned down and picked up the worn bag that was resting against the leg of the table, brushed off some of the dust that had gathered on it, and opened the clasp. From the bag he produced leather bundle. Unrolling the bundle on the table revealed a set of old woodworking chisels. Slowly his hand wandered along the blades and handles of the tools before settling on one of them. He took a firm grasp of the piece of wood and started working on it. Arthur could feel how, despite how long it had been since last time, his hands quickly got reacquainted with the tools and the material.
Hours passed. As the last light of the sun were about to vanish he set down the piece on the table in front of him: a wooden sculpture portraying a woman wearing a wedding gown. In her long hair was a string of pearls holding up a rose to the back of her head. Her facial expression was one of a bittersweet smile.
Arthur leaned back in the chair with a content smile on his face. A few droplets went down his cheek from under his glasses. He put the chisel back with the rest of the tools and returned the bundle to the bag.
