Stanley had no trouble falling asleep, but morning came much too quickly. Every muscle and joint in his body ached as he tried to get out of bed. He didn’t think it was possible but his body hurt more than it had the day before. It wasn’t just his arms and back, but his legs, ankles, and waist also hurt. The only thing that got him out of bed was knowing that every second he wasted meant he was one second closer to the rising of the sun.

He hated the sun.

He could hardly lift his spoon during breakfast, and then he was out on the lake, his spoon replaced by a shovel. He found a crack in the ground and began his second hole. He stepped on the shovel blade and pushed on the very back of the shaft with the base of his thumb. This hurt less than trying to hold the shaft with his blistered fingers.

As he dug, he was careful to dump the dirt far away from the hole. He needed to save the area around the hole for when his hole was much deeper. He didn’t know if he’d ever get that far.

X-Ray was right. The second hole was the hardest. It would take a miracle.