[1840] Chapter 1 - Pada's Hatchet

After having trouble with chopping down a specific tree, Pada, a young hamlet boy reminisces on his late grandfather's wisdom and then tries to prove he's better at woodcutting than that old drunk ever was.

The Work: [1840] Chapter 1 - Pada's Hatchet

The first chapter of a something I started writing and one I would hope to share later on.

If you wanna know what's the general theme of the overall work is, >!Pada's sister is ill, but the apothecaries can't help her. She'll die in about a week. So Pada sets off into the valley in search of the the healing spring his grandfather once told him about.!<

Any and all kind of feedback helps. This is a revised piece, I posted the first version about a week ago and hopefully the piece is now better.

But if you can, I would appreciate feedback on:

• The characters and the dialogues. How do the feel and come across?
  • There is something I wanted to imply with >!the reason why Ol' Kope moved in with the family.!< But I don't know if it did come through, if I should hint at it more, or if I should just leave it be and explore it in later chapters.
• The setting. I wanted to keep it real simple, the woods near the hamlet, but is it enough? Or is it missing more description and feeling?
• The prose, pacing, and length. Is it clear? Does it drag on? Is it repetitive at times?
• If you spot a tense error. I used present for the general and past for the flashbacks. But I know some if not many of those mistakes got past me.
• If you were a normal reader, would you wanna read more?
• You can do line edits or comment on the doc if you'd like.

Edit I had an epiphany last night with regards to the ending. Some spoils: >!I wanted to leave it for the next chapter, but it would work better if I ended this chapter with Pada deciding to leave the ax there because the sun is going down, he arrives home and sees the hamlet's best apothecary arriving at his home. And end it with Pada being shocked/worried.!<

The Critiques: [1449] Hearts In A Bottle and [843] The Ice Guardian Part 1