A Texas girl finds herself admiring a light in the sky only to find out it is indeed an alien, which transports her to another time long long ago in Africa and pairs her with a Neanderthal population in hopes that her descendants will populate Nort...
Our history is deep and rich, and I had spoken for a good while. The moon rose into the sky and she was full. When the dancing started, some of the youngsters took their women to the beach to lay with them. Many children were conceived that night, and on such nights as that when the moon rises after a red sky. As it was in the beginning.
The next year, five children were born and so five couples were married. And of those five children, four had blue eyes long after weaning.
Koons had a child born in such a way some years ago when he took one of the blue-eyed girls to the beach on a harvest moonlit night. But the child came later than the others, and when she came out, her eyes were completely white. Koons looked at the child as a daemon. Once it had been separated from its mother, he took the baby to the beach and the water's edge, and slowly walked into the surf holding the child breast-high. Oh how its mother wailed like a screeching Jabberwocky, and ran after them still carrying the placenta within her. But the child's fate was not as shark chum, but to come back to our clan and live with its mother and my wife, Sara, of fourteen years.
She was the old matriarch of the clan and could suffer no child to be mistreated. I still see her on occasion when I feel like talking with someone who understands. I sometimes think that this old woman inherited some of Julie's prescience. It was she who foretold of the demons that drove Koons through miles of desert to our clan. I, as usual, saw no harm in letting this man into our midst, but she said that a day would come when I would regret it.
Well, I really wouldn't care if he did drown the child. It was ill and had an evil look, and I pray to the Ori that I would make a wiser decision about anyone else's fate.
When the girl ran after Koons to save her child, (an unheard-of act before Julie) a large crowd gathered led by my old lady, Sara
It was his custom, he explained to everyone, to destroy any baby that appeared so malformed no matter how highborn - especially girls while they are still fresh from the mother. But Sara raised such a stink that Koons was chased from the village. Sara's will is indomitable, and she will not be gainsaid. She and Julie loved each other and often talked long into the night. I am sure to this day that Sara knows more about the future than I do.
The girl is being raised lovingly and they call her Rene after one of the Ori. She is blind and can see only shadows, whether the Sun is full or it is midnight. Sara says that the child has a sense other than sight, and that is a gift. I figure Blind Rene will grow up to be a shaman before long. She is light-skinned even though Koons was hairy and dark as swamp mud, and her hair is white, making her look old at five years.
She frightens many of the children when they first meet, but it is the Old Ones who fear her, and never seem to adjust to her, but they are few now unless, like Koons, they wander into our clan. Many of the outsiders avoid our clan if at all possible. Our reputation has gone far and wide as merciless and powerful enemies, and we fight very little anymore. Now and then some clan tries to invade us for slaves and weapons; they envy our location. Back in the days of Julie's youth, and when I was just a child, oh how we conquered the Old Ones who challenged us. Kamrasi was fearless. I once saw him take on four savage warriors at once.
Cush and Pooh were the only children brave enough to be friends with Blind Rene. One day I went to my old lady's camp to fetch little Rene for the Sabatta and found her and Cush along with Pooh walking towards me. It was that night that Blind Rene would first reveal to me her secret powers.
Cush was as white as ivory and Pooh was just as dirty. Rene tagged along walking unaided. The breeze blew lightly through the cedars and across the sandy path that led from the main part of the village to the sacred ground. The thistles whistled in the salty air.
Pappy, said Cush, we are coming to the Sabatta.
Well, Julie, I mean Cush. I see you've bathed for the Sabatta as usual, and I turned to Pooh and asked him when he planned to bathe if ever.
He had such a frown on his face.
Is that carved there, I asked him bending down to his eye level and tracing his little mouth. He shook his head silently.
He'll bathe tomorrow, said Rene, when he goes eel fishing with me. Pooh's eyes brightened at the prospect of eel fishing. I stood and looked out across the wide-open wetlands that spread into the desert and wondered if it would rain. It was due any time now.
Do you feel what I feel Jason? Blind Rene said to me, and she frowned. Rene was the only child who ever called me Jason.
I feel rain, I said wondering if that was what she meant.
I feel someone will depart tonight, she said. I didn't understand her, and let it go.
Is your father taking you tomorrow?
Yes, Dada will take us with Old Lady and others. He says that the crocodiles are plentiful and he could use some more teeth.
I thought that I should make sure Sara kept an eye on the little ones. Those large dragons eat more children than any other hazard.
The clan gathered for the Sabatta. A large buffalo roasted over the burning pit. The offering to the Ori had already been made and the signs were good that we would have another prosperous week ahead. No one ate raw meat anymore. Years ago, Julie tried to make something called bread out of what she called wheat, but I think she finally realized that grass is best left for the beast that we eat. She showed our people how to harvest certain kinds of roots and other plants the old ones thought were poisonous and these are best cooked in the fire.
The night was coming, and all settled down to listen to stories. I began by going over the deaths of the week, and most importantly the births, two of which caught most of us by surprise. The peacocks wandered nearby and they kept vigil. I took a sudden chill and wondered at it. Was it some premonition that came over me? It wasn't until later that night that I realized what Blind Rene was talking about.
I began.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
