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...
The eye looked fresh, and the blood vessels and nerves clinging to it made it look like a tiny creature. It couldn't have been there too long. And whose was it? Was it Riangi's? Christ almighty, I'm screwed. She began to cry.
She almost stumbled over the edge and into the water below but took a deep breath and descended into the warm water. The heat relaxed her and allowed her to breathe again. She thought about swimming back but didn't dare because of the crocodiles Riangi called dragons, so she swam quickly to shore and ran back to camp.
She climbed from the lake sweating. The air was heavy and thick. She stepped on a stick. It moved. She screamed and darted back to the camp thinking she had stepped on a snake.
Start the fire, she said, talking out loud.
Ok, Gotta get some wood now and cook these damn fish. Julie looked for the fish, but they were gone.
She mewled. Riangi, she cried, Riangi.
I've been in worse spots than this, she said aloud thinking about when she and Rene visited some dive just outside of town. The free drinks started coming, followed by the pick-up lines. Texans she could handle, but this was different. She considered swimming to the other side, but the thought of crocodiles, or snakes, made that improbable. The Sun rose above the rim of the dingle.
Wake up it's snowing. Riangi stood over her in her bedroom. You've got to shovel your car out.
No, she said, and rolled over.
He called again, but now from the other shore. He crossed at a shallow end stepping on boulders to keep the things he carried dry. As he reached the shore Julie threw her arms about him. Trembling, and wouldn't let go. He pushed her away and looked curiously into her eyes.
She tried to explain what happened while he was gone. Told him about the cave and what she had found there. How the fish were gone and about her dream.
What's snow? He asked.
Listen, Riangi. There is a cave over there. She waved her arms in the general direction of the falls.
I see no cave.
It's behind the water, she said, and she took his hand and led him along the shoreline until they came to the waterfall. She dove in and came up on the other side. Come on.
He followed and popped his head up beside hers. It's warm here, he said.
Yeah, there's a sulfur spring under here. There's a place back home just like it. It's great for the skin. Suddenly, she chuckled gently realizing he was there to protect her.
Riangi turned his back to the falling water and looked up. A cave, he said.
Duh-yuh, it's a cave, ya dork, but look at this.
She climbed the stones, more sure than the time before and when she reached the opening, sat down and looked down at him and waived.
He followed.
She led him back inside the cave looking for the crucible and eyeball. It's not so loud over here, she said. He followed reluctantly.
Someone lives here, he said. We cannot stay.
Look, she said and pointed to the tiny crucible. What do you think this is? Riangi bent down to look but didn't touch it.
Look here, he said pointing to two tiny figurines, one of a man - well-endowed, and one of a female - also well-endowed and pregnant. Both were made of soapstone except the female doll was white stone and the male black and surrounded by a circle of pebbles. Julie considered these toys. Both images had tiny holes bored into their backs.
See this, he said. This is a flesh eater's cave.
Flesh eater, she echoed, unsure of his words.
Riangi nodded his head and showed her by taking her arm and pretending to eat it.
You mean cannibals. Muggers she could handle, but cannibals were something entirely different.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, she said and touched her head and chest and then her shoulders. (The crowd chanted the prayer they often recite.)
We have to leave, said Riangi.
Suddenly...
BOOM! KA-laka
The muffled sound of drums from outside the cave. And they walked to the edge. Listen.
BOOM! Ka laka
BOOM
That ain't no Jabberwocky, she said. And clung to Riangi.
The cliff's edge was smooth, and the cascading water looked almost like a sheet of glass. Riangi dove headfirst into the churning water below. As frightened as she was, she waited until he surfaced before jumping in - feet first. She was less sure of what lay below the surface than he was, even as afraid as she was of the...
BOOM! Ka Laka
Boom - boom - boom.
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