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...
They quickly gathered anything that would burn, bracken, twigs, and branches. Riangi kept busy gathering fuel; Julie sat down at the pile of debris and began clicking the stones together.
BOOM - BOOM
Sparks flew, but the wood was too wet, and Julie's hands shook. Then she heard Riangi calling her from very nearby, Jugee, he said. Then again louder, Jugee.
BOOM – BOOM
What? I'm busy can't you... she looked up and about twenty Basindi were standing in front of them, and more behind the tree-lined shore, myriad weapons in hand. Riangi stood alone in front of them with only sticks clutched in his hand.
They were short, Julie thought. Shorter than even Riangi, over whom Julie stood by several inches. The most prominent man standing before them alone and in front of the others was impressively dressed. His skin was much darker than Riangi's and had less hair. He had body markings much like Riangi's, but these were adorned with bones. She could only imagine what kind they were. But in the middle of his chest, he wore a shield designed with what looked like a screaming human face with eyes and mouth opened wide and replaced with some sort of fur. This face was stretched into a large circle and bound to the wearer by leather thongs that wrapped around his torso. Many others also bore the same armor.
An assortment of bones filed to sharp points on one end pierced his flesh and to Julie's vivid imagination, they might as well have been still dripping with the flesh that once covered them. They were arranged in two crescents above each breast, tied together by leather strings, and trussed about each bone to look like stitching.
Like her Momma's Christmas turkey.
About his penis, he had tied a strip of papyrus held to his waist with a thin leather thong. A long tuft of hair hung from the papyrus down to his knees. His ears were pierced with the teeth of some large animal. Julie knew nothing of the large Long Toothed Cats that roamed the jungles or the terrifying giant boars.
Rata Tata, Rata Tata!
The drums sounded close. They came from just behind the men who were now slowly stepping nearer. Julie was still squatting by the unlit wood when it began to smolder, but she was unaware of it, and as she stood up slowly the pile of sticks burst into flames. This was seemingly too much for the Basindi who, seeing a white woman, and one that can make fire, were terrified senseless.
The leader muttered something Julie couldn't understand. The others with him were already tripping over each other to get away. Yellow Face, Yellow Face he yelled and then turned and ran away.
Kaka a laka, kaka a laka
Rata – Tata
BOOM- BOOM!
And then all was quiet except for the distant hum of the waterfall. Riangi turned and walked back to Julie and stood in front of her staring into her eyes.
What? She said. Do you know those people?
They said you were Yellow Face, the spirit of the sky, Yellow Face the spirit of the fire. He pointed to the Sun. Yellow Face, he said.
Julie let out a long breath. Sweat beaded on her forehead, she shivered. I suppose, she said, that means we aren't goin to be dinner anytime soon. Who are they?
Flesh Eaters, Jugee. I have seen those same people with my father. They have the same markings, same bones, even the same covers, he said pointing to his penis. Those were human bones.
Julie winced at the thought of the poor people they ate to get those bones.
I think your color scared them almost as much as the fire. We are safe for now, but we have to go before they come back. We should be their prisoners by now. They are probably getting more advice on how to handle us – you.
Julie plopped herself on the beach,
I'm hungry.
So am I, but not now. We have to go.
Well then, we should take it with us, she started to say but when she turned to look at Riangi, he was pissing on the fire all but putting it out.
What the hell you doin' ya dork? She watched him as he took a stick and stirred the mixture of urine and ash together forming a paste which he took between his fingers and began spreading on his chest.
Now you, he said smiling.
You're kidding? Ain't no way in hell I'm doin' that.
You make your own mixture, on that side. He pointed to the other side.
Why?
Bad spirits. It hides us from unwanted eyes. She tried her best to aim at the hot ash without stepping in it and succeeded in making enough of the malodorous mixture to paint her own body as Riangi did. Here's how she painted herself. She drew concentric circles like targets on her breasts, and then from each of these she made a line to her navel and from there one line to her crotch. Then on either side of her already distended stomach she drew tic-tac-toe patterns with a finished game. On her legs, she made large polka dots. She completely blacked out her face leaving her lips untouched. On her back Riangi drew symbols representing the three spirits most revered by his people; the Sun, the bear, and the cat.
On Riangi's, back this is what she drew; FUCK OFF... ASSHOLE with an arrow pointing downward to the titular area.
He looked over his shoulder and asked what she was drawing.
Black Magic.
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