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 next Sabatta came sooner than the younger ones thought it would, as there was much to keep them busy. Aside from my victory over Teaki, there was also the flotsam that washed up on shore during the marriage of one of the children of Chume', my third wife after Sara. I have six children with Chume, and I think that will be all. My new wife is young and very receptive to making babies. We wed at the last visit of Protus during the great seal harvest. She was fourteen and should be good for maybe five or six children. I keep very busy. It is the privilege of being the Top Dog.
Cush and Pooh were the first to arrive, and they brought Blind Rene with them, although she could find her way without them. They said they wanted to sit close to me to hear every word, but I think it is because I was having roasted snake, wrapped in seaweed, their favorite meal. I find that the usual Sabatta meal of boar has been irritating my bowel lately, and I would rather have something less filling. Of course, I still like the occasional Bar-B-Q.
There was much congratulatory patting on the back from those I hadn't seen since the death of Teaki, and it took a while, for they had to hear about it firsthand, even though it had been told since by the women, many of whom claimed to have been standing close by. One even claimed to have helped me up over the cliff. But of course, I was alone the whole time.
The moon was full and bright, and the stars dimmed because of it. The strong westerly winds blew away the clouds left by the recent rain, and there had been only three deaths due to natural causes. What could go wrong? I thought. I spit three times just to be safe.
Last week, I began, Julie was about to meet Kamrasi. (Kamrasi) they all chanted. She and Riangi, as you recall, had just escaped the Basindi during a tremendous thunderstorm, and came upon strangers.
They approached the strangers with care. She knew that this was someone special, that he must have known them because he approached unafraid. They stopped at the river but didn't come closer. The women and children looked terrified and huddled together. Only the four men stood alone, stalwart, and unyielding talking amongst themselves and pointing at Julie.
Wait here, Riangi said, and he walked toward them, and when he reached the water he stopped.
Kamrasi, Riangi said spreading his arms, a smile breaking out on his face.
Kamrasi
Riangi, is that you? He waited in the middle of the stream for Kamrasi to find a way across the surging water. Julie watched the whole process from fifteen feet back. These were the first people she had seen that looked like Riangi. She knew enough Human history to know there were several different 'species of Humans living side by side at this time. Were the tiny, dark, and hairless Basindi another species than the taller Mirumbura? How different shewas from the rest of Riangi's clan, she was soon to find out.
As Kamrasi found his way across the river swollen from the storm, Julie stood ignored for the moment by her mate as he put all of his attention on his brother. Now, they were face to face. Riangi was smiling, as Kamrasi slowly approached him looking back and forth between him and the strange apparition that looked oddly like a female, but like none he, nor anyone for that matter, had seen before. Riangi was still smiling, certain that this was his brother, and finally reached out to touch his sibling.
With great joy, they embraced placing both hands on one another's shoulders and talking quietly together for some time. Julie couldn't hear what was being said and stayed her distance and waited, knowing they were talking mostly about her. She was determined to keep calm and try not to appear worried. She thought that if she kept her dignity – a difficult task being completely naked – she would present herself more advantageously. She looked across the river at the others in the group and noticed women. Some, like herself, were minimally covered and wearing a wide menses belt that just covered their groin, but nothing else. The others were naked.
They don't waste time worrying about what to wear, anyway, she thought. Feeling self-conscious, she looked down at her large belly. Her breasts were swelling and her areolae were growing and darkening.
I'm a goddamn Fertility Goddess, she said.
While they talked to each other, the two brothers looked back at her -- Riangi smiling and Kamrasi looking stern and yelling at Riangi. And it was Riangi who finally waved her over.
Julie, he said. He had his hand on his brother's shoulder, My brother, Kamrasi.
She reached out her hand to shake his, How are you, she said, but Kamrasi stepped back out of reach. Riangi burst out laughing. They both glared at him as he nearly rolled on the ground.
Kamrasi and Riangi talked again, too fast for Julie to catch all that was said, but she gathered that Kamrasi was afraid she was trying to take something away from him. But she had perfect teeth and beautiful full lips that when she smiled would turn anyone into an admiring servant, but here Julie was an outcast, an apparition. She was colored differently, smelled differently, and was groomed differently than the women they knew. Riangi told his brother that the Basindi thought she was the Spirit Yellow Face, and that he wasn't quite sure she wasn't.
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