Rockskipping

Zazzalil woke up before Jemilla. She freed herself from her wife's embrace and walked out of her hut. Zazzalil saw that Schwoopsie was already busy with a big log hitting something to make a new hut.

"Hey, Zazzy! What do you think of my new invention? I call it a ... HITTER! Get it? Cuz I'm hitting stuff with it? Can you ask Jemilla if she can come by to check my work?" Schwoopsie yelled to Zazzalil.

Zazzalil tried to laugh and said, "Sure, I'll ask her".

Zazzalil was happy with all the new knowledge the tribe got from Chron, life was better. And she was happy for it, really, she was. It's just ... now everyone was inventing stuff all the time, it wasn't her thing anymore. Zazzalil turned into Jemilla's wife. She's happy she is! Zazzalil just wished the tribe saw her as more than just wife to the leader.

"Zazz! Can you ask Jemilla to come to the watering hole later? I want to show her some new invention" Smelly Balls yelled.

Zazzalil turned around, smiled and nodded. She felt more and more like the messenger between the leader and the tribe than part of either. Even Keerie does, they had decided to collect nuts together but she still isn't here. Keerie forgot about Zazzalil.

Tears started forming in her eyes and she needed to get out of the village. Zazzalil started walking and didn't stop until she wasn't visible from the village anymore.___________________________________________________________________________

Jemilla woke up shivering. She looked around and saw that Zazzalil wasn't there. That was unusual. Zazzalil loved seeing Jemilla waking up, so she tended to stay cuddled up to Jemilla just to see that completely unguarded moment in Jemilla's eyes.

Jemilla walked out of her hut and immediately saw Keerie walking over to her.

"Hey Jemilla? Have you seen Zazzalil today? We were going to collect nuts and berries together but no one has seen her today." Keerie asked Jemilla.

"Euhm, not since we went to bed last night?" Jemilla said, "I'll go look for her."

Jemilla knew about Zazzalil's normal hiding places. Her favorite was the big lake a quarter day walk from the village, so Jemilla set out to the lake.___________________________________________________________________________

"I don't know what to do anymore," Zazzalil said. "Inventing things and coming up with new ideas used to be my thing. But since Chorn showed us those visions, everyone is inventing stuff left and right."

Zazzalil threw one of the small rocks Keerie had collected in the lake. "I mean, I used to be 

Zazzalil, the inventor! Now they see me as Zazzalil, our leader's wife."

"Thanks, I guess?" Jemilla responded with a huff. "But babe, they don't see you as just my wife. You are their leader too, and they might be inventing stuff but whose idea was it to start using logs to roll mammoths over here?"

Zazzalil looked around sheepishly "I just saw those round things and thought it could be done this way too." She grabbed another rock and again threw it in the lake.

"See, that's what I mean! The others are inventing the things they have seen. You are applying the things you've seen to what we need and have right now. When Emberly wanted that small spear and she saw it wasn't just a big, sharp rock on a small stick, what did you do?" Jemilla wrapped her arms around Zazzalil and kissed her neck.

Zazzalil leaned her head back "I found a smaller, sharp rock, tied it to a small stick and told Emberly to just use that."

"That's what I mean, Zazz. You still invent things, you're still the inventor of our tribe! You make the other invention practical. The others respect you and see you as more than my wife. I see you as just our inventor, I see you as my wife."

Zazzalil turned around in Jemilla's arms and softly kissed her. "Thank you."

"Let's go back to the village? Keerie was worried about you."

Zazzalil picked up a last rock and threw it. Both she and Jemilla watched it skip over the water a couple of times and then disappear completely.