Cro-magnon Stories

Ms Jean M. Auel's best-selling book "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and "Earth's Children" book series is a beautiful depiction of our planet 35,000 years ago. Her six books brought me many hours of enthralled reading, at different times in my life. Written (and read) over a couple of decades, many "Earth's Children" readers have posed questions on certain sections of Ms Auel's epic. It is delightful to read different writers' fan fiction interpretations, who build on the foundational ancient world brought to life by Ms Auel. My first Earth's Children fan-fiction piece, "The Clan in the Valley", imagined Durc's life after Ayla was forced to leave Broud's clan. My second fan-fiction work, "The Man of the Others", tried to picture a young Mamut, who met the same clan years before Ayla did. This story looks at Ayla from the eyes of those closest to her. Ayla's friendship with them was unprecedented, and set the stage for what we take for granted today. It is perhaps particularly apt that this third fan-fiction piece was written in the Year of the Horse, according to the Chinese Zodiac. In my fan-fictions , some characters are Ms Auel's creation and copyright, some are mine. Passages from various "Earth's Children" books are extracted as vignettes to preface my chapters. Thank you to Ms Auel, for giving us Ayla - who continues to inspire girls and boys even in today's very different world of ours. Hopefully we will be able to take care of it for a while more. === This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

My father spoke of them when I was young. He had lived in the area we now camped as a boy. He remembered the men that were like us but were not us. They were stronger and bigger. And the relations between our clan and theirs had ended badly. We had returned to this land of harsh winters and summers with plentiful game. We were meaning to stay. We knew the risks. We knew the others were here as well. I felt them watching and waiting. What would they do? (M for later chapters)

Ms Jean M. Auel's best-selling book "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and "Earth's Children" book series is a beautiful depiction of our planet 35,000 years ago. Her six books brought me many hours of enthralled reading, at different times in my life. Written (and read) over a couple of decades, many "Earth's Children" readers have posed questions on certain sections of Ms Auel's epic. It is delightful to read different writers' fan fiction interpretations, who build on the foundational ancient world brought to life by Ms Auel. My first Earth's Children fan-fiction piece, "The Clan in the Valley", imagined Durc's life after Ayla was forced to leave Broud's clan. This second fan-fiction work gives an interpretation of a time before Ayla. In it, some characters are Ms Auel's creation and copyright, some are mine. Passages from various "Earth's Children" books are extracted as vignettes to preface my chapters. While writing, I am grateful for the cartographical resources meticulously crafted and curated by Mr Don Hitchcock in his excellent website https://donsmaps.com. Mr Hitchcock's maps helped me picture a sense of space and geography as I researched for and outlined my stories. As a father to two daughters, thanks most of all to Ms Auel, for giving us Ayla - who continues to inspire girls (and boys) even in today's vastly different world of ours. === This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Ms Jean M. Auel's best-selling book "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and "Earth's Children" book series is a beautiful depiction of our planet 35,000 years ago. Her six books brought me many hours of enthralled reading, at different times in my life. As I was reading Ms Auel's books, I would sometimes imagine life in our hunter-gatherer days. I would wonder how our world would be today if we had not discovered agriculture, and that old method of life had continued to today. But I suppose there is little chance of turning back; maybe our world today was always meant to be. Some years ago, I had the opportunity to visit "The Land of Painted Caves", in particular Les Ezies-de-Tayac in France, which I understand was the setting of the Caves of the Zelandonii, the people of Jondalar. The cave paintings at the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume were a sight to behold, and I could almost imagine myself as a part of Ayla's Donier tour. I still habour hopes of one day visiting the "Beran Sea" (known today as the Black Sea) and the adjoining peninsular, where Ayla was saved from death by Brun's clan, and she grew up loved by Iza and Creb. Till then, I decided to do the next best thing - to write my version of a story set near the "Beran Sea". This is a fan-fiction work - some characters are Ms Auel's creation and copyright, some are mine. Passages from various "Earth's Children" books are extracted as vignettes to preface my chapters. I hope you enjoy this short story, which I intend as a sort of tribute to Ms Auel. As a father of two daughters, thank you, Jean M. Auel, for bringing us Ayla, who continues to be an inspiration to girls everywhere, 35,000 years later. === This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.