Thoka (Caveman Chronicles)

The Index -|-

Thoka rolled over and stretched slowly. The moon was dim, and the sun had not yet begun to shine, but she had always been an early riser. There was something tremendously peaceful about the quiet and cool morning hours. As a little girl, she remembered waking early to draw shapes in the sand and watch the sun rise over the distant plains. The birds, animals, and in fact the whole world seemed to wake from the nightly slumber in complete harmony.

Back then, the one constant at night was the sound of the small waterfall on the edge of the village. Water droplets would fall and send their tinkling notes out into the air at all times. Those notes blended into an ever-present background that signified to her that she was home. It was one of the many pieces of her old life that she missed.

“Start the water,” she called out in a low voice. After a moment, she could hear a faint trickling. Thoka stretched again and rose to her feet. The water sound became louder as the small pool filled and the water from above fell into the pool. It was not much and not nearly as loud as the waterfall from home, but it helped to make her feel better.

She rolled out of the warm hollow onto her hip and then her knee and stood looking at the tiny waterfall. It was just a gap in the lip of the upper outcropping, and below was a shallow pool at floor level to catch the water. The small pool had a drain hole in the upper rim so that it would not overflow. With a faint smile of satisfaction, Thoka walked to the defection pit and sat musing about her dream. She hoped it would come true someday.

When she was done, she went toward the food outcropping. It was then that she noticed the gap in the grey stone that opened up just to the left of the outcropping. [What is that?] She had cleared away various parts of the mottled stone that lined her cave, but the smooth, grey walls were impenetrable and had never changed. She tiptoed over to the gap in the wall and peered through. The gap was thin, and she would have to turn her body slightly to fit through.

First, she crouched and peered through cautiously. The adjoining chamber was like her own in shape and size. There was an outcropping on the far side that was just how her defecation pit used to be. She had since changed it to be more comfortable for sitting; that was at least fifteen days ago, if she remembered correctly.

To her left through the gap, she could see what looked like a very large stone attached to the chamber wall and it had a hole in one side. The walls of the whole chamber were pockmarked with many holes, some large and some small. There were many in the ceiling and floor as well except where the artificial light shone in the center of the chamber. To her right, just through the gap was the side of the other chamber’s food outcropping.

Thoka stood and reached to take her spear from where it leaned against her food outcropping. She had never needed it, but this was a new situation. With great care to remain stealthy, she slowly angled her body and stepped through the gap in the wall. [It is surprisingly thin,] she noticed as she stepped through the wall. [Yet tougher than stone.]

She her a slight grunt from the other side of the food outcropping, and stood on her tiptoes to see what was there. [Maybe it is a pig I can eat, or a tundra goat and I can make a cloak!] She stretched to see and was surprised to see a person’s curly mop and a hand that was scrubbing at the attached scalp. Very quickly, she slipped back through the gap in the wall.

[A person? Maybe a caveperson. Amazing, and yet… What if they are violent or crazy?] After a moment Thoka realized that she needed to take the element of surprise. She hefted her stone spear and slipped back through the gap and rounded the food outcropping.

“Stay where you are!” she said loudly.

The caveman, as he clearly was a caveman, spun his head with disbelief. His scratching hand descended slowly, and emotions writhed on his facial features. He must have come to some conclusion because he started to stand.

“Stay there!” Thoka said more firmly. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just tell me who you are.”

The caveman slumped back into his original position. “Urh, uh. Kpleeb, of the canyon river tribe.”

“I am Thoka of the Wet Mountain tribe.”

He nodded as if that made sense.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

Kpleeb pointed at the day-marks he had made on the wall, and Thoka forgot about her danger for a moment. She walked to the wall and counted the groups. Four groups of eight marks and another partial group with seven marks. She used quickly tallied using her fingers and elbows. “Thirty-nine days!” She swiveled back and held the tip of her spear toward Kpleeb as he stood.

“There are missing days at the beginning, but I do not know how many. Thirty-nine?” he asked. “What’s that?”

“That’s… how many marks you have on your wall. Don’t you know how to count?”

“Well, yes. I can count to eight. If there is a name for the next number, Pftull never told me.”

[Interesting.] Thoka smiled at him. He did not look like an idiot, and clearly, he had made a number of structures and holes in the cave. He smiled back at her in a disarming way.

“I can teach you what the next numbers are and the system I use to help with that,” she said. “But I really need to know if you are insane or like to punch people… people like me.”

“Punch people?” He seemed confused.

“Are you a warrior?”

He shrugged. “I did okay in my coming-of-age ritual, but I was never a part of the warrior group. I did join a cavecraftsman group. I wanted to be a rock carver like my friend Pfftul.” He paused and thought about the other term. “Insane,” he said. “I like calm, but I have, at times, lost my temper. Most recently it was at the gods or spirits that rule this cave. Is anger the same as insane?”

“No, not the same at all,” said Thoka. “Anger is just a heightened state of frustration, but crazy or insane is… like one cavelady in my village. She would wake up every morning, run to the pond, and lay down on her belly and talk to her reflection for at least a couple of hours. She called that her cavesister.” Thoka paused to consider. “Insane is an unexplained reason for acting very abnormal.”

Kpleeb nodded. “I understand. I do not think that I am insane.”

Thoka finally let the tip of her spear sink. “Thank you. Do you want to see my cave?”

In all of the hubbub, Kpleeb had not noticed the gap in the wall. “Your cave? I thought maybe the gods finally just sent someone to keep me company. Where is it?”

“Maybe they did arrange our meeting, but my cave is over there,” she said pointing. “It looks a lot like yours, and it is just through the wall.”

He turned. “I do want to see your cave, but I need to urinate first!” He jogged over to the defecation pit and lifted his loincloth and quickly relieved himself.

Thoka waited by the gap, and then stepped in first when Kpleeb came back.

“It is much the same,” said Kpleeb when he saw it. He paced the room for a moment or two while looking at the sleeping hollow, various outcroppings, and tools that Thoka had made. He made a point of stepping precisely and counting. “Eight-and-two. That is the same length.”

“I believe that these two caves are just two of many,” Thoka said, “but, that is a talk for another time. “Are you hungry or thirsty?” She walked to a section of the wall and made a day mark. “What did you plan to accomplish today?”

Kpleeb did not know what to think of this cavewoman. [She is very intelligent.] Her hair was thick and very pale. Moreover, it appeared to be very clean. He patted at the side of his matted hair self-consciously. She wore a loincloth of her own as well as a tattered neckpiece that covered most of her chest. He always thought that he had a way with cavewomen, but in this situation, he felt entirely out of his element.

“Well?” she said, waiting for an answer.

Kpleeb came to with a start and felt his cheeks flush. “Sorry, I have not seen anyone, much less a cavewoman in…”

“I know, me too,” she said. “It has been fifty-three days for me, maybe as many as fifty-five.”

Kpleeb’s face was blank.

“Oh,” she said with a smile, “six-and-five in your way. I will begin to teach you my numbers tomorrow.”

“I did not have any forethought for today.”

“Each day when the sun-brightens the cave, what do you do?”

Kpleeb thought about the past handful of sun-cycles. “I looked for the limits of the cave walls and a way through the gray stone. I tried to hide from the gods by making a small cave… but what if they are spirits? They speak into the middle of my cave at will.” He shrugged. “I made sticks to eat worms with, and a spear. I made a shiny part of the cave wall to see inside the defecation pit.”

“You saw the green stuff?”

“Yes. It eats whatever is put inside.”

Thoka walked to the food outcropping. “Savory worms.” In a few moments the worms had appeared. “Show me your eating sticks,” she said to Kpleeb.

He went into his cave and came back in a moment with his sticks. They were almost as thick as his fingers and about twice as long as his hand. With pride he dipped into the outcropping with one stick in each hand and awkwardly pinched three or four worms between the sticks. He ate with pride at his invention, and then worm goo dripped down his chin. [Way to impress the girl, Kpleeb!]

Thoka nodded and retrieved her own sticks from a shelf that rested above the food outcropping. Her sticks were more delicate and tapered slightly at both ends. She held both sticks in one hand, thrust the end into the pile of worms, swirled with her wrist, and pulled up a hefty mouthful. She licked a tiny amount of worm goo from her lips.

Kpleeb felt like an idiot.

Thoka did not seem to notice. “These worms are very good. I have never had any food like this before I came here.”

Kpleeb looked at her hands, and tried to hold his sticks in the same way she held hers. Thoka helped him without any sign that she was patronizing him, and though it was awkward, he was able to slowly eat his portion of the worms.

Thoka and Kpleeb talked for some time and shared some of their past with each other. It was the most pleasant time either of them had experienced since they were brought to the caves.

[I asked for a cave-friend,] Kpleeb thought. [Maybe the gods listened.]