Level 3 (Caveman Chronicles)

The Index -|-

Kpleeb woke every day with a new sense of excitement. For the most part he forgot about the gods and his anger toward them. His days passed quickly, and he noticed that he was distracted much of the time. Thoka was always on his mind. He found himself pacing the cave as he tried to think of new and more clever devices to build. Each time he passed the gap in the cave, he would stop and look at her.

She does not seem to be distracted at all. She is so focused… I cannot even understand what she is doing. Yet, she is beautiful. His mind was torn between the curves of her body, the sharpness of her mind, and his own seemingly insatiable drive to build something that would crack the cave wide open.

Despite all of his mind-flutter, he did achieve new heights of understanding, and was eager to show Thoka one of his ideas.

He cleared his throat and approached slowly through the gap between the caves. Thoka did not look up. Her hands still moved slowly in circles around a bowl that she held between her crossed legs. Her pale hair lay gently across her shoulders and fell all the way to the middle of her back.

“Urh, Thoka?” Kpleeb crossed his legs and sat in front of her. He looked at her face and was surprised at the confusion that was written there. “What is wrong?” he said laying a hand on her arm. She finally acknowledged him, and in raising her eyes, he saw that they were puffy and rimmed in red.

She did not respond.

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

Thoka finally answered, slowly and in a thick voice as if her lips were too large and her throat was clogged by mucus. “They did it again.”

“Did what? Who did what? You mean… the gods?”

Thoka raised her hand, gently pulled back her hair, and turned her head so that he could see the large, red welt that adorned the back of her neck.

“Oh, I see,” he said quietly. He moved to looked more closely. “It looks the same as the last one. Does it feel differently?” He gently caressed her soft neck in a circle around the bump, and when he pulled his fingers away their tips were covered with a sheen of clear goo. He moved his hand into her line of sight and tapped his fingertips together. The slightly tacky goo glistened.

Thoka bowed her head and began to sob silently.

There was nothing that Kpleeb could think to say, so he did what felt the most natural. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed gently. His nose was tickled by a strand of her hair as he knelt patiently next to her and let her cry.

After some time – not too long, but enough for Kpleeb’s mind to focus on the way she smelled and how softness of her skin – Thoka spoke.

“Will it ever end?” Her voice was rough. She cleared her throat the then spit a large wad of mucus out in an impressive arc.

Kpleeb did not release her.

“I see patterns, Kpleeb,” she said. “This time, they have awakened something new in my mind.” She shook her head slightly and then shrugged in apparent helplessness.

Kpleeb, not wanting to push his luck, began to let go of her.

“No, don’t let go.” Thoka brought her hands up to rest on his right arm as it crossed under her chin.

As Thoka rubbed his arm lightly, Kpleeb felt goosebumps rise on his skin. He froze and waited, hopeful that it would not end. But Thoka shifted gears and jolted him out of his reverie.

“We must continue to learn everything we can. We will escape from this place, and there will be an opportunity to use what we learn here.” She turned in his arms and he let go and rocked back onto his heels. “Don’t you see, Kpleeb? We are their special creation.”

Kpleeb did not understand. “Then you believe they truly are gods…. Like the great spirit tahr?”

“Maybe, but if they make us in their image… does it really matter what form they take?” Thoka shifted onto her knees and leaned toward him.

Kpleeb’s mind swam with the ideas she spoke about, but when she swayed, he was distracted by the way her topcloth swung and settled against her skin. Flustered, he felt his face heating up and stood abruptly. He turned and walked toward the cave wall. When he turned, Thoka was standing and watching him.

“Come, look at this,” she said. She took the bowl full of water that she had been holding and set it on the table. She then picked up an odd-looking stone rod the size of her finger. A handful of infinitesimally small stone threads protruded from the end in a complex shape.

“How did you get the threads so small?”

“Wait,” she said impatiently shushing him. “Watch the water.” She moved her hand around the bowl holding the rod. Nothing happened.

Kpleeb started to speak, but Thoka held up a finger. She picked up another rod that had a completely different shape and held it on the opposite side of the bowl from the first rod. The water moved.

“You see?”

“You blew on the water, and it moved. So what?”

Thoka rolled her eyes. “Okay, watch again, but stand here on the other side of the table so that you can see. She moved moved the rod into place again and the water rippled.

Kpleeb looked at Thoka’s face and she had her mouth closed. The water continued rippling. Wha….? “Wow,” he said, “what is that?”

“I do not know, really.” Thoka moved the rods into various positions and the water ripples followed her motions in a number of different ways. “There is a force that we cannot see, and it moves the water. I think that I am moving the force… or at least manipulating it.” Thoka’s eyes were still rimmed in red, and her voice was still rough, but she was clearly excited.

“I don’t understand. I mean- I understand what you are saying, but I don’t understand how that can be. Is it magic?”

Thoka smiled at Kpleeb. “I don’t think it is magic. We will both understand, I am sure of it. You just have to be patient.”

There was not much that Kpleeb could do. Either he would understand or he would not. He did feel slightly jealous that Thoka was so smart and knew so much. “Okay, I believe you. When?”

“That is up to the gods.” She smiled widely and circled the small, stone table to stand next to him. Her head came just past the height of his hairy shoulder. She reached her hand out and rest her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “This is useful to us. I promise.”

Thoka turned away and gestured at the room. “This cave is made of stone. This stone understands our words. It moves as we command and takes shape to fill our needs. It is filled with hidden forces that communicate and act on the world. This cave is alive, Kpleeb! It is all a gift from the gods, and I must study it!”

Kpleeb was a bit taken back by the fervor in her voice, but deep inside he felt that she was correct. “If there is anyone who can figure this out, it is you, Thoka. Let me think about all of this.” He turned to walk back to his cave.

“Hey Kpleeb.”

“Yes?” Kpleeb turned.

“It is we, Kpleeb, who will figure this out. It is us, together. You are my partner here. Don’t forget that.” She flashed him a beaming smile and turned toward her food outcropping.

Kpleeb did not know what to make of this new and more friendly Thoka, but he liked the attention. He sauntered back to his cave a picked up the small device that he had been working on.

“Take a look at this,” he said as he walked back to Thoka’s outcropping. He placed the device adjacent to the waterfall that tinkled at floor level.

Thoka turned and clapped with glee as soon as she saw the moving wheel. “Oh Kpleeb, it’s genius!” She skipped around the outcropping and gave him a quick side-hug before kneeling to examine his machine.

Thoka’s waterfall trickled out of her outcropping an struck the device on its wheeled edge. The force of the water, though small, made the wheel turn continuously. A small two-dimensional rabbit shaped stone was attached to the support structure near the center of the wheel, and the wheel’s turning shaft had a rabbit tail. The tail turned and twitched when the wheel spun.

“It is useless, but I thought that you would like it,” Kpleeb said. He was still shocked by the unexpected hug.

“It is nice. I like it.” Thoka put her finger on the spot where the water exited the outcropping. “Bigger gap here,” she said.

The water stream increased and the rabbit tail moved faster.

“I am building a larger version for drilling the grey stone.” Kpleeb knelt beside Thoka. “The center shaft will be very long, and much thicker. I will press it against the grey stone and let it turn for days to make a hole there. Do you think it will work?”

“Maybe,” Thoka shrugged. “We can only know by trying it. You keep improving this, and I will increase my knowledge of the hidden forces. Together, we will learn much.” She paused, and looked him in the eye. “Can you make a special dinner for me tonight? Anything but muskrat leg.”

Kpleeb was shocked. “Urg, yes…? What do you want?”

“Anything, but muskrat leg. I will take a nap and clear the brain fog, but I feel that this is an auspicious day, and we should celebrate.” Thoka stood again and put a hand on Kpleeb’s shoulder.

“Okay, I will think of something,” Kpleeb said. He bravely patted Thoka’s shoulder and smiled widely when she did not reject his touch. “Time for your nap, I will work.”

With the gap between the caves closed behind him and Thoka napping, Kpleeb took a moment to let the whole morning sink in.

The gods changed her again. Every time I think she is the most intelligent caveperson ever, she becomes even smarter. Maybe there is hope for escape after all. He remembered how it felt to hold her, and grinned to himself. She is so smart and smells nice. I have to impress her with dinner. Maybe I can make something amazing that mam gave me. He pictured muskrat leg and dinga root. No, that is my favorite, and I already tried that. This has to be about her.

Kpleeb spent the better part of the day working on his larger drilling device and thinking about dinner with Thoka. In his mind, nothing would surpass the excitement and satisfaction that he felt at that moment.