The Index -|-

The air shimmered on the ridge above her as Thoka climbed. Each step brought a steeper incline and after a few moments she began to use her hands to gain traction. The ground was covered with a grey moss that clung stubbornly to the dirt, but soon she snatched away a clump. Breathing deeply, she paused and watched the clump roll down the hill until it disappeared into the fog. The fog rested uneasily just a few paces below her and obscured the depth of the valley.

Thoka felt that she had been here in the past. Perhaps it was when her ma had taken her up to the peak when she was a teen. The ground seemed the same to her, but the scent was different. Where the moss had ripped away, the dirt was slick and littered with small, red-tinted stones. Foot slip. Her knee hit the ground and rolled to the right. A rock there bit into her skin and she yelped involuntarily.

She rolled further and tumbled. Her body bounced into the fog, and the breath was smashed out of her lungs by the following impact. Her vision blinked and darkness took over from the edges of her eyesight. There was another blow, and the lights went out momentarily. There was a faint sting in her belly as she landed, and she instinctively wrapped her mid-section with her arms.

Thoka opened her eyes. The sun was brighter than usual for it to be her regular time to wake. Her right eye was clouded with mucus, and she blinked to wash it away.

What a strange dream.

Kpleeb’s chest rose and fell just barely, and she could tell that he was still asleep. Thoka rested for a few moments and enjoyed the warmth emanating from his body before rolling over. She never slept in, even when it seemed like the best option. Even back home, in the wet mountains on snowy mornings she would rise when she awoke. Frosty and blizzard-y weather was exhilarating and made her skin tingle.

Of course here, in the cave, she did not need to bundle in her yakskin robe on a cold morning as she had in the wet mountains. She still felt chilly waking up but understood that this was merely the difference in temperature and that she would be used to it in moments. The cave was artificial and different enough in small ways, that she had almost always had a gut feeling that there were hidden secrets and stealthy hands that operated at an unseen and unknowable level. This train of thought unnerved her still, but she had made up her mind long ago to be strong and to escape.

While Thoka relieved herself, she thoughtfully rubbed her growing belly. Her mind was focused on the new day as well as the potential discoveries she might make, but she converged instantly into a heightened sense of concern when she felt the bump.

She bent down and looked closed. The red bump was the size of her fingertip and was located just below and to the right of her belly button.

“What?!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs. Anger and fear pummeled her in equal measures, and she rose. As she approached the gap between the caves, she saw Kpleeb standing.

His face wore a bewildered expression, and his shaggy mane was rumpled from where he had slept on it. “What’s wrong, Thoka?” he asked.

“Look at this!” Thoka pointed at the bump and showed him the finger that she had used to touch it. The finger was covered in a thin layer of clear goo. “They have now touched our child!” Her eyes began welling up with tears.

“AAAhhh!” Kpleeb yelled at the top of his lungs and launched his fists into the air. “You- gods! You damned gods!” He thrashed his shoulders violently and shook with a tremendous wrath. For a moment as he breathed in to scream again he heard Thoka’s sobbing and caught himself. Ashamed, he turned and rushed to her side. He enfolded her in his arms and quietly held her.

“I’m sorry for my outburst,” he murmured into her hair. He unballed his fists slowly before gently caressing the skin on her back. “These… cursed gods. Is nothing safe from them?” He shrugged and fell silent. Her hair smells fresh.

“What can we possibly do?” Thoka muttered bitterly as her sobs subsided. “They come in the night. We can’t see them. We can’t face them. We can’t see the sky or feel the rain. The sun is false!” She slumped against Kpleeb’s body and became silent.

What can I do to protect Thoka and our child? Kpleeb felt the need to plead with the cave or the sky which he could not see. Underneath his desperation a thick channel of anger simmered and scalded at the edges of his consciousness.

Thoka and I have become slaves. We are just toys for the gods to play with.

Thoka slowly walked to the food outcropping and drank. “This water is not cold enough,” she snapped at the cave. “Can’t you be bothered to at least provide decent water to us?” Expecting and receiving no response, she returned to the sleeping hollow and laid down.

Kpleeb watched her lay down. I should probably leave her alone. He walked through the gap into the other cave that was now the work-cave. He stood in the center and looked around him. The food outcropping was there and a long, thick rod he had been building leaned up against it. There were several pock-marks and a few holes in the walls from when he had dug to find the sub-structure. On the far wall was the defecation pit and another few paces from that rested his rotational device with its wedge-tip resting near the exposed gray-stone wall.

All that I’ve done to learn. All that I’ve done to escape this pit of the damned. Nothing has made any difference. What is the point?

“Cave, close the gap.”

As the gap was enclosed in a layer of the yellowish stone, Kpleeb picked up the long rod and felt its heft in his hand. He swung it in an arc as the fires of his fury peaked and raged inside him. The rod smashed into the upper edge of his rotational device where one of the bracing arms protruded from the base. The brace cracked and the rod snapped in half.

Kpleeb flinched as he was showered with shards of stone. Some of them peppered his face and torso.

He pointed with his knuckle at the floor next to him. “Cave! Give me a rod as thick as my arm and as tall as my body!”

Kpleeb flung the end of the broken rod at his device and impatiently turned to watch while the new rod grew. In a few seconds he grasped the top end and kicked the bottom end free from the floor. He began to swing the rod over and over. It crushed the braces, the swing arm that held the rotating rod, and the levers. When he was done, Kpleeb stood panting over a small pile of rubble. His arms burned from the unusual effort, and he felt better.

He kicked one of the chunks of stone and then turned to leave.

“Cave, open the gap”

He took a quick drink while the wall transformed and then stretched and walked through. Thoka was hunched over her small table and her shoulders and upper-arms were moving slightly. Kpleeb walked and knelt behind her.

“Are you okay?”

Thoka nodded. “I’m fine, just – frustrated. I feel helpless.” She twisted and looked up at Kpleeb. “What happened?” She touched his face, and her finger came away red.. “Where did this blood come from?”

His eyes slid to her hand and then back to her face. He shrugged sheepishly. “Urh… well I got mad.”

“You, mad?” Thoka smiled.

“You should see the other guy,” said Kpleeb with a relieved smile. “Urh, but I did sort of trash my rotational device.”

“Kpleeb! you put so much time into it. Did you at least save my rods?”

“No, I– I didn’t think about it.” His face fell. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, I can make others.” She reached to pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about this. We have each other and we are smart enough to find a solution.”

Kpleeb shook his head. “Do you really believe that?”

“Do I want them touching us or our child? No way! But we can’t stop that. We also shouldn’t stop trying to live our lives. We are smarter now, and it would be poetic to turn that against them.”

Kpleeb nodded slowly. “I feel a bit ashamed for my anger. I’m not trying to give up you know… it’s just— I feel trapped. This is entirely unjust.”

“It is, and we should fight it. But we are trapped and enslaved. Let that be fuel for our fires.” Thoka smiled at Kpleeb. “Your passion is good. Keep it and use it. Unless they wipe our memory, we will fight back and make them regret this.”

Kpleeb nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you for reminding me. I know that I am the only caveman here, and your choices are limited, but you are truly the queen of the cavemen, and I love you.” He stood.

“I could not hope for a better mate, Kpleeb. Be strong, and be yourself.” Thoka adjusted the stone bracelet on her ankle. “We will escape, I just don’t know how yet.”

The Index -|-

Kpleeb used his hand to add momentum and then watched closely as his rotational device spun. The large arm that was designed to press it against the wall was not engaged, so it revolved freely.

The tip of the device was a rounded and ridged wedge. It looked sharp because it was sharp. As sharp as Kpleeb could make it. He had been refining his manufacturing processes for months and had become quite adept at shaping the stone that lined every surface of the cave. When the tip of his device rotated, the small end pushed against the surface and the ridges bit into the stone, and shaved away bits of stone in order to form a hole.

He thought that the more pressure applied to the tip, the stronger the bite would be. This appeared to be a true statement when he had tested it against the standard, mottled cave stone. Of course, this stone would simply open a hole if he requested it, but drilling the hole proved that his idea was sound. Despite a number of devices built to test these theories, the smooth, grey stone beneath the cave surface resisted all of his attempts to penetrate it.

Months ago, when he had used his hammer device, and he had seen a resulting mar on the surface. It was much too small to qualify as a crack. It was tiny, but it was still there; proof that the grey stone could be harmed. Whenever he felt like giving up, this small fracture convinced him to continue his quest for escape.

Around the circumference of the of the wedge-tip there were three mounts set at equal distances. These mounts each held one of Thoka’s rods. There was also a much larger Thoka-rod (T-rod as he called it) mounted to the lever-arm that held the tip. Kpleeb did not understand how they functioned even though she had tried to explain several times, but he did trust that the rods would do as she said.

“These rods on the circumference will strengthen the wedge-tip,” she had told him. “That is necessary because the stone wedge that the tip is made of is not as strong as the grey stone that we are trying to penetrate. It needs bolstering. And the larger rod simply uses the invisible forces to draw the grey stone to itself, which continually pushes the wedge against the grey stone.”

Kpleeb could not see the effects that the rods had, but the fact that one of them had bent… well that was something new. [It should have broken. I am glad that she is going to figure that out.] He paused and smiled to himself. [Thoka accepts me, which is great. She’s so smart and super beautiful.]

[Focus, Kpleeb…. Focus.]

He rotated the small gate that allowed the water to flow down the sluice. The wheel began to move and picked up speed. He had placed tiny, smooth cylinders around the edges of the rotating pieces to reduce friction and was proud that it made almost no noise. The wheel did not wobble or shake, but the T-rods were not yet mounted. When Thoka was done fixing the bent rod he would have to re-balance the whole device again.

Kpleeb bent down and looked closely at the grey stone wall where the wedge-bit had touched. The surface looked rough, but when he wiped the area, a dust came away from the wall and coated his hand. The grey stone was smooth and shiny underneath.

[We will figure this out.] He straightened and cracked his back before turning to the gap between the caves.

“Thoka, is everything alright?” He took two steps into Thoka’s cave – he still thought of it as hers – and saw her look up as he spoke.

“Yes, Kpleeb. You don’t need to worry so much.” She looked up at the dimming sun. “I remade the bent rod with my new formula. Maybe it will hold this time. Do you want to eat? I’m hungry.”

“Eating for two as my mam used to say,” said Kpleeb with a smile.

“Mmmm. I want sweetbread. Could you get some?” Thoka stood and began walking. “I’ll be right back.”

“Cave,” said Kpleeb, “make sweetbread, toasted and warm the way she likes it. And make me a muskrat leg, medium-rare.” He sat down and watched as the food was slowly knit together on the surface of the food outcropping.

“The baby feels fine,” said Thoka as she returned. “I have felt some small fluttering movements and no pain.”

“How are your dreams?”

“Vivid. I can’t be sure that it is part of being pregnant. The female body produces many hormones while pregnant. I was the mid-wife’s assistant for one summer.” She shrugged and sat next to Kpleeb.

Kpleeb put his arm affectionately around Thoka’s waist and continued to watch the food. “I am glad that the child is okay. Can you tell what kind it is?”

“You mean, the sex?” Thoka grinned at Kpleeb. “I can’t tell, although the mid-wife said that morning sickness early on means it’s a girl. If I crave sweets, it might be a girl.” She nodded at the sweetbread. “But the signals are ever changing and easy to mix up.”

“Hmm, well how do we figure out what to call her… uh, him, it then? We’ll need to talk about names.”

Thoka grabbed the prepared sweetbread and took a bite. “Mmm, that’s good.”

“I always liked ‘Kolpi’.”

Thoka wrinkled her nose in apparent distain. “I had a pet reindeer named Kolpu. What was your mam’s name?”

Kpleeb shrugged.

“You don’t know?”

“She never told me. It was just mam!”

“Well, what did other people call her?”

“Everyone called her mam, even the fab elder Shoofit.” Kpleeb looked slightly embarrassed. He reached over and picked up the muskrat leg. It was dripping fat from the wound side. He peeled back the skin with hair still on it and took a ripping bite.

“Hmm, well maybe that was her actual name. Right?”

“Maybe,” he said through his mouthful of meat. He chewed methodically and pondered the question. [Mam’s name was ‘Mam?’ I doubt it. Seems too… weird. What was Da’s name? Ahh, I remember. Tilu.] He nodded to himself. [Elder Oplom used to call him that when they drank fermented yak’s milk together.]

Thoka had fallen silent while she ate in earnest. After a few moments, she leaned to bump Kpleeb with her shoulder. “We have to think about names for a cavegirl and caveboy and then talk about them. It will take some time to settle on one.”

Kpleeb nodded.

Later as he slipped into the sleeping hollow next to Thoka, she stirred slightly. Kpleeb patted her arm gently and settled in to enjoy the warmth of her body. [Gipti, Doriy, Wiftl…] he sighed. [Choosing a name is going to be hard.] He was asleep in a few short moments.

He was jostled, slightly. When his eyes opened the cave was almost completely dark. There was a faint hissing sound as if wind whistled across a distant crack in the stone. A shadow, long and low, flitted across the inky darkness before him.

[Huh?] He began to move his hand upward to wipe his eyes, but his limb would not move. His eyelids became weighted with unseen persuasion, and though he fought to retain a grasp on consciousness, his thoughts faded.

“I can’t believe you don’t even know my name, Leebee.” The voice was muffled at first, but became clear before she spoke his name. Mam looked up from her weaving and smiled at him with the familiar, toothy smile. She set down the tamping stick and reached to stir the large, stone pot that boiled next to her.

Kpleeb shrugged and mumbled, “Sorry, mam.” He was irritated and shuffled his feet in the dirt. After a few moments he had waited long enough.

“Well, what is your name?” He looked up at his mam and grimaced. “And, please stop calling me Leebee. I’m not a baby any longer.”

Mam rolled her eyes and continued packing the reeds with her stick. “Your da would twist your ear for forgetting, Leebee.”

“I don’t think I forgot! I never knew!” Kpleeb threw up his hands.

“Why do you want to know? All cavechildren have a mam. Why should you call me anything else? You can never be too old. Even now, you are still my budding caveboy.”

Kpleeb turned and walked to the entrance of the cave that looked out onto the common area. Just a stride’s length outside, a dull, impenetrable fog blanketed everything. It felt moist as he turned to face his mam again. “I am having a cavechild of my own.”

“I know you are.” Mam’s eyes shifted toward him, but her hands never stopped.

“How could you know?”

“I know much. Anyway, this child is as much a part of me as it is of you.”

Kpleeb felt a chill on his ankles and turned toward the cave entrance. The fog had entered the cave and was seeping inward at a slow pace. His heels became numb. He tried to back away, but his legs and stomach had already been enveloped. His lips tried to form a cry. His mind slumped.