The Caveman
Copyright© 2016 by Colin Barrett
Chapter 3
I awaken very cold. There is someone rubbing the cold on my face, I do not know who. I think it is a woman. Hazily I wonder how a woman? There are no women on the hunt.
Then I remember being struck by aurochs, and being thrown to the ground so hard that I lose consciousness. Have I been unconscious so long that Siefert and the others have brought me back to our dwellings? But then why am I not inside when it is cold?
I cannot think right. The woman says something I do not understand and motions with her hands. She wants me to stand. She is right, I must rise to go from this cold. I start to do so, but my right side is hurt, I feel the broken ribs where aurochs took me. Carefully I use only my left arm to push myself up.
The woman helps, but she is not strong. Is this a child? Even with her weakness the help is enough, and I finally stand to my feet. I am still very cold, and now I begin to shiver. It hurts when I shiver, and I will myself to stop.
No, this woman is not a child, she stands near so tall as I. She is thin, though, and has not strength. I must do most alone. But I let her lead me.
We come to a steep slope. It is too steep for me as I am now, I stop. But she urges me on, lifting her feet, and I see there are like stepping stones before me. I begin to climb the stepping stones with her. After I climb two or three I feel very weak and sick, but she urges me on and I gather such strength as is in me and continue. We come to the end of the stepping stones at a place that is again level.
Where am I? I turn to look and see a sight that I cannot believe.
It is snow! All around is snow, deep snow. Yet there was no snow when we hunted aurochs, it was beyond summer but still not to snow. This cannot be right. I turn my head to look around, but there is snow in all directions.
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