The things, the plants, they stopped moving right at the center of a circular assembly of tall rocks. There was a flat rock in the center of the others and they set her on top of it. They hissed and gurgled, as a means of communicating with each other, but the hunter could not tell what they were saying, because it was a foreign tongue. Instantly, one of them brought out a sharp object with one of its branches from a bag hanging on a small outgrowth near its root and slit the woman’s belly open, pulling out the baby that was in it. With another swipe of the sharp object, it cut the string that connected the baby with its mother and pulled it away almost pushing her off the platform in the vigor.
The hunter flinched.
The hunter flinched.
There were only two of the things, and the hunter knew he could not kill them both and get away easily. Luckily, one of them went away, leaving the other with the baby and the mother. Just as it was reaching behind the rock adjacent from him, the hunter crawled gently, stopped behind one of the rocks closest to the other creature with the mother and child, and jumped in at it holding a stone tied to a stick, hitting the creature hard on its head. With a loud klonk, it fell sideways and rolled away, struggling to catch its balance and screeching, probably for help. It was the first time he had heard one of the creatures make such a sound. It was a disturbing sound, like two smooth stones rubbed hard against each other, and when he heard it, he had to block his ears for a moment before recovering from the sound.
The hunter, ignoring the blood that would soil him, took the woman and hung her as gently as he could on one of his shoulders, and he took the baby in the other arm and began to push away from the strange place with all the weight on him, ignoring the screech from the other creature pursuing him from a long distance away. He came through to the other side of the path where his village lay in ruins, and he kept the woman down and the baby beside her, then he pulled out a small bag with a thick liquid in it. Remembering the words he was taught by his father, he recited, dropping the liquid between the two sides of the path. He was filled with wonder as there was a deep rumble in the sky and a light emerged from the dark side of the path, and it disappeared and turned into the chasm that was once there.
The screeching faded away with it.
A boy, about 14 years of age had followed the hunter from that path into the village, seeing that the woman he was carrying on his shoulder was his mother. The boy followed, wiping the tears off his eyes, knowing that his mother was alright, but when the hunter had come out of the forest, where the people had welcomed him, he gently lowered and dropped the woman on the ground and when he looked in her eyes, there was no longer life in them. She was dead.
"Nyana." A little girl, about 8 years of age, called 'hello' to the boy in Gatu, their native language.
He sniffed mucus dripping from his nostrils and looked at her.
"Si’ip, ouu mei zimga?" which means “Why, you are crying?" Native Gatu language was expressed in a different manner from the way it is in these days; "Why are you crying?" is how the people would translate it today.
“Mama yii pi ga." He answered, his voice distorting in between sobs at his pronunciation of 'Mama yii', which means 'my mother'. "My mother be dead."
He added, "San pi yoba", which means "That be her". He pointed at the woman lying lifeless on the ground as people, their faces covered in sweat, dirt or blood gathered to take her and bury her.
The little girl shifted closer to the boy and held his hand. She was trembling. "Si'ep, ouuda mal pi?" "What your name be?" She asked.
He sniffed and let go of her hand, a little irritated that the girl he had just met seemed to care less about the death of his mother. He spat and continued in Gatu,
"Rotyuk is my name". And he sniffed again, his mind still on his mother. He realized that the child that the hunter was holding must have been his mother’s new baby, because the bulge in her stomach had gone.
More people, many injured, had gathered where the hunter had dropped the woman he had brought from the mysterious place beyond the path. The little boy and girl faded into the crowd. The people began to hail the hunter. One of them in particular knew the details that led to the celebration.
To be continued
A boy, about 14 years of age had followed the hunter from that path into the village, seeing that the woman he was carrying on his shoulder was his mother. The boy followed, wiping the tears off his eyes, knowing that his mother was alright, but when the hunter had come out of the forest, where the people had welcomed him, he gently lowered and dropped the woman on the ground and when he looked in her eyes, there was no longer life in them. She was dead.
"Nyana." A little girl, about 8 years of age, called 'hello' to the boy in Gatu, their native language.
He sniffed mucus dripping from his nostrils and looked at her.
"Si’ip, ouu mei zimga?" which means “Why, you are crying?" Native Gatu language was expressed in a different manner from the way it is in these days; "Why are you crying?" is how the people would translate it today.
“Mama yii pi ga." He answered, his voice distorting in between sobs at his pronunciation of 'Mama yii', which means 'my mother'. "My mother be dead."
He added, "San pi yoba", which means "That be her". He pointed at the woman lying lifeless on the ground as people, their faces covered in sweat, dirt or blood gathered to take her and bury her.
The little girl shifted closer to the boy and held his hand. She was trembling. "Si'ep, ouuda mal pi?" "What your name be?" She asked.
He sniffed and let go of her hand, a little irritated that the girl he had just met seemed to care less about the death of his mother. He spat and continued in Gatu,
"Rotyuk is my name". And he sniffed again, his mind still on his mother. He realized that the child that the hunter was holding must have been his mother’s new baby, because the bulge in her stomach had gone.
More people, many injured, had gathered where the hunter had dropped the woman he had brought from the mysterious place beyond the path. The little boy and girl faded into the crowd. The people began to hail the hunter. One of them in particular knew the details that led to the celebration.
To be continued
- Telsum Bini
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