But Ayak was doubled over in pain. It took him several moments to regain his composure and breath. His chest was bleeding from claw marks. He rubbed sand softly over the wounds, hoping the dust would help to stop the flow of blood.
Then he hobbled towards the trees. Meanwhile, a pack of hyenas had gathered around the fallen cat. They began scavenging the carcass.
The injured hominid made it to the little hill. He chose the largest thorn tree for his shelter for the night. He clambered about three quarters up until he found a suitable, secure branch. The bleeding gradually stopped. His heart rate slowed.
As he drifted in and out of sleep, he sometimes heard the hyenas feasting greedily. His body was bruised and cut and he was unable to sleep deeply. He awoke when it was still early. The pack of hyenas had deserted the carcass of the slain sabre-tooth cat.
Ayak decided to rip out one of the sabre-tooth cat’s distinctive long fangs. He walked over to the beast. Its slender, streamlined head was still intact but there was very little left of the rest of his body other than the skeleton. He prised open its mouth. Then he took his handaxe out of the pouch and began cracking the teeth, holding the head with his free hand. He was able to break off one of its prominent pointed teeth. Then he wiped it.
He picked up the horn he’d used to stab the cat but it had snapped and was now too short. He replaced it with the sabre tooth as his new weapon.
Once again, he decided to walk in the opposite direction to where the Sun was travelling above the horizon. At first, he had to force his aching, injured body to move. He could feel his whole body heating up, the energy of the golden orb flooding the plains.
That day, the blue of the sky was brilliant in hue. It was a dome of shimmering light. Soon, he was wet with sweat. But he had growing confidence and self-belief. He’d escaped from the dark cave. He’d killed a sabre-tooth cat. He could find a direction, using the Sun as his guide. He thought to himself: I am a man now. I am equal to my father. In such a positive frame of mind, he even forgot about his wounds, bruises and aches.
He became more convinced than ever that he would one day be reunited with his parents. Hadn’t his spirit once soared as high as the Sun itself?
A few hours later, Ayak began to smell in the air a faint residue of the aftermath of fire, that scent of ash blown to him by the wind. Within minutes, he came upon a desolate landscape, charred and empty, broken only by blackened tree stumps stripped of leaves and life, a ghostly, grey world.
The stench of burnt bush was pungent. He knelt down and felt the ground with his hands and he could see some small patches of green pushing up through cracks and tiny air pockets. Under the black and grey was a hidden layer of green.
Following a long walk, Ayak arrived at the river, having left behind the barren landscape. His spirits were lifted by the sweet sounds of running water caressing the stones and rocks in the river.
The animals which were there – a team of equids and a herd of elephants – ignored him. All the creatures were immersed in their evening ritual of drinking. He couldn’t see any crocodiles.
It was not yet dusk. He knelt down and drank from the stream. Then he dunked his head into the water. After that, he washed the rest of his body.
Revived, Ayak observed the animals. Then he waded across the river. Once on the other side, it was like being back where he belonged. The savannah was warm in the twilight. Insects were a-buzz with their pent-up energies. A family of guinea fowl, looking for food with their brood of chicks, hooted and clucked contentedly as they pecked the ground for worms or morsels to eat.
Ahead of him, he noticed two acacia trees and some mint bushes. He walked over and took some fresh mint leaves in one hand and crushed them in his palm with his thumb. Then he inhaled the sweet scent. He raised them to his lips and popped them into his mouth. It was delicious chewing them.
Ayak scaled one of the acacia trees. He found a large branch to camp in for the night. He lay down, clinging to the branch with one arm. His body ached with fatigue, his mind teamed with thoughts and memories. Home was near…yet still so far. It was somewhere around these parts, he just didn’t know where.
CHAPTER SEVEN
TOR AND KYRA were in good spirits as they trekked across the savannah. It was another peaceful summer’s day. They passed a troop of chimpanzees which were ant-fishing at a giant red mound.
Later they reached the river that ran alongside Tor’s old hunting ground so they followed its course for some time. They immersed themselves in the water to freshen up.
They journeyed all day and began to get very hungry and thirsty. They hadn’t caught anything. Tor dug down beneath the soil for water, using his spear as an implement to break open the ground. While working in the soil, he found one thick worm which the couple ate.
Later, Kyra noticed a few small, brown, curved pods lying on the ground under a large tree. She picked up one of them. When she rattled it next to her ear, she realised it contained some seeds. She broke the pod open. It was soft inside the hard casing. It smelt good. Around each seed, arranged in rows, was a gooey substance that tasted sweet. She closed her eyes as she savoured the luxury of pure, natural sweetness of this highly edible pulp. This was something she could get used to! It would provide her with a burst of life-giving energy. She ate a few pods.
From time to time, she was almost bent over double from some sharp pangs which shot through her body from her womb. She spent some time resting.
They sat on a hilltop and looked out over the plains and valleys. Tor lay down and looked up at the sky, just wanting to day-dream. It was a deep blue and was wide open. As he lay, he watched some birds, both great and small, flying in patterns, envying their ease of flight and movement. How did they fly with only the air to carry them? If only he could open his arms and be lifted up to fly like the birds of the sky! Then he could look down and see his son and know where he was.
After a time of reverie, the ape-people resumed their journey. Tor could see some places he recognised from his old hunting grounds. At one point, some tree-dwelling great apes passed him walking on their knuckles.
Later, they passed through some woodland with its welcome shade. There were some Baobabs he’d seen before, their smooth bark reflecting in the sunlight. There were some groups of hominids living in the giant trees. They offered him sun-dried Baobab seeds. It was believed these seeds gave the power from the big trees into those who ate them.
Although hospitable, this particular tribe were heavily armed. This didn’t surprise the visitor, as such trees were a highly prized resource in the savannah, providing tree homes, seeds, flowers, fruit and fibres from the bark which could be used for mats to lie on and even rope for tying things. These Baobab hominids had even appointed lookouts to patrol the area.
After they’d recuperated there, they resumed their walk back out on the plains where the Sun beat down on them.
After some hours, Ayak came across another community of hominids he didn’t recognise. They were camped among some acacias. They were not as welcoming as the hunters had been. Not that they were suspicious. But he was a stranger to them.