He sat down to rest, eating some berries. While relaxing, some of the younger members of the tribe came over to check him out. Among them was an ape-girl, slightly smaller than him, who fascinated him. She was petite but had large, open eyes which seemed to possess a wisdom beyond her years.
It was the first time he’d ever felt that kind of attraction. She was equally interested in the visitor, hovering around him wherever he went. Her name was Uma.
After the intense isolation he’d experienced while being lost, Ayak enjoyed having a new friend of his age. For a time, he forget about his parents.
He was enchanted with his playmate. They went for walks. They played. They wrestled. They rubbed their noses and faces together as a sign of growing intimacy. The two youths had quickly become inseparable.
The community of hominids, though, didn’t trust the young stranger. As a settled group, they suspected he was an outcast, a migrant. Why was someone so young roaming the world on his own? Would he be a danger? At one point, they became highly animated, chattering and gesticulating among themselves. Some of the old males began to push him around, pulling him apart from Uma.
They forced Ayak out of their society. Uma watched her friend move away into the night. However, once out of sight, he stopped to think.
His first thought was that he was not going to leave Uma behind. They hardly knew each other, but they sensed they were made for each other. He wanted to take her with him. They seemed so perfect for each other.
Ayak decided that he would creep back to the camp to steal her. He sat down on a rock, waiting for the time to pass. When the night was at its quietest, he got up to go.
As he got closer, he began to widen out his path so that he could pass by the side of their camp and then access it from behind. When he passed the campsite, he noticed it was very still. At first glance, there didn’t appear to be anyone still awake. An insect, still awake in the warm night, called to an absent friend. Ayak crept closer. Someone in the community was snoring. Other than that, it was peaceful. Once he entered the area of the trees, he crept on all fours.
Uma wasn’t asleep, as she’d been crying. When she saw Ayak approaching through the trees, coming closer to where she was resting, her heart leapt with joy. Instantly, she was ready to go ahead and leave with him.
After checking to see if everyone around her was asleep, she slipped down the tree and made her way towards him. She assumed no one had noticed what was happening. But she was wrong. Her mother’s one eye was open and she’d followed the movements of her daughter. She decided to climb down to see what was going on.
Uma and Ayak held each other’s hands in greeting. Then he led her back the way he’d come. Her mother was not happy to see the couple reunited and she began making a commotion to wake up the rest of the tribe. The boy and girl began running away as fast as their legs could carry them. It took Uma’s family members some time to realise what was happening, so the eloping couple were a considerable distance away when the real chase began.
In the end, the youngsters had too much energy and motivation and the pursuing members of Uma’s family never got close enough to them to take aim with their spears. They had no choice but to give up the chase.
When the two friends realised they were no longer being followed, they stopped to rest, panting, taking in gulps of air. Within a short time, they’d curled up together and had fallen sleep.
Ayak and Uma awoke still clinging to each other. It was going to be a wind-free, blue-sky day.
The youngsters took it easy, just wanting to explore. Out on the savannah, animals of all kinds were grazing and looking for food.
It was in this happiest of frames of mind that Ayak saw the miracle. It was his father and mother walking towards them through the grasses. Uma was astonished to see her mate dart off towards the figures in the distance. She followed behind, anxious to find out what was going on.
Ayak ran with blind instinct. A powerful sense of relief pulsed through him. After a few moments, Tor and Kyra looked up to see the small, vigorous figure running towards him.
Then he, too, began running at full speed towards his son, while Kyra tried to go as fast as she could.
They caught up to each other and hugged each other, crying, gesticulating, grunting with glee.
Uma dashed up to the scene of the reunion. Tor and Kyra were was curious and glad to meet Uma. She seemed to be resilient and exuberant.
The next day, the four hominids were on the move again. The spell of fine weather continued, making it easier to walk. It was only at mid-day that it became too hot to be out in the open. So they rested in the shade of trees until the sunlight felt milder on their skins. Sometimes, they dozed off as flies and other insects fussed near them.
In the late afternoon, they met up with the river and refreshed themselves. They decided to camp out for the night in some trees set back from the waterside.
It was a full moon that night. The plains and the water were illuminated, causing additional activity from numerous creatures inspired by the soft dazzle of the light. A silvery light flickered over the edges of things, creating a twilight world of wonder. There was also increased nocturnal hunting going on. So the hominids were woken up from time to time by these noises. Tor, in particular, slept with one eye ajar in case they were approached.
In the morning, the landscape had changed. Clouds, pregnant with rain, flowed across the sky. It was a subdued atmosphere as a thunderstorm brewed. This change in the air affected the mood of the hominids. Their carefree confidence gave way to uncertainty. A big summer storm was building up.
Tor was looking out for a suitable place to hide as he could sense what was coming.
Next to some boulders and thorn trees at the bottom of a nearby hill was a small cavern under a narrow overhanging rock face. It was the best shelter they could find so they decided to stay there.
All the wild life on the plains had already fled the coming storm.
They were hungry, so Ayak and Uma went looking for rabbits and insects to eat. The youngsters caught a couple of mice and some locusts. It wasn’t a great supper but it was something to take away the gnawing sense of hunger which made them feel weak, even helpless.
It wasn’t long before the heavens began to rain with a power and a sheer abandon seldom ever witnessed by the hominids. The water came suddenly as if a river in the sky had flooded its banks. Such was its force that it washed everything under it, the dust, the rocks, the tree tops, the animals, the birds, the hominids. And it kept coming. In between the downpours, thunder clapped and lightening flashed. The river filled, streams arose from nowhere, everything was wet.
But the rock face could withstand the sustained barrage of rain. However, some of the rain drops bounced off the ground into the tiny cave, eventually forming a couple of pools.
Then it abated, calming down. They each took a deep breath. They went outside. The veld smelled fresh. You could also detect the distinct scent of heat as water evaporated rapidly from the hot ground. Animals returned to the plains. And birds could fly freely again.
Reassured, the hominids bedded down for an early night.
In the morning, they left their humble rock shelter, this time going in a direction towards the North Mountain. They had to find a new home soon. Their past life was over. And soon Kyra would give birth.
After the heavy rain, it was fresh and lively all around.
It was late in the afternoon when the family came across some ape-children playing a game on the outskirts of a wooded area. Seeing the children were friendly and content, the voyagers reasoned they would be welcome in their community of tree-dwellers.