The Beginning

He had grown rapidly during the spring and summer and had far outdistanced the other children. His size was approaching that of the adults. The adults were somewhat stooped and averaged about one hundred twenty pounds. The largest of the males only stood about four feet five inches tall. They were heavily muscled with long arms and bowed legs. Their stooped condition and in part, bowed legs came from rickets, and squatting for long periods of time in hiding while waiting for some unsuspecting animal to come within attack range. Their crude spears didn’t give them a great deal of range. Game was taken by brute force. Once an animal was wounded the party mobbed it, pulling it to the ground and clubbing it to death.

The woman was the oldest of the small group. He never learned for sure where she got him. Her standard reply to his questions was, "I find." She lived much longer than what was normal for a woman of the caves. His ability to provide for her and protect her from the other members of the small clan added measurably to her life span. In his twelfth winter she grew weaker and finally died. He and the girl were the only survivors of the ones who had chased fingerlings together in the freezing water that first spring. The rest had died of various diseases and, or, run-ins with animals that were to large for them to handle. The rule of the fang and claw was all they ever knew. If sickness didn’t kill them some large animal usually did. It was survival of the fittest and the lowly human was often times not the fittest.

Spring found the girl still following his footsteps. At twelve he was the largest and most muscular of the clan. He had outdistanced them in height by nearly two feet. Instead of stooped and bow legged, he stood straight and tall. They grew fat in the summer when hunting was good but he stayed lean and supple. His reflexes became even faster.

Disaster struck from a field of plenty. His automatic reactions sacrificed his safety to protect the girl.

The berries were ripe, and they were feeding on a south facing slope. The girl reached for a ripe cluster of berries in the briers. He saw something move beneath the briers. His hand shot forward, blocking the strike of the snake. Its fangs buried in the area between thumb and forefinger. A bite just behind the snakes head ended its life and put meat over the small fire, but the poison had done its job. His hand and arm swelled to nearly twice normal size. The girl helped him to a nearby stream. The cold water helped to reduce the swelling, but the high fever and paralysis caused by the poison grew worse as the day progressed. He couldn’t make it back to the caves. His legs wouldn’t support him and the girl was far to small to carry or drag him. She carried embers from the fire where he had roasted the snake, and made a fire by the stream. He was very ill for several days. He had seen others die from snake bites, and by the end of the third day was pretty sure he would die. The prospect of his own death didn’t bother him. He just wondered who would take care of the girl. For some reason her well being was first and foremost in his mind as his body burned with fever. The poison Surged through his veins like red hot coals and he was delirious for a night and a day.

Sunrise on the fourth day brought him some hope. The swelling had subsided and he could feel the cold when he immersed his swollen hand and arm in the water. He no longer saw flashes of color or charging animals floating mysteriously in front of him. The visions had gone during the night. His fever had broken and he began to feel hope that he may recover.