Caveman Chronicles Index

Many moments had passed, but not so much as much as half a sun-cycle since Kpleeb had thought of a way to see inside the defecation pit inside the cave. A hunch had formed inside his small -but growing- caveman brain.

The water in the outcropping filled at his command, and the stone hollow had formed a hole to let the water drain away. The stone outcropping itself had moved upward on the wall. He had not seen that happen, but he had mentioned the need for it, and it had happened. He asked the sun to move and shine its light into the defecation pit, but the sun did not move.

Kpleeb did not consider himself to be a particularly educated or intelligent caveman, but after some thought, it seemed presumptuous to ask the sun to move itself. He had considered that maybe it was arrogance on his part and decided to instead ask for something that had already been proven possible. If the outcropping could be raised, and the stone could open to release water, then surely the wall could be changed in some way.

After making a new demand of the cave, he waited for the change. He was more patient this time. He felt like fool for screaming at the cave and jumping around like a crazed tundra hare. His fists and feet ached where he had scuffed them on the rough stone, and Kpleeb did not want to lose his temper like that again.

He had not been prone to anger in the past. Even the time the other cavemen had held him down while Pfftul squeezed an enormous, black toad until it drizzled piss on his head. Even then he only kicked Pfftul and called him a skir-walker. Afterward they had made up as friends usually do. Kpleeb washed his head in the flowing river and then dunked Pfftul’s head when he bent to drink. As was his way, Pfftul had been cheerfully apologetic after Kpleeb clapped him on the back and laughed at his drenched head. It was the way of friends.

Kpleeb shook his head to clear his thoughts. He enjoyed reminiscing about his friends, but it renewed the dull ache that clutched at his chest. He found that too much time spent with these thoughts made him melancholy. He stood and walked to the wall where he had made sun-cycle markings. He would need to renew the older markings now as they had been partially washed away by the mist that sometimes formed at night, but he had still not found a suitable marking tool.

He counted them one by one. …4, 5, 6, 7… 8. When Pfftul had bragged about his eight-sided stones, Kpleeb had reminded him that he could not count past six. Pfftul had been generous and told him that after six came seven, and then eight. Kpleeb remembered thinking that a number so high would be practically useless to him, but now he was grateful, and had begun to see the value in Pfftul’s expert knowledge.

The marks he had placed were not-so-straight lines in groups of eight because he did not know which number came after eight. Once he had reached seven marks, he completed the group with an eighth mark made from his blood. The darkness of his blood seemed to stain the stone in a more permanent way, and set each group apart. He now had a perpetual sore on his arm that he picked at when he needed to make a new blood mark, but he did not want to use blood every day in fear that it would run out and he would enter the pit of the damned.

He now had four complete groups of eight, and three marks in a new group. Kpleeb knew that there were some days in the beginning that were lost, and he knew of no way to mark days he could not count.

[It is not a perfect system. Four plus three,] he reminded himself in an attempt to remember the count. He would make a new marking later when it was time for his food to appear.

When Kpleeb turned from his markings to get a drink of water, he noticed that the wall above the defecation pit had changed. There was a bulge above the pit that looked a little like the stone had melted. With excitement he hurried to take a closer look. The face was more or less flat as he had requested, and it was glossy, but it was small. Where the sun’s light bounced off the flat area there, it shone on the floor a few steps from the pit.

[Yes, it responded!] It had not been an immediate response, but Kpleeb would not be picky about how quickly his hunch was confirmed.

He held his hand in the reflected light, and walked around the pit to view it from different angles. The light was dim and cloudy, but it might work if he could convince the flat part of the wall to change properly. He held his hand near the plane and looked at the sun several times.

“Angle more flat toward cave floor,” he muttered quietly, “but only little.” It might take several attempts. He spoke louder. “Cave,” he said addressing the room. “Angle more like the floor, but only some.” He pointed at the protrusion with his knuckles.

Kpleeb stood back and waited for a handful of moments. He expected nothing to happen, and he was not disappointed.

[It will be as I request.]

After a drink, he sat back against the wall near the food outcropping and watched.

[Maybe the cave needs time to change.]

Kpleeb lost track of time in the quiet cave. He watched and waited for moment after moment. He watched the sun, but it did not dim enough to herald the evening meal. After some time, he noticed that the angle of the protrusion had shifted. He stood up and walked to it. It had changed, but he had not seen it happen. He remained rooted and nearby. After another moment he saw the smallest twitch as it shifted again.

Ahh, he thought, it moves very slowly and with moments of waiting in between. He watched the wall and the light that was reflected from it. The light very slowly crawled over the floor and up the side of the outcropping where the pit opening was formed. It settled inside the opening.

Kpleeb excitedly bent and looked into the defecation pit. The pit itself started a little bigger than two of his hands, and it expanded slightly in diameter as it grew in depth. It was at least two of his arm lengths deep, maybe more. The shaft of light was off-center, but he could now see the green and glossy bottom of the pit. He moistened his mouth for a moment and then released a thick drop of spittle above the pit. The spittle hit the bottom without affecting the surface, but in a few moments, the spittle was gone.

In another few moments the sun dimmed and Kpleeb had nothing else to throw into the pit except for his loincloth. He trotted to the food outcropping to get his meal, and while he was eating, he considered the disappearance. The spittle was clear and small. He could not tell if it has disappeared or somehow sunk into the surface. As a test, he broke a food worm in two and dropped half into the pit. Even though the sun was dimming, he could see that the surface indented when the worm struck, and in just a few moments the worm had sunk into the green.

Kpleeb smiled to himself. [This is like a stone sinking into the waters of the river. This green water is thicker, but it takes away what is dropped.]

He finished eating the worms and set about with the next part of his plan.

“I want different food tomorrow,” he said. “Tired of worms. Make new food hard.” He clunked his hairy knuckles on the wall to demonstrate.

He drank and then washed his hands with water from the outcropping. “Open hole.” He drank again slowly with satisfaction. For once in a very long time, he felt as if he was listened to.

Kpleeb walked to the center of the room and pointed with his knuckle at the floor. “Make big rock here.” He held his hand near the rope that held his loincloth to his waist. “This high.”

He nodded to himself. [The cave obeys, and I will use this to escape.]