Og hunts alone now. It is hard to kill animals alone. Mostly, there are berries.
Some of the berries make thunder in Og’s stomach. The thunder wants out. Og squats in the bushes.
Then Og uses the fire leaf by mistake. Now there is burning where Og sits. So much burning that Og screams. The screams bring the spear-mouth and Og must climb the big tree. The spear-mouth can not climb the big tree, but there was something else in the tree. Not a good day for Og.
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Og had climbed just far enough up the tree to avoid the darting poisonous tip of spear-mouth’s tongue when he heard the buzzing from the hive. The thought of honey made Og’s mouth water in spite of the burning from the fire leaf. As much as Og liked honey, he hated bees nearly as much as he hated the fire leaf plant, which had only recently replaced bee stings on his top ten list of things to avoid. Number one was still spear-mouths and one of those was waiting not so patiently below.
Og climbed a few feet further where there were some low dead branches on the old tree. Above him the buzzing grew angrier, below the spear-mouth licked his, er, spear-lips, and Og’s bottom burned like the sun. Og broke of an old dead branch from the tree and with a mighty swing knocked the bees nest to the ground. Spear-mouth took off on a dead run chased by thousands of angry bees. Og scrambled down the tree, scooped some honey into his hand, and ran to the lake. The honey was sweet, but the cool water of the lake was like heaven. Maybe Og should find someone to hunt with. The vegetarian life was not for whimps.
“Aiy! Aiy!” Would the burning ever stop? Og could clearly see the water from his precarious perch half-way up the tree. That water would feel so cool on his burning behind. But all he could do was look at it. It might as well be on the other side of the mountain. Below he could see spear-tooth circling the trunk, drooling. Og would be good dinner.
Og whimpered, the burning from the fire leaf an agony. Now that he held back his screams, so as not to attract yet more predators, he heard another sound, a furious clicking and a cross between a hiss and a scream. Og groaned and looked way up knowing what that sound meant. A mother fang-chirp, giant bushy tail jerking in threat as it descended to where Og clung, its dreaded fangs chattering between those eerie screams.
That’s when he spotted it, the branch the last storm had cracked off. It hung just out of reach. Og let go with one hand and made a threatening gesture at the fang-chirp. It backed off only a bit, just enough so Og could shift his weight and grab the branch. When fang-tooth resumed its toothy charge he gave a mighty poke, knocking it out of the tree.
The spear-tooth made off with its dinner at a run, forgetting Og. Og shinnied down and ran to the water. No tasty fang-chirp for dinner. Back to thunder berries. Maybe Ahm would hunt with him tomorrow. Maybe not.
Not a good day at all. Further up the tree was a pale face wielding a small stick. Og knew pale faces. They hunted animals – they even hunted Ogs. This pale face had killed and eaten Og’s two friends. This is why Og had to eat berries. Og had to get away quickly. But how?
There was a pale face above and spear-mouth below. Both enemies were smart and they both wanted to eat Og.
Og slowly made his way down the tree, making sure the pale face stayed close behind. When Og was almost to the ground, he could see the spear-mouth’s hungry, glistening eyes. Since spear-mouths salivated through their eyes when hungry, the tears often blurred their vision when hunting. Og had a thought. He then started pounding the Yek tree with his fists. He pounded and pounded. The spear-mouth jumped up and down watching Og and the pale face turned paler.
The Yek bugs came swarming out of the Yek tree. The pale face was bitten many times but not Og – too much fur. Pale face fell. Was impaled on spear-mouth’s spear. Og ran away quickly. Og was smart.
Og knew he was not an animal. Why didn’t this pale face and spear-mouth know? Why were they hunting Og? Even Og knew you could only hunt the dumb animals. Now to go sit in the glacier stream. Cool the bottom and eat slimies from river – while waiting for other Og to find him.
Og crouched on the high branch, out of Spear-Mouth’s reach. Even so, he flinched when it jumped, nearly losing his balance on the branch. Moving awakened the fire in his sitting place again, but he bit his hand until his urge to scream passed.
This was turning into an even worse day than the one when his friends sent him away. That was the day he had startled a whole herd of antler-heads by sneezing at the wrong time. He couldn’t help sneezing, could he? He told them he was sorry. But then they brought up the time when he fell asleep on watch and the big trumpet creatures overran the village. And then they brought up the time before that. And the time before that.
Well, Og was a better hunter than any of them! And he’d prove it. Just as soon as he got down from this tree.
Og was thinking so hard that he almost didn’t notice when the ropy thing began slithering up his arm. If it wound itself around his middle, he would die for sure, and then the ropy thing and the spear-mouth would fight over him.
That gave Og an idea. He slid his spear under Ropy Thing’s belly and plucked it off his arm. Then he threw it on top of Spear-Mouth. Then he crouched down to watch.
Spear-Mouth bit, Ropy Thing squeezed, and soon both were dead. Og still couldn’t sit, but that night, he had a feast.
Og hurt. Partly from thunder-berries and partly from the loss of his people. When Great Mountain God became angry and poured liquid fire over his village it was during Dark Time, when everyone was asleep. Og was squatting in bushes that night, too, after a huge feast of Hairy Tusk-Beast. Og heard deafening thunder and saw fire shoot into the sky. He ran. No time for leaves that day. He ran as fast as he could until he reached the river, where he dove in and let the current carry him away from the fire.
Hissing overhead interrupted his thoughts. A bright green Vine-Slider coiled around an upper branch, and it had seen him. Og knew about Vine-Sliders. Large ones were delicious. Small, brightly colored ones contained deadly poison. He had to escape. But where? Og inched further out onto the branch, overlooking the sparkling water of the river. The river! It had saved him once and maybe it would save him again. He crawled as far as he could to the tip of the branch and then jumped to freedom. The cool water soothed his fiery behind as the current carried him to safety.
Something rough brushed his leg. Og turned and faced the gaping maw of a Long-Tailed Water Biter. Its toothy jaws were as long as Og was tall.
Og’s last thought as he slid down the creature’s throat was, I hope I do the same to him as those thunder-berries did to me!
Title: Fire Leaf Mating Call
OG having real bad day.
OG knows now not to eat thunder berries.
OG’s body make thunder, and smell like wild boar.
OG run for bushes, but slow and mess covering.
OG take off cover to wash.
OG done, but not watch and use fire leaf.
OG’s butt on fire…scream.
OG feel earth move, see Spear-mouth charging.
OG drop cover, run fast and climb big tree.
OG watch Spear-mouth eat OG’s cover.
OG’s ears hurt when Spear-mouth cries.
OG wish he had friends.
OG friends killed when OG sneeze and throw rock too soon.
OG make friend with bear cub but mother scare OG away.
OG watch Spear-mouth turn in circles.
OG hear noise above him.
OG see painted warrior face.
OG more scared.
OG see warrior’s long spear.
OG going to be killed this day.
OG open eyes and point to chest and say, “OG.”
OG see warrior tilt head and watch OG.
OG caught between mad Spear-mouth and warrior closing-in.
OG see warrior looking where cover was.
OG close eyes and wait for warrior spear.
OG smell flower.
OG open eyes and see pretty girl warrior.
Pretty girl warrior see all of OG.
OG like what he sees too.
OG having much better day now.
OG watch girl warrior throw spear at Spear-mouth.
OG going to eat meat tonight.
OG glad he eat thunder berries, but never again.
OG have more than friend to hunt with.
OG worry about cover some other day.