As it approached evening, Willow brought Raccoon some dried eel. The hunting party had not caught anything that day, and they had eaten what they had from before.
Ringtail and his sons had been gathering wood most of the day, and there was a great pile of it, now. They had to forage farther, the longer the tribe was in the same camp, so Raccoon knew they would have to move very soon, but he wanted to dispose of Little Bear properly. The sound of cracking bones from the long grass where Camel had fallen would bother his dreams for many moons, he knew, and he did not want to think about that happening to Little Bear, even though it was the way of things.
As he chewed on the eel, though, the wind swirled about. He could clearly catch Willow’s scent, across from him, and he could smell Little Bear, but . . . He frowned, leaned over, and sniffed deeply at his son’s body. Then he snuffled up and down his body. Willow watched in surprised consternation as he touched the dead.
Then Raccoon jumped up and went to Cave Bear, who had returned with the hunting party.
“Cave Bear,” he said, “My son does not smell dead!”
Cave Bear frowned, looking at Raccoon. Then he went over to where Willow sat by Little Bear. He also smelled Little Bear, as did a couple of the others. Tiger stood by, his face blank.
“You are right, Medicine Man,” Cave Bear said. “What does it mean? Is he dead?”
“I do not know,” said Raccoon. “He seems to be, but--”
“His heart!” cried Willow, her hand on Little Bear’s chest. She had not touched him until this moment, because of the taboo against touching the dead. Seeing both Raccoon and Cave Bear touching him, however, had emboldened her.
“What about his heart?” asked Raccoon.
“It speaks,” she said, “But very slowly.”
Raccoon slowly sank down beside Little Bear. He also placed his hand on Little Bear’s chest. It took a moment, but he felt the soft thump of a heart, beating very slowly, under Willow's hand.
“My son lives,” he said, looking into the girl's wide, frightened eyes.
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The First Jumper (first draft version)
Science FictionThis is the first draft, and will remain free on Wattpad. The revised version has now been published! An alien explorer meets disaster on ancient Earth, and must invade the body of a primitive human to survive, creating great difficulties for the al...
