Do Not Know unfortunately!

the start (i know, ugh, another one) of a story i wrote in.. oh god... 6th, 7th grade? I believe this was strongly influenced by the book "Daybreak -2550 A.D." by Andre Norton, originally called "star Man's Son" which i thought was a more fitting title :

 

Together, mankind can find a way. Alone, he has no chance. But eventually, after time, he can find a way. All he needs is a partner. As they used to say, the more the merrier. Together, two men can do anything. Yet together, mankind makes every mistake they can make. Argumentations, greed, uncanny observation; these are the simple flaws of man.

 

 

Tribes known as these man lived together as families. Life was a simple philosophy—

 hunt, gather, eat, rest. That’s all life ever was. All for the colony, all for the future.

 

Future.  What was future but time itself? Time, the amount of possibilities; things that can happen.

 

Every man grew up an equal. The same choices, the same possibilities. Everyone turned out the same type of people. It was always made that way. No questions to be asked. But yet--- that’s the beauty of it. Mankind can never stay on one path. Curiosity, that is man’s weakness. It is also their benefit. There is always one to oppose.

 

Sven sat down on the wet rocky earth below him. Single torches lit by fire illuminated the darkness of the caves with a soft distant glow throughout.

A few members of the clan walked past and looked at him as if they were ashamed. The strange look upon their face suggested a dissimilar one than an average other. Perhaps it was just these people. Or maybe it was him. His long red hair, tied back; his blue eyes that’s vision could pierce normally that of the average eye?

 

They just continued on, one even had the nerve to cough up phlegm and spit to the earth, in the ironic direction of Sven. Was he different? Was he like the others? These were questions often thought. Questions he could never answer. He was man, he knew that much. Man was not perfect. No one was. Was anything?

 

Sven found himself flat upon the ground, gazing at the damp cave ceilings, wondering of the other world. The world outside. How he dared to seek the outdoors. Life in the colony was too simple. Hunt? Gather? Were these simple doings all the necessities of life?

 

He had heard stories. Ae’n’old’esh, the scientist, had told him things. Things of the world; the world once before.

 

“It was ingenious. The buildings, the mass structures, the architectural wonders; I was there. I saw it all. How I wish I could go back.” He had told Sven one day.

 

Sven had replied in awe and curiosity, though he had been a small child at the time.

 

“Disregard this old fool” the colony leader, Jak’t, had told him. “keep along, he’s not an Alkaei, as we are. He, the worthless fool, is one of them.”

 

By “them”, Jak’t meant the “opposers.” The few who dare to question life and the goings on about it. ‘Why this?’, and ‘Who started that so long ago?’

These few people had life in the fullest grasp. Though the others nor they did not know this, this was normal, this was all normal human behavior.

 

So life went on throughout the colony. Sven learned the skill of the Alkaei, to hunt, to gather, and mostly, to do as he was told. To that day, he had been told that exactly. All the happenings, everything in his life that had happened, flashed before Sven. Sven had begun to realize something, something that had been growing inside for what seemed forever. He was not  living his life to the fullest, and life was not accompanying him well either.

 

 

 

It was later that day, and Sven had accompanied the group of hunters on a dangerous trek outside the Alkaei cave walls. Their mission was simple: to hunt the creatures of the tree grove. He had been chosen especially for the job of hunting with the sharp cave rock arrowhead, whom of which he had carved himself. He had been trained exceptionally well in the ways of hunting.

 

  He had only been outside once. It was years ago, when he was a child. But he was grown now. Now he needed only to follow orders.  The small group traveled atop a tall hill, the gusting wind whipped at the group of men. His long red hair seemed to whip vigorously. The wind was powerful at midday.

The land throughout was lifeless and dead, the only thing living seemed to be a small buzzing gnat.

 

    “there is no life here! We must-“

Holding his hand up, Sven, put his finger to his lips. He pulled an arrow from the pouch on his back, strung it, and shot a lifeless tree through a hole in the trunk. There was a large scream, almost death defying.   A black bird flew from the inside of the tree and zoomed past the sky swiftly, and soared in circles. It flew fairly crooked, for there was damage to one wing. Several of the other men took aim and fired; they all missed. Sven waved for them to be still. He pulled out a special black arrow carved from a creature’s bones. The arrowhead was as sharp as could be, it was made of carved bone. He strung the bow, and aimed cautiously toward the sky. The bird was still circling above the sky. Releasing the bow, it shot through the air like glass, and struck the bird. Instantly, it stopped flying and fell quickly towards the earth. It hit the ground hard, and went limp.

The group ran quickly and without haste, a short man with greasy black hair, pulled out his dagger, and then skinned the bird.  The rest of the group worked to package the bird.

 

When all was done, they turned to return to the caves. Sven looked around. Something was wrong. He looked back, and saw that Char’e, the man “leading” the mission, was stopped in his tracks. He was looking at something—something strange. His facial expression was of something it had never been. Sven walked over to Char’e. He looked down the cliff edge, and saw a long strip of faded black substance. He quickly climbed down and approached the strip of black. He bent on his knees and felt the substance. It was hard, and as far as he could see, it went. It was flat. A sign, bent and mangled, lay in the middle of this “big black path”.

 

It was strange.

 

 

 

Later, far after they returned to the caves, had Sven thought of this strange discovery. He found himself thinking of life once more. Was it worth it? Was it worth the effort? He shuddered, and shook away the questioning mind hiding within him. But then he realized—he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He knew who he had to see- Ae’n’old’esh.

 

Author's Note

Yeah, just in general, another of my nice little unfinished tales. :/
hmm. first science fiction ove done in awhile, and this was awhile ago.
(YES it is science fiction)