Crystal Perfection: Part I
| The motionless body lay there mangled. Hair entwined and knotted through the fingers of the victim. Three red, swollen gashes lay across the man’s back; I knelt in closer observing the strange scene. Purple imprints embedded into his legs and scratches layered all over the corpse. “Kai, come away from him,” Isi told me. “Do you think the same beast attacked Kajika as the other animals we found?” I asked her. I stood away from the carcass and stood to face my fellow tribe members. Isi, Kotori and Iye faced me. Their eyes half-filled with grief. “We must burn the body,” Kotori suggested. We gathered sticks and leaves, crunching as we went, to cover the body of kindling. Once we had finished, I struck a jagged rock with my knife and fire eroded from the spark; orange licks of flame, turning the once dry leaves into black smoke as it rose towards the sky. Iye recited a short prayer and we soon abandoned the body, to head back to the small camp we called home. Snap. A foreign noise came from beyond. Food. We all sprung into action. I signalled for them to go around; trap the animal. They followed my orders and a small black figure came into sight. We all edged closer... Snap and the boar shot from the spot it was searching. Kotori and I raced to catch up with the fast runt. Kotori ran ahead and cut the pig off of its original course. I jumped and landed on the hogs back; crushing it under my light weight. Kicking and screaming the pig yelped to find a way out. I could vaguely hear Isi and Iye’s footsteps coming towards us. I pulled my knife from my cloth and ran it along the boar’s throat. A rusty-blood smell filled my senses as the blood trickled down its fur and spilled onto the earthy terrain beneath. I retracted my knife, wiped it clean on a leaf and placed it back. I stood up. Isi and Iye cut a thick branch from a tree and we all tied its hoofs to the trunk. We trudged slowly back to camp and set the boar down next on the hearth of the fire. We all set out to do different jobs – Kotori skinned the boar – ready for cooking, Iye collected firewood and Isi and I went to collect water down from the river. A Gilli bird sung in the trees as we worked our way down to the water the smell of dusk approaching – the sun was slowly descending in the sky. We reached the bank when Isi asked: “Kai, do you like me?” “Of coarse I do!” I replied as I dipped wooden container into the rippling water – a fish swam away from my action. “I mean,” she started again, “do you find me alluring? Would you kiss me?” A small wind picked up making her hair blow in her face; mine swaying with the air change. She stooped down to my level, looking me in the eyes; her brown eyes testing me. She placed her container into the water as I had done. “Isi, I love you but as family, you’re like a sibling not as much as a lover,” I hesitated and her face dropped. She stood as I did and we made our journey back to camp. The sun had almost fully descended splashing the sky with colours of pinks and oranges. As we arrived, Iye struck a rock that started the fire – the boar hung over it, on a spit. Kotori sat in front of the blaze and Isi dropped her bucket and sat next to him. Iye and I sat opposite them watching our hunt burn as Kotori turned the pig around. Our skin glistening as sparks flew up into the night sky. I leant against Iye as I watched them rise from the fiery depths. I woke to the feel of a semi-humid day and saw that leaves lay on the ground before us; reds, oranges and yellows filled our camp with beautiful vibrant colours. We had all fallen asleep around the fire; it fuming with red envy of not having enough strength to go on. I sat up; next to me lay Iye and Kotori and Isi we’re huddled together. I was the first to wake of my tribe and I felt sticky. So, I decided to walk up to the cliff that overhung the river below. I perched myself on the edge of the cliff face, took in a deep breath and I leapt off the edge. The wind flew past my face as I was dragged towards the water. Making every limb of my body feel weightless. I hit the water and plunged into the brook. I resurfaced, making my hair heavier, I wiped it out of my face, and water escaped the black mass. As I heard the waterfall in the background, I swam to the lip of the river and walked out of the blue. I removed my cloth, the wind wrapping around my bare body as I bent over and placed it in the water. I scrubbed them in the stream – to rid them of dirt. Once done, I squeezed the water out, stepped into them and slid them up my legs until into place. Snap. My head jerked up and looked around. Everything appeared peaceful. I squinted towards a break in the trees and I saw a flicker of movement. “Stop! Who is there? Come out!” I shouted. A tall russet-figure slowly emerged from the animated foliage to stand and face me across the river. |
posted by LameHobo at Wednesday, December 03, 2008
