Rites of Passage by Eric

Author:Eric
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: infinity plus

Beneath the Ancient Sun

We sat around the glow-coals and Old Tan, our Storyteller, told us about the time when water filled the valleys and people lived on the mountaintops.

“Millions of people,” he said in a whisper.

“But what is millions?” I asked.

Old Kahl, who was respected for his wisdom, said, “Pick up two handfuls of sand, Par, and let the sand trickle to the floor. That is a million.”

Dutifully I scooped up two handfuls of fine sand and felt the grains squirm from my grip. But I could not imagine that each grain was a person. “Surely it was impossible,” I said. “So many people could not exist.”

Old Tan was exaggerating, of course; he was known to make great claims to enhance his tales. For the next hour he told of mountain peaks that had teemed with people, of valleys filled with more water than could be imagined.

“But how do you know?” Kenda asked with his usual arrogance. He was a big-boned youth a winter my senior, who hated me – and for good reason.

Old Tan shook his head and said, “Long ago Old Old Old Marla, my mother’s mother’s mother, told of her Initiation. She did not go Below, but Above.”

I was aware of the sudden silence that greeted his words. I looked around at the fifty dark faces in the feeble light of the glow-coals. They were all staring at Old Tan, eyes wide, many mouths hanging open in wonder. Beside me, Nohma gripped my hand. I could see her teeth in the glow, smiling at me in excitement.

“And what did she find?” someone asked.

We knew, of course; Old Tan had told the tale many times before. I recall my disbelief the first time I had heard the story; the wonder and the thrill. It had made me aware that there was more to our world than just the Valleys, the Caves and the Bottoms.

“Old Old Old Marla found dwellings high up on the mountaintops, places where the ancient people lived.”

“But didn’t she burn to death!” a youngster exclaimed.

Old Tan smiled. “She wore crab-shells during the twilight hours, and travelled only at night.”

“But the people who dwelled on the mountaintops many, many winters ago – surely they would have burned to death!”

“This was many, many thousands upon thousands of winters ago,” Old Tan said, “The world was cooler then. Our people could live on the mountaintops in safety.”

Our people?

“But how did Old Old Old Marla reach the mountaintops?” someone else asked.

Old Tan smiled. “She climbed,” he said.

“But how! The mountains are steep! And crabs patrol the slopes!”

“She made her way through the upper plain,” Old Kahl said, “where our people lived many winters ago, before we came down here. From the upper plain she climbed to the eastern valley. From there she picked her way through mountain passes to a far away escarpment.”

“And the crabs?” I asked, even though I knew full well how Old Old Old Marla had escaped being nipped in half and eaten.

Old Tan took up the tale: “She took a live goat, and sacrificed it to the first crab.

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