The Time of New Life

chapter one

I breathe hard, I'm running as fast as I can, my straight dirty blonde hair flying and my blue eyes shining with the thrill of the chase. Spear in one hand knife in the other, I leap off a small rock outcrop into the river. Turning around I see my pursuer, I jab upward at it with my spear and it shields away. Then, out of nowhere, my sister Nis comes up behind it and with a loud cry plunging her spear deep into its back, the lion dies almost instantly.

Climbing up out of the river I see most of my family running towards us. I bow my head knowing for sure I'll be yelled at... again. My sister hollers to my approaching friends and family. "She's fine! I got her!" My mom is the first one to reach us. She looks at the dead lion then my sister and then me. I avoid my mom's eyes as my sister started preparing the animal to take back to our camp. My mom glared at me.

"What happened this time!?" my mom ordered briskly. Gesturing expressively at the carcass of the dead lion.

"I had a handle on it!" I protested. I realized I sounded like a two summers toddler complaining.

"No you didn't, you're lucky Nis was here! You have to stop messing with animals! You are not a Shumie!" she yelled at me, I flinched as if she slapped me. I was no Shumie but I was in training to become one.

"All I was doing was freeing her from a pile of rocks that fell on her! She was hurt!" I tried to make my mom understand. My mom just turned and walked away. My nephew, Kys ran up to me.

"It's OK Aunie, you are a Shumie to me, and you always fix my owies and make my tummy feel better! But please Aunie, be more careful. Kys looked up at me with those beautiful blue-grey eyes surrounded heavily by blonde eyelashes.

I ruffled Kys's hair and kissed his forehead. We walked back hand-in-hand to our camp. Stopping along the way to strike a fat goose out of the brush with my sling. I smiled as we walked between the mammoth tusks that framed the entrance to the encampment. I hang the bird on a hook outside my family's lodge. Kys ran off to play with the boys and girls his age. Five summers ago there was a lot of babies born, I, only at ten winters helped deliver most of them being a Shumie in training.

A large fire burned in the middle of the Shuman camp, sitting around it working on hides or furs, sat the majority of the women of the camp, I was the only female who had no skill at curing furs and hides. I ruined them or they rotted after a short amount of time. I sat next to my friend Lee. She was born a few days after me. She was working on a baby carrier wrap, being almost 8 moons with child. Lee smiled at me putting her work down and stretching. Her straw-straight red hair was all the way down to her butt. She was about 5 fingers smaller than me. Her green eyes looked around sharply, Lee never seemed to miss any details.

In our silence, we walked to the current Shumie's lodge. I rap on the ox-bone hip plate hanging right outside the door. From the smoke hole pours a heavily sage scented smoke.

"Come on in Aunie and Lee." an old but strong voice calls from within. Lee looks at me in amazement, I'm used to Shumie knowing what she cants see. Which is a lot, considering she is blind.

I push aside the door and step in, I help Lee over the small ledge by the door and bring a fur covered mammoth foot for her to sit on. I kneel in front of Shumie and take her hands. "Shumie I am worried about Lee. Her belly is big as 9 moons, but she's only barely at eight." Shumie smiles and sighs.

"Oh Aunie don't worry, I think that Lee will be expecting more that she asked the earth for," Shumie says, sitting gently sat in front of Lee and felt her belly. "Yes just as thought, twins!"

"Twins!" Lee exclaimed looking excited but terrified at the same time. "I've only heard of twins! I've never even met any!"

I hugged Lee happily. As I encircled her with my arms she winced, I pulled back immediately. "Lee! Do you have any pain!?" I looked her dead in the eyes so she would tell me the truth.