Ah, Amhara... It can get cool up here. And whenever it doesn't rain, the sky is grey. Every now and then, clouds of fog rise from the lowlands...and linger.
In the lowlands, the Amharicfolk live their mostly-agrarian lives. They attend to their weak and stupid. In great hordes, they lift huge logs up off the ground, and haul them away. Even more often, they do this for huge boulders that come down from the highlands via rockslides.
Upland, there's a cottage. A merry pack stays here for the night; one girl and three guys. They're all a long way from home...as they often are. The three guys are Muslims...and a certain girl's boyfriend.
Out the back, that very girl sneaks. She's Balearic. Once, a great caliphate ruled her motherland. In many ways, they still want to...as much as Zooey doesn't quite understand what Muslims get from ruling scions of the white world. As much as she loves her boyfriends, Zooey still isn't sure she understands what it is about Allah that Tuzla, Albania, Bengal, and the Pakistani States can't get enough of...
She can't say, though, that she blames them. From what she's heard, Allah is a VERY strong man, with a magnificent cock...if he's even a man at all.
Zooey's come out with archery equipment. She sneaks downhill, and makes strange noises with her mouth.
Three walia ibex appear. Zooey equips her bags to two, and mounts the third. She rides off, leaving the cottage in the more-than-capable hands of her boyfriends. Or, so she assesses them...
In her absence, the fog dies. A creepy breeze blows from downhill.
There's a light in the sky. It's yellow...and it gets bigger and brighter as its source makes its entry into the planet's atmosphere. That's right; that's a meteor...and it's NOT made of vibranium.
It lands atop the highest peak in the area, and makes a big bang. Rockslides slide down from the peak. All around, rockslides begin on some of the other peaks, too; the shockwave was that powerful. Good thing it didn't knock down the cottage.
Rubbing their eyes, all three of Zooey's boyfriends come outside. Each one wears something green; one wears a crescent moon symbol on his shirt.
Ulu is a Uyghur. Sun-wei is Sundanese. Qadar is Arab...and hence dearest Abby. In a way, the Amharicfolk are kin to Qadar; they're all Semitic.
They're all smart. Zooey tends to like them that way...and hate them, too. Alas, they're also cowardly. Hence, none of them are coming outside to fight what they've just heard...or even to protect Zooey from it. Funny; they haven't started wondering where Zooey is...
Slowly, their three gazes turn to the mountain. From atop it, a yellow light glows. They can't see it...but they can see its rays.
Deviously, Qadar starts making steps towards it...even if it means going downhill some before starting uphill... Alas, Ulu sees this, tackles Qadar, and streaks out ahead of him.
Uphill, the two boys fight one another, while trying to attain the high ground. It seems hopeless...
To makes matters worse, Sun-wei catches up, holding three knives. He tosses two to Qadar and Ulu, and the three begin knife-fighting one another.
Meanwhile, from up there, the yellow light still glows. The meteorite might be yellow...but a red sun will rise in the morning.
Hours later, Zooey returns. She's got a Cape buffalo bull in tow behind her. It's got arrows sticking out of it. Unclear, as to how she ever brought that humongous and dangerous thing down with arrows... Hell, some of the more primitive Amharicfolk can't even take one down with javelins...
Zooey returns in high spirits...but she panics when she goes inside and searches her boyfriends' quarters, only to find empty rooms instead. She calls their names many times. No one answers.
Through the window, Zooey's blood freezes, as she sees wolves run by. There are more of them out there. Zooey does not have a good feeling about this...
Trying to keep out-of-sight, she creeps uphill, towards what the wolves have found. This time, she takes a javelin with her...
In hordes, they're all over three carcasses on the hillside. They've been joined by other scavengers of the Amharic Highlands...
Zooey screams, and throws the javelin. The wolves scatter. As they do, Zooey approaches. Lucky for her, the wolves are too afraid of the spear to notice her.
In a way, this also depresses her. Zooey prefers knowing that men still prefer her...even if the men are of a different species than her...
She surveys the corpses...and falls to pieces, when she sees they're exactly who she hopes they aren't; Ulu, Qadar, and Sun-wei. They're all dead...and they've got knife wounds all over them.
Slowly, Zooey's eyes drift up, towards what makes that yellow light atop that peak. All of a sudden, she forgets about her boyfriends. She ascends to the height...and gets there in a way that makes all three of her fallen boyfriends look lame.
She walks right past their knives without noticing them...or that one of their hands is still grasping it.
In the eastern skies, the first light of dawn creeps in, over the Amharic Highlands. And yes, it's a red light...
In the center of the crater up there, a bright yellow light shines. The meteorite looks like a yellow beryl...when it's not shining any light. As inspiring as the stone looks, no one would believe it's from outer space...including Zooey. Just like Humphrey Bogart in the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, all three of Zooey's boyfriends killed one another for it.
Up there, she tops the edge of the crater, and slides into it. The meteor's impact has made these rocks loose and fine; almost gravel-like.
On her hands and knees, she crawls towards the mysterious yellow light. It gets brighter, as she nears it. A few times, it whispers to her, even. And then...
Near Zooey, a portal opens. Zooey cries out, as she falls into it. Behind her, the portal closes. Before her, the meteorite loses its shine...and disintegrates, becoming one with the peak.
Honeyguides and bee-eaters soon land in this crater, foraging for bug larvae. If they sense that Zooey was here, they don't show it.