Cave Days
Deep in the thick jungles, of when the continents were still formed as Pangea, was a small village. It was after the end of the dinosaurs, but before the start of the Stone Age. Now in this village lived a group of people, around 15 to 20 families. These families all lived in hand-made straw, mud, and stone huts that the men of the village built. They wore clothes that the women made from the animal hides from the men's hunting trips.
In one particular family lived a girl named Rae. She stayed in a nice hut near the village gardens with her two fathers. Now, it was unusual for there to be two males in one hut, but their case was special. Her mother, Shel, died about 3 months after giving birth to Rae, and her father Hira was left alone not knowing how to care for her. Luckily Lero, a childhood friend if Hira's, came to help him raise his baby girl. Even though they were an unconventional family, Rae knew nothing else, and the other villagers soon accepted them and began to help these men love and care for Rae.
Now Rae was 15 suns turns, or years, old and is ready to start looking for her mate. There are a few boys her age in the village, and while they were all mostly nice, her eyes were interested in in two of them. One was named Finn, a tall, pale, bumbling boy of 16 sun turns. He lived in a bigger hut than hers with his mother, father, and brother. He wasn't the brightest of village boys, never truly learning how to hunt or fish right. But he was always sweet to her, and brought her the yellow flowers from his front yard, even though they made her itch really bad.
The other boy she liked was the village trouble maker named Noah. He was also 16 sun turns, but wasn't as tall as Finn. His skin was darker, like hers, and he had strong muscles from all the hunting and building her hid. His families hut was the same as hers, as he only lived with his mother and younger sister. When he was 8 sun turns, his father tragically killed on a mammoth hunting trip. Ever since then, Noah has been very difficult for his mom to control and discipline, which often leaves her asking Finn's dad to step in and help.
Even though she had grown up with both of these boys and practically knew everything about them, she still found it hard to choose. On one side, Finn was very sweet and always made her smile. But he would often leave her to go hang out with the other boys or his eyes would wander if another girl walked by. And he wasn't always nice to his brother, who was a close friend to her, and that didn't endear him any more to her. Noah was also sweet to her, just in his own way. Whenever they talked, he never left her for anyone else, and his attention would always stay on her, even when some of the other village girls their age would try to get him to leave with her. He was incredibly crass with the way he talked and acted sometimes. He never babied her like she sometimes wanted, always giving it to her straight, which frustrated her to no end, but she appreciated it after. And he was completely devoted to his mother and sister, no matter how much trouble he gave them; always making sure they never went without food, even if it meant he didn't get any.
Rae knew she had a hard choice to make, but felt in her heart she would make the right one.
A few moons went by and soon it was Rae's 16th sun turn. ON every girls 16th turn week, the boys around their age in the village, and some from any of the neighboring ones, will present her with gifts that show their strength and ability to be a mate, in hopes that she will choose them. The girls are given the full week to choose, though some choose within a few days because they already have someone they like.
Rae took the whole week to decide. Though she already had two people she wanted in mind. She accepted all the boys gifts, as she didn't want to maybe miss on someone who had more potential than Finn or Noah. Luckily she didn't miss anyone special, as most of the gifts were not good, nor did they show they would be great mates in the future. To make matters worse, Finn again gave her the yellow flowers that made her itch, and more recently started giving her a rash. They were the biggest bunch he had even given her, and you could even see some of the ground bugs crawling through the petals.
That, along with other things, made her decision for her. She asked her papa Lero to get rid of them for her, along with all the other gifts except for one, and she went to sleep that night knowing exactly who she was going to pick for her mate. For that entire week, she stayed in, not wanting anyone to badger her about who she was picking; and everyone in the village was wondering, using the time to gossip among themselves, some even trying to persuade Hira and Lero to get their daughter to pick their son. They also knew that whoever she picked would get a great gift, as it was seen as a sign of trust and true love to give your intended mate a gift back.
On the very last day, Rae finally came out of her families hut, on her way to present her gift to her intended. The people who were out at that time stopped and watched her determined walk to the other end of the village. Some even went to go tell other people, whispering so that Rae would hear, though even if they were loud she wouldn't have paid them any attention. Stopping at the hut, she knocked on the door and waited, starting to become nervous as she waited. She could hear grunting as someone started to come to the door, and she smiled as she realized who it was. When the door opened, his face showed the surprise of seeing her there. He leaned in the doorway, his trademark "Noah Smirk" gracing his strong features as he gazed at the beautiful brunette that had slowly captured his heart.
"Noah," came her breathy hello, and he broke into a genuine smile. "Rae," came his gravely reply. It was silence for a little bit before she showed him the mating gift she made. It was a spear, one that he could tell was better than the ones e currently used. The long stick was made from a tree branch of one of the oldest trees in the village, and was at least a foot taller than she was. The head was made from a smaller rock that came from a boulder, and definitely took her the longest to do. It was very sharp, definitely sharp enough to cut through the touch hide and skin of the animals he hunted.
Noah took the spear and inspected it with a careful eye, almost like he was expecting something to be wrong with it. After what seemed like an eternity, he broke out into the biggest smile, and pulled Rae into a hug that lifted her off the ground. She let out a squeal and a giggled that made his heart jump as it was the cutest sound he had ever heard. Putting her on the ground, he gave her a kiss on the cheek, letting her know that he had accepted her gift.
Reaching out, Noah takes Rae's hand, and they turn to walk through the village and all the people that had crowded outside of the hut. Everyone starts clapping as they two young adults signify that they have chosen to be each other's mates and start the beginning of their new lives together. And they couldn't be happier.
