January 11, 2022
Cave
Contrary to popular belief, the oldest inhabited region in the world is a tiny village just inside the edge of a jungle. To the east of it is more jungle, to the west of it is more jungle. To the south is denser and denser jungle, and to the north there isn't much before a sea. There are cliffs down to the shore, and in the cliffs is a very large mouth of a cave. The villagers never go far from the village, and they definitely never, ever go into the cave. In the village, the people speak their own language that's similar enough so that most people who would ever show up from anywhere nearby are certain to understand them. Most people never come near them from the west or the east, and no one ever comes to see them from the south. To the north is just sea, and the cave. Everyone in the village knows their own purpose from early on in life. No one is ever forced to stay, but when people want to leave their village, it is always recommended that they head west, and they almost always do. They mostly get along better with anyone from the west than from the east when they do occasionally show up. It may not have always been that way, but it probably was. The villagers all know the purpose of their tiny village, but they don't ever mention it unless someone visits who is headed to the nearby shore of the sea. They always tell them not to go to the cave. In the village there is one person selected from an early age, usually a man, who keeps track of the history of the village. No one is named at birth, they are only named when they know what they will do. That person is named Ahb. Even in that village they know the world changes, Ahb always tells them stories, and they have proof when Ahb makes a new story for them about something that happened. Usually there are several people called Ahbi, but only one person ever becomes known as Ahb. It's the only name in the village that changes like that. It caused a lot of changes when people started showing up who said they came from the north. The villagers thought that wouldn't ever happen. Only one person had been Ahb since that first happened. No one had believed it, at first. Ahb had been young, and had taken the risk to spend a lot of time near the cave to see where they actually came from. It had been scary, but they had shown up, exactly as they said, in a large metal boat from somewhere across the sea. At least they weren't from the cave. It all made for much more than one story. The people from across the sea noticed Ahb waiting for them almost as soon as he noticed them. When they had first showed up, Ahb had told them immediately about the cave. He had noticed their reluctance to say anything at all, which was most of the reason he had decided to wait for them to return, to be able to see them as soon as they arrived again. They were there at the shore as they said they would be, a few months later. The people from the sea knew many languages, and it hadn't taken them long to figure out how to speak with Ahb. He had immediately asked them about the cave. Somehow he knew they had gone in there. They replied by asking him what he knew about the cave. He told them again the simple stories about the cave. People can go into it, but if they do, after not very long there is always a horrible scream and blood drips from the cave. No one ever goes in there anymore. The villagers had stories that they had tried everything to stop people, even trying to fight them away from the cave. Obviously that hadn't had any effect but being worse than useless. Ahb was more than curious, he had to know if they had gone into it. Then they told him a few of them had gone in, and that was what had happened. The people from the sea took him at his word, and he could tell they had knowledge worth trading for. He explained to the villagers there could be a new name for people in the village who could learn from them. They sometimes had very good but different ways of healing people. Everyone thought it was a good idea, and the people from the sea suggested the name Doctor. The people from the sea asked what else was around, and everyone agreed the people to the west of the village always seemed a bit friendlier. They had stories about people from the east. One of people from the sea said it stood out that the villagers usually left to the west when they did, so they might end up friendlier. Ahb could tell again they knew good things when that person said that. A sign of a good Ahbi. --- Ahb grew very old, and the world kept changing. People never really came from the east anymore at all, anyway, but to the west the people from the north might have caused a lot of changes, too. There was a new ruler to the west, and more people were coming. Two people in the village were named Ahbi now, and both knew all the stories. The people from the north didn't even ask about the cave much again. What worried Ahb the most was that the people coming from the west asked about the cave far too often. He tried to get the villagers to notice, at least to get the two Ahbis to notice and try to put a stop to it. The people from the west of the village were getting too curious about it, and Ahb could tell they wanted a villager to go in, but they didn't want to go themselves. Ahb tried to warn everyone as soon as he noticed it. He became very worried they were influencing the younger Ahbi, but he didn't want either of them to leave to the west. Some people from the west all showed up at once, with one man clearly leading them, during a time some people from the sea were there. The people from the west had too much influence, and the people from the north saw it too. Ahb took the people from the north aside and tried to ask them for help putting a stop to it, but it was too late. The younger Ahbi and several people from the west were already halfway to the cave at the shore when Ahb and the people from the sea went back to talk to them. Ahb rushed to the cave, but Ahbi was already coming out of the cave. He was the first person to come out of the cave, ever. The people from the west were cheering, their leader moved toward Ahbi to congratulate him. Ahbi was shaking in fear, and Ahb rushed past everyone to hug him, crying. What had happened? Ahbi told him simply that they had given him a test. The cave had been extremely dark, he couldn't see anything. He had felt a blade to his throat from some creature inside the cave, who had said, "this is for us, not for you." Ahbi had been shaking in terror, but the creature had pulled the blade back a bit. Ahbi had not been sure what to say as he stood there trembling. It had all only lasted a few seconds, and Ahbi had just asked if he could leave. The creature had let him. "That's the story, then," Ahb said to him. "Leave it at that." --- That night the people from the west took over the village, celebrating for hours. Ahbi was too drawn into it all. Most of the villagers didn't stay, but Ahb tried to snap Ahbi out of it and bring him to his senses. The leader of the group visiting from the west said too many of the wrong things. Ahbi asked him, not Ahb, if he could go back with them. The man from the west of the village told him, "no, your place is clearly here, as the new Ahb." Ahb felt awful hearing that. He stood at the side of it all with his fist to his mouth, crying. The younger Ahbi didn't even notice. He got carried away retelling the story, embellishing it, letting the people from the west of the village make up horrible details. He was much too carried away with it all. He said, "the people from the east could stab me in the back now, and I would survive it." The people from the west laughed and cheered, while Ahb wept behind the crowd hopelessly. Finally he left. He didn't know what to do. The people from the sea had no suggestions, some of them ashamed of themselves they had ever come at all. The next morning the ruler from the west himself arrived. The people from the sea to the north tried to intervene, but the ruler was demanding that Ahbi go in again. The villagers and people from the north were outnumbered and couldn't do anything. Ahbi wouldn't listen to reason as Ahb shouted at him and wept. The younger Ahbi was too confident, ready to go again and find out more about what lived inside of the cave. The people who were against going could do nothing but watch as Ahb screamed, cried, and pleaded, while they all went back to the shore where the cave was. Ahb couldn't do anything about it as Ahbi went back into the cave. He was in there for far too long, for several minutes. There was never any scream, but blood poured and splattered from the cave while Ahb wept. The ruler from the west of the village barked in short astonishment, almost a laugh. Ahb wanted to kill him. The most amazing thing happened then, the blood started to flow upward from the ground, and then there was Ahbi standing there again. He slowly fell forward though, blinking his eyes once. A sword stuck out of his back. It looked like it could be a thousand years old, except that it seemed perfectly new. The people from the north tried to push through the crowd to help him, but they all cheered around Ahbi, rocking the sword back and forth in his back.
January 03, 2022
CATTYWOMPUS
I typeset a PDF of my novella Cattywompus. You can also download it for free or make a donation of your choice on itch.io.