Cave Man Ramblings
By Ghak the Hairy One, as told to Steven Vance Wadding

I am Ghak.  I kill! 

Ah, but that was before.  It was simpler then.  For the most part, it was easy to tell your friends from your enemies.  If you didn't know a man, he was your enemy.  Unless he wanted a fight, he had to talk fast to convince you that you shouldn't try to kill him.  David and Abner changed all that.  Now, we assume that a man is potentially a friend, until he proves otherwise. 

I'm not saying that it was better before.  Just simpler.  All we had to worry about was making sure that we were the ones to be alive after a chance meeting.  Fight well, and you would live, and be feared.  Hunt well, and you would be well fed, and respected.  Many mates were taken from other tribes, whether they wished it or not.  My own sister was stolen by a man from another tribe.  I understand that she was happy enough, once she became resigned to be separated from the people she grew up with. 

Now, we can still find mates from other kingdoms.  But they have to agree.  They can not be forced to leave their own kingdom.  But, since we mingle freely with those of other kingdoms now, it is possible to find a mate without the danger and effort we once had.  I worry about this, since it no longer seems that prowess in hunting and fighting had as much influence on who it is that brings forth the next generation.  Ah, but since we are at peace with so many, and since Abner has been making things to make our lives easier, prowess in hunting and fighting is no longer essential for survival. 

The larger predators mostly stay away from the main population centers.  I sometimes wonder if it is because of the smoke.  But, no, the smoke isn't that bad, except when it is very hot and the air is still.  I think it is really because their larger prey is no longer to be found surrounding the cities.  When the large herbivores wander into the surrounding farmlands, the farmers set upon them with guns.  Farmers!  Before David and Abner, we of Sari never imagined such a thing.  I like vegetables well enough, so long as I can have a good hunk of meat with them, and the farms do make it possible to feed the growing population. 

I kill!  If you didn't know a man, he was your enemy.  Now, there are so many people that I can't take a walk without encountering someone I don't know.  I would be forever fighting.  And I am no longer as strong as I was when I met David and Abner.  David says that I am getting old.  I have figured out what "old" means.  I remember that, when I was a small child, there were men who were strong, at the peak of their skills.  As I grew to adulthood, some of them grew frail.  David says that it happens to all people in the surface world, that as the "years" pass, they all weaken and eventually die.  But he can not convince me that this happens to all men in Pellucidar.  We do not have "years" to so take a toll on our lives.  Surely some of those men who were big and strong when I was small and weak are still strong.  And yet, I can find nobody alive who was an adult when I was a child. 

I find that, sometimes, when I go for a walk, I forget to take my weapons with me.  It is not a big deal, since there is nothing I would need my weapons for.  But it disturbs me that I would forget.  And sometimes, it disturbs me that I no longer need my weapons. 

Was it better before David and Abner came?  No, it wasn't.  But part of me longs for the simplicity we had. 

I am Ghak.  I kill!
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