Small

Small One had moved sideways along the back to the shell that held the dark water; he stuck a finger into the shell and carefully made a mark on the wall (small also). Fascinated, he blew on the blotch to dry it and watched the rock face change. Big One Loud would return soon bringing food; Big One Soft waved them off by giving them a stone or stick to play with. He cupped more dark water in the well of his hand and scrambled back to his pile of grasses and scrap of fur blanket. There, holding his breath, Small One drew lines in secret to represent himself. He did not hunt yet, but he lived. He lived at the fire and now here, on the cave wall, among the others; perhaps, if he were lost, he could be found again. And he was found, some 14,000 years later, when the prehistoric wonders of the Rouffignac caverns were discovered.