deepundergroundpoetry.com
The Time-traveling Neanderthal and his Flat-faced Dog
(I know this is a poetry site, but I really would like to learn to write prose. Not expecting to get many reads, but if you actually read this and make it to the end, I sure would like to know that! Thanks.) I updated this September 20 trying to make the story clearer. [font]
[font=Courier New]
[font=Times New Roman] Slip in mud. No stop fall! The choppy thoughts of wolf language passed through the wolfs mind as he stood near the circle of stones that surrounded the Neanderthals smoking fire. The smell of smoking cedar filled air and the sound of the overflowing river rushed to his ears.
In a light rain, his eyes followed the muddy trail that the creature had left as it slid down the embankment. He watched the Neanderthal lying in a shallow puddle near the flood plain kicking its limbs about, and the wolf wondered, Why this food skin covered creature do so dumb thing?
Wolf he small. No place in pack[i] , the wolf recalled the larger animals that had ran him from the pack, the rainy season before this one. At first, the Neanderthals fire had frightened him, but he had gotten over that, and ever since he had followed the caveman. [i] Walk-up-tall give food, maybe better alpha. The runt wolf hoped this was true, but he wasn't completely sure.
His new alpha had been puffing and blowing, trying to get his wet fire to burn, when the Neanderthal suddenly jumped up, jarred back, and slid down the hill.
Now Walk-tall pulls up with stone-stick. Creature falls funny! The wolf wanted to laugh, but his brain didnt have the ability to make his wolf muscles smile
The wolf had been watching as the Neanderthal tried to get his smoky fire burning, when a time traveler from the future had materialized inside the Neanderthals body. The sudden arrival of the travelers life force had jarred the Neanderthal with such a shock that it knocked the caveman off his feet and hurled him down the bank.
The wolf tilted his head and watched as the caveman pulled himself up with the spear-shaft he had managed to hold on to and watched the caveman look at the spear-point lashed to the thick wood. The caveman begin cursing loudly, yelling in his Neanderthal voice Garrred, Garrrd ddrert! The Neanderthal hurled his spear down in rage.
Inside the Neanderthals brain, and looking through the Neanderthals eyes, the life force of an angry time traveler cursed at the sight of the spear-point. The traveler knew that stone-chipped technology lie in the future of his true destination. Acheulian technology! Goddamn it!
The traveler words were silent inside the cavemans brain, because Neanderthal vocal cords are unable make sounds for abstractions that are not understood by the Neanderthal mind.
Goddamn it! The time travelers voice swore again from inside the Neanderthals brain. The time travelers anger seeped into the Neanderthals consciousness. And although he didnt understand why, the Neanderthal continued to curse at his spear lying in the mud. Garrred ... Garrred ddrert!
........
With great effort and personal sacrifice, the time traveler had entangled his life force to the wave function of the multiverse. Time travel is very difficult and the quantum entanglement ment only the life force is sent through time, and the physical body is destroyed at the moment the life force enters a future host body. In addition time travel only proceeds one direction, towards the future.
In order to get to his past, the time traveler had to move forward along the multiverses wave function through every year of his universes future.
He had to travel beyond the stars fading out. He traveled through the years of the Dark Era, and beyond the evaporation of black holes. He traveled until every wave of radiation stretched to infinity; traveling all the way until he reached the end of forever, where time starts all over again.
And then, after time had re-started, he traveled forward to his destination, which originally lay in his past. However, the now-time that he found himself in was in the future of where he wanted to be. The Acheulian era was millions of years in the future of his of his planned destination.
To go back to the Acheulian past, to reach his real destination, he would have to travel again forward, until time re-started. Travel through forever another time? He nearly didnt make it this time. He knew he couldnt circumnavigate time again.
Inside the cavemans brain, where the time traveler had miteralized, his thoughts desperately cried out. The now-time I'm in is modern Neanderthal and it isnt even Africa! The time-traveler could see the world outside him through the Neanderthals eyes and he knew where he was; the Paleolithic cedar trees and broad-leafed ferns were all modern and temperate.
The travelers thoughts in his Neanderthal mind sobbed uncontrollably. This now-time is only thousands of years ago. And the Neanderthal isnt even an ancestor of man! Im not supposed to have a Neanderthals body, Im not supposed to have the blood of Neanderthal in my veins. Im supposed to have the body of Ardipithecus. And this isn't even Goddamn Africa, and it certainly isnt six-million-years ago![i] The time traveler was nowhere near the destination he desired so badly, to live man's first steps to ascension
..
[i]The wolf-face. His head wag at spear throw. A normal everyday Neanderthal thought slowly eased into the Neanderthal's mind and it helped soothe the overload on his cavemans brain resulted from being forced to think the time traveler's thoughts. Concepts that are not normally possible with a Neanderthal mind. The wolfs head had moved at the caveman's angry toss of stick-stone. The wolf had been trying to transmit his desire the Neanderthal, 'Go food hunt!'
..
Walk-tall worried, wolf. Wolf had thought this creature might be his new alpha because the cave-man shared food with him. But when his new alpha acted dumb, it concerned the wolf. Plus his new walk-up-tall alpha had not made the shrill sound he wanted to hear, the call for wolf to go on food hunt for jumpy-things.
The runt wolf looked at his hoped for alpha, the Neanderthal, covered with the skins of the jumpy food animals the wolf badly wanted to hunt for. . Walk-up-tall just stood! Stare at dumb stone-stick. No jumpy-food getting!
..
In frustration and anger the Neanderthal stared down at the spear he had thrown into the wet mud. His inner-voice thought, Ardipithecus had no technology! The right-now is only thousands of years ago, and the now-time Im supposed to be in is millions of years ago from this now-time. Ive given everything I have to live the first thrilling moments at the begining of mans ascension! And I can never reach there from here The time-traveler knew he was cheated, and felt for certain he had been betrayed.
It had to be betrayal. There was nothing else that could have gone wrong. The time-traveler was well aware of the time travel math concepts. The formula was take the life-wave strand of the universe, divide that by the multiverse wave, subtract the square of the braided multi-strand function but the formulas and concepts were too much for his Neanderthal brain and it short-circuited.
I stare. At spear in mud. Just stare at mud all the time,] his Neanderthal mind reverting back to the half thoughts of his brains normal capacity.
.
The wolf saw the Neanderthal stagger again from the jarring and vacillations imposed by the time-traveler. The atoms and superstrings in the Neanderthals body forced from one quantum-state into another state. The ragged and startled motion attracted the runts attention; he tilted his flat face and moved forward. [i]Did, master want food? Go catch jumpy-food, with plant-vine?
Flat-face didnt know if his alpha found plant-vine net or made it, but when, Alpha throw, over jumpy-things. No jump! Catch easy! The wolf watched as the Neanderthal looked at the sky, [/b]... His alpha doing his nothing stare. Oh, how the wolf wished his alpha would look at him and give the sign that alpha had some food to share. But still, the wolf thought hopefully, New alpha, better. Then old, food more!
But instead of the shrill call to hunt the wolf wanted so badly, his alpha was making a strange sound, going up and down the scales of his Neanderthal vocal cords, and the cave-man would linger on one note or another. Wolf! Answer back with alpha, the runt howled. The wolf's howl startled the Neanderthal! He'd been yelling his changes in tone, and then suddenly the wolf had joined his voice. The howling of the wolf forced his attention back to the Acheulian present.
..
Who? The Neanderthal thought Who, what, that reminds me of? Runt howling when I make Half-ear noise. Instinctively the Neanderthal put his hand to his ear, to the spot where another cave-man, Half-ear, had the bottom part of his ear missing. Half-ear. The cave-man thought. Half-ear carves bone and trades skins. Half-ear, the Neanderthal could clearly remember the other cave-man less stout, seems clever.
The wolf shook his back, barked, and bristled. The Neanderthal looked at the wolf, Funny sound! I know flat-face wolf remembers. His cave-man thoughts remembering the first time he saw the flat-faced wolf, last rainy season, just after last years rains had flooded the river. He remembered seeing the runt wolf right after he met Half-ear, who had a big wound where the bottom of his ear was torn off.
Wolf no like Half-ear! Him arch up! Like he do now. Flat-face looked suspiciously at the cave-man with his back arched up.
Hey,I know what that arch look is. You always do that arch when you see Half-ear and youre doing it now, while I was just thinking of him! The Neanderthals mind went temporally fluent, working over its limitations, but it didnt last and soon fell back.
Wish Half-ear see easy what flat-face wolf knows, thinking about the other cave-man who had taught him how to sing in caves. Yell! Half-ear sound! He show me in caves. The Wolfs eyes watched the food-skinned Neanderthal touching his ear.
.
The wolf knew, Tall-thing did that, always touch ear when he thought of Half-ear. Wolf had seen. Half-ear dead. Food! The wolf remembered last rainy season. He was very hungry because he had not found food for several days. When he saw what he thought was a dead food animal floating near the bank of the flooded river, he tried pulling the animal by its ear against the bank to keep the food from floating away.
Food not dead. Get up! Hit wolf hard with stone-stick. Wolf yelping! Like in old pack. The wolfs memory held the day very well. He didnt like Hurt-ear. The wolf howled through the air, again forcing the present Acheulian reality on the time-traveling Neanderthal.
Why! Flat-face howl! The cave-man thought, but in the wolfs flat-face he saw a strong desire and a pleading,Please now jumpy-thing food!
The Neanderthal gave a shrill air-signal with his teeth and lips. The wolf, alert and ready, happily leapt up at the Neanderthals sudden sharp sound. The wolf bounded forward, but he didnt come too close. He did not yet have all his trust in his new alpha. He needed some persuasion. The pause in the wolfs forward path struck home to the Neanderthal. The Neanderthal slowed his walk, showing patience, and patted his hand on the plant-net-vine to show Flat-face he knew what the wolf wanted.
In the Neanderthals mind there was a blend of the cave-mans and the time-travelers thoughts, a blend of past and future. This moment seems familiar, the trunks of the Paleolithic cedars and the leaves of the forest I see around me, the Neanderthal thought; finding significance in the moment. He paused for Flat-face . What is called flat-faced thing? He thought to himself and trying his new singing vocal sound sang, Gwwog Gwwog
Now the wolf understood and he came running to his alphas voice. Then together the wolf and the cave-man hunted. They hunted with the wolf thinking,We know! We find hoppy food. Hunt jumpy-things. We know a hoppy-hunting place!
.
The Neanderthal felt the uneven stones of the crude Acheulian path, the stones rough against his feet. He felt his mind trying hard, reaching for something beyond its ability. Then inside his reaching, there was a sudden something, the time-traveling Neanderthal realized he had been to this exact quantum-state many-infinities. The Neanderthal remembered now, from infenint possabilatuies inside the time-travels random walk, his path must cross this very-now an infinite many-times. Themultiverce wave of the now-path of the time-traveler was preordained. The multi wave of the now-path is predestined.
In some of the infinite many-nows, Flat-face and the time-traveling Neanderthal had such a grand hunt. Such a hunt of a lifetime! And in their memories, they carried a grand remembrance of that hunt. And, in other-waves of other-nows, they ended the hunt hungry and scavenged bones, breaking them open for the marrow. There were other-waves of other-times when they crossed the path of the cave bear and their lives were cut short. But one-time, this-time, hidden inside the mathematical random walk, the time-traveling Neanderthal crossed over the wave of universes multi-strand.
.
On the crude Acheulian path running to the hunt, in the jarring and vacillations of atoms and superstrings imposed by time-travel, Flat-face saw his alpha's Neanderthal body fading in the quantum-states. He saw his master leaving, happy for his alpha, but saddened that he could not follow.
.
In the jarring and vacillations of time-travel, the Neanderthal's eyes saw the Acheulian landscape melt and flow into millions and millions of years, he was running through time
on the plains of Africa, breathing the now-air of a world six million years ago. He felt a smooth and even path under his feet, the smooth soil of savanna. The time-traveler had reached his destination. This-time, this one-time, he ran the path of Human ascension.
The time-travelers fur rippled in the now-air of distant Africa and the blood of Ardipithecus flowed through his veins![/font]
.
[font=Courier New]
[font=Times New Roman] Slip in mud. No stop fall! The choppy thoughts of wolf language passed through the wolfs mind as he stood near the circle of stones that surrounded the Neanderthals smoking fire. The smell of smoking cedar filled air and the sound of the overflowing river rushed to his ears.
In a light rain, his eyes followed the muddy trail that the creature had left as it slid down the embankment. He watched the Neanderthal lying in a shallow puddle near the flood plain kicking its limbs about, and the wolf wondered, Why this food skin covered creature do so dumb thing?
Wolf he small. No place in pack[i] , the wolf recalled the larger animals that had ran him from the pack, the rainy season before this one. At first, the Neanderthals fire had frightened him, but he had gotten over that, and ever since he had followed the caveman. [i] Walk-up-tall give food, maybe better alpha. The runt wolf hoped this was true, but he wasn't completely sure.
His new alpha had been puffing and blowing, trying to get his wet fire to burn, when the Neanderthal suddenly jumped up, jarred back, and slid down the hill.
Now Walk-tall pulls up with stone-stick. Creature falls funny! The wolf wanted to laugh, but his brain didnt have the ability to make his wolf muscles smile
The wolf had been watching as the Neanderthal tried to get his smoky fire burning, when a time traveler from the future had materialized inside the Neanderthals body. The sudden arrival of the travelers life force had jarred the Neanderthal with such a shock that it knocked the caveman off his feet and hurled him down the bank.
The wolf tilted his head and watched as the caveman pulled himself up with the spear-shaft he had managed to hold on to and watched the caveman look at the spear-point lashed to the thick wood. The caveman begin cursing loudly, yelling in his Neanderthal voice Garrred, Garrrd ddrert! The Neanderthal hurled his spear down in rage.
Inside the Neanderthals brain, and looking through the Neanderthals eyes, the life force of an angry time traveler cursed at the sight of the spear-point. The traveler knew that stone-chipped technology lie in the future of his true destination. Acheulian technology! Goddamn it!
The traveler words were silent inside the cavemans brain, because Neanderthal vocal cords are unable make sounds for abstractions that are not understood by the Neanderthal mind.
Goddamn it! The time travelers voice swore again from inside the Neanderthals brain. The time travelers anger seeped into the Neanderthals consciousness. And although he didnt understand why, the Neanderthal continued to curse at his spear lying in the mud. Garrred ... Garrred ddrert!
........
With great effort and personal sacrifice, the time traveler had entangled his life force to the wave function of the multiverse. Time travel is very difficult and the quantum entanglement ment only the life force is sent through time, and the physical body is destroyed at the moment the life force enters a future host body. In addition time travel only proceeds one direction, towards the future.
In order to get to his past, the time traveler had to move forward along the multiverses wave function through every year of his universes future.
He had to travel beyond the stars fading out. He traveled through the years of the Dark Era, and beyond the evaporation of black holes. He traveled until every wave of radiation stretched to infinity; traveling all the way until he reached the end of forever, where time starts all over again.
And then, after time had re-started, he traveled forward to his destination, which originally lay in his past. However, the now-time that he found himself in was in the future of where he wanted to be. The Acheulian era was millions of years in the future of his of his planned destination.
To go back to the Acheulian past, to reach his real destination, he would have to travel again forward, until time re-started. Travel through forever another time? He nearly didnt make it this time. He knew he couldnt circumnavigate time again.
Inside the cavemans brain, where the time traveler had miteralized, his thoughts desperately cried out. The now-time I'm in is modern Neanderthal and it isnt even Africa! The time-traveler could see the world outside him through the Neanderthals eyes and he knew where he was; the Paleolithic cedar trees and broad-leafed ferns were all modern and temperate.
The travelers thoughts in his Neanderthal mind sobbed uncontrollably. This now-time is only thousands of years ago. And the Neanderthal isnt even an ancestor of man! Im not supposed to have a Neanderthals body, Im not supposed to have the blood of Neanderthal in my veins. Im supposed to have the body of Ardipithecus. And this isn't even Goddamn Africa, and it certainly isnt six-million-years ago![i] The time traveler was nowhere near the destination he desired so badly, to live man's first steps to ascension
..
[i]The wolf-face. His head wag at spear throw. A normal everyday Neanderthal thought slowly eased into the Neanderthal's mind and it helped soothe the overload on his cavemans brain resulted from being forced to think the time traveler's thoughts. Concepts that are not normally possible with a Neanderthal mind. The wolfs head had moved at the caveman's angry toss of stick-stone. The wolf had been trying to transmit his desire the Neanderthal, 'Go food hunt!'
..
Walk-tall worried, wolf. Wolf had thought this creature might be his new alpha because the cave-man shared food with him. But when his new alpha acted dumb, it concerned the wolf. Plus his new walk-up-tall alpha had not made the shrill sound he wanted to hear, the call for wolf to go on food hunt for jumpy-things.
The runt wolf looked at his hoped for alpha, the Neanderthal, covered with the skins of the jumpy food animals the wolf badly wanted to hunt for. . Walk-up-tall just stood! Stare at dumb stone-stick. No jumpy-food getting!
..
In frustration and anger the Neanderthal stared down at the spear he had thrown into the wet mud. His inner-voice thought, Ardipithecus had no technology! The right-now is only thousands of years ago, and the now-time Im supposed to be in is millions of years ago from this now-time. Ive given everything I have to live the first thrilling moments at the begining of mans ascension! And I can never reach there from here The time-traveler knew he was cheated, and felt for certain he had been betrayed.
It had to be betrayal. There was nothing else that could have gone wrong. The time-traveler was well aware of the time travel math concepts. The formula was take the life-wave strand of the universe, divide that by the multiverse wave, subtract the square of the braided multi-strand function but the formulas and concepts were too much for his Neanderthal brain and it short-circuited.
I stare. At spear in mud. Just stare at mud all the time,] his Neanderthal mind reverting back to the half thoughts of his brains normal capacity.
.
The wolf saw the Neanderthal stagger again from the jarring and vacillations imposed by the time-traveler. The atoms and superstrings in the Neanderthals body forced from one quantum-state into another state. The ragged and startled motion attracted the runts attention; he tilted his flat face and moved forward. [i]Did, master want food? Go catch jumpy-food, with plant-vine?
Flat-face didnt know if his alpha found plant-vine net or made it, but when, Alpha throw, over jumpy-things. No jump! Catch easy! The wolf watched as the Neanderthal looked at the sky, [/b]... His alpha doing his nothing stare. Oh, how the wolf wished his alpha would look at him and give the sign that alpha had some food to share. But still, the wolf thought hopefully, New alpha, better. Then old, food more!
But instead of the shrill call to hunt the wolf wanted so badly, his alpha was making a strange sound, going up and down the scales of his Neanderthal vocal cords, and the cave-man would linger on one note or another. Wolf! Answer back with alpha, the runt howled. The wolf's howl startled the Neanderthal! He'd been yelling his changes in tone, and then suddenly the wolf had joined his voice. The howling of the wolf forced his attention back to the Acheulian present.
..
Who? The Neanderthal thought Who, what, that reminds me of? Runt howling when I make Half-ear noise. Instinctively the Neanderthal put his hand to his ear, to the spot where another cave-man, Half-ear, had the bottom part of his ear missing. Half-ear. The cave-man thought. Half-ear carves bone and trades skins. Half-ear, the Neanderthal could clearly remember the other cave-man less stout, seems clever.
The wolf shook his back, barked, and bristled. The Neanderthal looked at the wolf, Funny sound! I know flat-face wolf remembers. His cave-man thoughts remembering the first time he saw the flat-faced wolf, last rainy season, just after last years rains had flooded the river. He remembered seeing the runt wolf right after he met Half-ear, who had a big wound where the bottom of his ear was torn off.
Wolf no like Half-ear! Him arch up! Like he do now. Flat-face looked suspiciously at the cave-man with his back arched up.
Hey,I know what that arch look is. You always do that arch when you see Half-ear and youre doing it now, while I was just thinking of him! The Neanderthals mind went temporally fluent, working over its limitations, but it didnt last and soon fell back.
Wish Half-ear see easy what flat-face wolf knows, thinking about the other cave-man who had taught him how to sing in caves. Yell! Half-ear sound! He show me in caves. The Wolfs eyes watched the food-skinned Neanderthal touching his ear.
.
The wolf knew, Tall-thing did that, always touch ear when he thought of Half-ear. Wolf had seen. Half-ear dead. Food! The wolf remembered last rainy season. He was very hungry because he had not found food for several days. When he saw what he thought was a dead food animal floating near the bank of the flooded river, he tried pulling the animal by its ear against the bank to keep the food from floating away.
Food not dead. Get up! Hit wolf hard with stone-stick. Wolf yelping! Like in old pack. The wolfs memory held the day very well. He didnt like Hurt-ear. The wolf howled through the air, again forcing the present Acheulian reality on the time-traveling Neanderthal.
Why! Flat-face howl! The cave-man thought, but in the wolfs flat-face he saw a strong desire and a pleading,Please now jumpy-thing food!
The Neanderthal gave a shrill air-signal with his teeth and lips. The wolf, alert and ready, happily leapt up at the Neanderthals sudden sharp sound. The wolf bounded forward, but he didnt come too close. He did not yet have all his trust in his new alpha. He needed some persuasion. The pause in the wolfs forward path struck home to the Neanderthal. The Neanderthal slowed his walk, showing patience, and patted his hand on the plant-net-vine to show Flat-face he knew what the wolf wanted.
In the Neanderthals mind there was a blend of the cave-mans and the time-travelers thoughts, a blend of past and future. This moment seems familiar, the trunks of the Paleolithic cedars and the leaves of the forest I see around me, the Neanderthal thought; finding significance in the moment. He paused for Flat-face . What is called flat-faced thing? He thought to himself and trying his new singing vocal sound sang, Gwwog Gwwog
Now the wolf understood and he came running to his alphas voice. Then together the wolf and the cave-man hunted. They hunted with the wolf thinking,We know! We find hoppy food. Hunt jumpy-things. We know a hoppy-hunting place!
.
The Neanderthal felt the uneven stones of the crude Acheulian path, the stones rough against his feet. He felt his mind trying hard, reaching for something beyond its ability. Then inside his reaching, there was a sudden something, the time-traveling Neanderthal realized he had been to this exact quantum-state many-infinities. The Neanderthal remembered now, from infenint possabilatuies inside the time-travels random walk, his path must cross this very-now an infinite many-times. Themultiverce wave of the now-path of the time-traveler was preordained. The multi wave of the now-path is predestined.
In some of the infinite many-nows, Flat-face and the time-traveling Neanderthal had such a grand hunt. Such a hunt of a lifetime! And in their memories, they carried a grand remembrance of that hunt. And, in other-waves of other-nows, they ended the hunt hungry and scavenged bones, breaking them open for the marrow. There were other-waves of other-times when they crossed the path of the cave bear and their lives were cut short. But one-time, this-time, hidden inside the mathematical random walk, the time-traveling Neanderthal crossed over the wave of universes multi-strand.
.
On the crude Acheulian path running to the hunt, in the jarring and vacillations of atoms and superstrings imposed by time-travel, Flat-face saw his alpha's Neanderthal body fading in the quantum-states. He saw his master leaving, happy for his alpha, but saddened that he could not follow.
.
In the jarring and vacillations of time-travel, the Neanderthal's eyes saw the Acheulian landscape melt and flow into millions and millions of years, he was running through time
on the plains of Africa, breathing the now-air of a world six million years ago. He felt a smooth and even path under his feet, the smooth soil of savanna. The time-traveler had reached his destination. This-time, this one-time, he ran the path of Human ascension.
The time-travelers fur rippled in the now-air of distant Africa and the blood of Ardipithecus flowed through his veins![/font]
.
Published 13th Aug 2011
| Edited 20th Sep 2011
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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13th Aug 2011 6:45am
Interesting and very unusual it leaves one pondering. Very mind-bending read. I like it because it takes you into a different dimension.
13th Aug 2011 7:13am
scarletvelvet
Thank you for your insightful comment. I was trying to do something different. Boy was it a bitch to add the italics at this site! The story is hard enough to follow and it needs different italics for the different thoughts.
Thank you for your insightful comment. I was trying to do something different. Boy was it a bitch to add the italics at this site! The story is hard enough to follow and it needs different italics for the different thoughts.
Anonymous
- Edited 11th Jun 2018 12:45pm
13th Aug 2011 4:22pm
<< post removed >>
16th Aug 2011 7:35am
I know there are weak spots; Im still working on them. Email me if you have suggestions that will help. Id like that.
18th Sep 2011 4:51pm
the thought of two primal creatures (one being more advanced)is a hard thing to do in a set like this and you rarely come across a lay out plan like the you used. good idea ,just keep trying to get your thoughts clearly out there.
