Sentence The Onehundredandninetysecond
The Hunter drew Bear Woman – or, as he corrected her interpretation, She Bear, because the Cave Folk only have one-sound-words, which can make for fun – and said she should tell him what she saw: “I thought I saw a man,” she said, “you did,” said he, “good,” said she, “did you see what happened to him?” this time it was he who nodded, saying “he faded away,” and she stared at him, her eyes imploring him to explain further, but he patted her on the shoulder and turned away, leading her past the uberous stores, for it was a Season of Plenty, and there was much 'Belly Timber' for the Cave Folk, towards the sleeping chambers; after a slight hesitation, She Bear followed him and went with him to his bed-space: that night she dreamt that she was a celestial body, floating in a foggy miasma of sifting atoms and molecules, too small to see, but forming a density like water (without being wet) and fixed in an orbit around the Sun; she revolved on her own axis, so that half of her was facing the Sun, to a greater or lesser extent; and the rest faced away; she had a Moon, a lustrous pewter sphere, that encircled her (Tammy, she whispered) and all the while she travelled on a continuous circuit of the Sun, as did a string of other orbs, on the same plane, but at greater or lesser
distances from the Sun, Bringer of Life; when she felt her steady spinning through space disturbed, she was confused and it took a few moments to realise that someone was shaking her, gently, not roughly, and she began to wake; there was a dim glow in that part of the sleeping cavern where she lay, and by it she could see that her disturber was The Hunter, on his feet; she felt with her hand for the flint dagger she was never without, but it was gone, and she suddenly remembered she had come to his sleeping place that night; and when he said “come,” she slipped from under the furs and tip-toed after him – he moved silent as a cat along the tunnels which led to the Main Cavern, and she gasped – for there lay Tavish, near the spot where she had found him yesterday; she ran to his side – he seemed to be unconscious, but his breathing was regular; “can you fetch a covering?” she asked
The Hunter and when he did not move, she remembered that here, Men said and Women did; so, simply asking The Hunter to wait there, she hurried back and retrieved the large Bear Fur from her own sleeping space and took it back to the Cavern; gently she placed it over the sleeping figure and then sat back on her heels; which was when she looked up at The Hunter and asked him: “have others come this way before?” and he simply nodded; and that was when she saw the pattern and she felt that her dream had spoken to her - “the Moon,” she cried, and ran outside: the velvet darkness covered the world and above, like jewels studding the firmament, the swirl of stars she half-remembered from Guides – The Moon, that sliver of a Crescent, two nights ago there was no Moon, called the New Moon, and she knew that this was the Ides, of what Month she could not guess, but definitely The Ides, and so it had been a Month since she arrived, though whether a Month from whence she'd come, she had no idea, but definitely a month here, and she looked at The Hunter, “are there others?” she asked, and he considered, before nodding, “yes, a few,” and again she held his eyes: “you?” and again he hesitated before saying: “yes, me.”
The Hunter drew Bear Woman – or, as he corrected her interpretation, She Bear, because the Cave Folk only have one-sound-words, which can make for fun – and said she should tell him what she saw: “I thought I saw a man,” she said, “you did,” said he, “good,” said she, “did you see what happened to him?” this time it was he who nodded, saying “he faded away,” and she stared at him, her eyes imploring him to explain further, but he patted her on the shoulder and turned away, leading her past the uberous stores, for it was a Season of Plenty, and there was much 'Belly Timber' for the Cave Folk, towards the sleeping chambers; after a slight hesitation, She Bear followed him and went with him to his bed-space: that night she dreamt that she was a celestial body, floating in a foggy miasma of sifting atoms and molecules, too small to see, but forming a density like water (without being wet) and fixed in an orbit around the Sun; she revolved on her own axis, so that half of her was facing the Sun, to a greater or lesser extent; and the rest faced away; she had a Moon, a lustrous pewter sphere, that encircled her (Tammy, she whispered) and all the while she travelled on a continuous circuit of the Sun, as did a string of other orbs, on the same plane, but at greater or lesser
distances from the Sun, Bringer of Life; when she felt her steady spinning through space disturbed, she was confused and it took a few moments to realise that someone was shaking her, gently, not roughly, and she began to wake; there was a dim glow in that part of the sleeping cavern where she lay, and by it she could see that her disturber was The Hunter, on his feet; she felt with her hand for the flint dagger she was never without, but it was gone, and she suddenly remembered she had come to his sleeping place that night; and when he said “come,” she slipped from under the furs and tip-toed after him – he moved silent as a cat along the tunnels which led to the Main Cavern, and she gasped – for there lay Tavish, near the spot where she had found him yesterday; she ran to his side – he seemed to be unconscious, but his breathing was regular; “can you fetch a covering?” she asked
The Hunter and when he did not move, she remembered that here, Men said and Women did; so, simply asking The Hunter to wait there, she hurried back and retrieved the large Bear Fur from her own sleeping space and took it back to the Cavern; gently she placed it over the sleeping figure and then sat back on her heels; which was when she looked up at The Hunter and asked him: “have others come this way before?” and he simply nodded; and that was when she saw the pattern and she felt that her dream had spoken to her - “the Moon,” she cried, and ran outside: the velvet darkness covered the world and above, like jewels studding the firmament, the swirl of stars she half-remembered from Guides – The Moon, that sliver of a Crescent, two nights ago there was no Moon, called the New Moon, and she knew that this was the Ides, of what Month she could not guess, but definitely The Ides, and so it had been a Month since she arrived, though whether a Month from whence she'd come, she had no idea, but definitely a month here, and she looked at The Hunter, “are there others?” she asked, and he considered, before nodding, “yes, a few,” and again she held his eyes: “you?” and again he hesitated before saying: “yes, me.”
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