Wednesday 5 February 2014

Dum the hunter gatherer (Dum tales 4)




                                 Dum's woven reed basket



Food was always in short supply for Dum and Yum and what they did get was always hard to find. Berries were few and far between so many were looking for them as well as the animals and birds that shared their world. Despite this Yum was getting a fat tummy, she knew why but Dum didn’t realize she was pregnant even when he put his head on tummy and heard the regular beat of her life within go faster there than when laid with his head on her breasts. It was only when she pointed to a little child and pointed to her tummy that Dum realised she was pregnant. So that night he thought a lot and in the morning when she was happy to stay close to the cave he went of to fetch food by himself. He had to try to remember not to eat everything he found but to save some for Yum. So he went down by the slowly moving river and ripped some reeds out of the water and cut his hands in the process. When he had got enough he sat on the bank and wove the pieces together to make a basket tucking the ends of the reeds back into themselves to make a rim. Looking at the finished basket he was delighted and squealed with pleasure saying “creeeeel”.

He picked as many berries as he could and put them in the basket then went down to the sea to see if there were any shell fish there and he put them in the basket as well. He saw there were fish in the water but couldn’t for the life in him work out how to catch them even though he tried. When the sun started to set he knew it was time to go back to the cave. Yum was sitting outside in the fading light and looked up when she saw him and nodded at him. He placed the basket in front of her and said “creel” to her pointing at it. She nodded then picked over the contents and prised open the shellfish with her thumbnails and ate some and others she tossed over to him to share. Dum was about to eat these himself when their smell made him stare at her with horror and when he threw them into the bushes she laughed. He really liked Yum, she was very funny.

5 comments:

  1. These two have been so much fun to follow!

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  2. Dum was smart and sweet. I can't wait til it's Yum time to have the baby.

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  3. Loving this story, Old Egg! You know, relationships aren't all that different now, same themes, just more complicated settings. I loved that she gave him back the rotten ones, glad he was smart enough to avoid that "gift"! Now, teach how to fish! :-)

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  4. One often wonders whatit was really like to be the first to do or try something. Now it's almost impossible to have a new idea, let alone try anything new that isn't ridiculous, like planking in odd places.

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  5. LOL, Dum can at least make a basket, he's not so dumb! Cree! : )

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