User:Ikuzaf/sandbox

Plot summary
This novel is an imaginative reconstruction of the life of a band of Neanderthals. The narration is initially from the perspective of one of the adult males, Lok, and reflects his simple worldview. The band comprises six adults: Lok; his more perceptive mate Fa; Ha, a strong and capable male; Ha's mate Nil; Mal, the elderly male leader, and the "old woman." The two children are Liku (implied to be Lok's daughter; Fa recently had a baby who died) and Nil's baby, "the new one." It is implied that the adults share mates, living without conflict and instinctively deferring to their elders. The band are returning from the sea to their summer cave near a waterfall. The old woman carries with her a clay container of embers, which they use for fire, being unable to create fire on their own.

When they reach a body of water, of which they have a great fear, they discover that the log they used to cross in the past has disappeared; this perplexes Lok until Mal tells them of his "picture" off a fallen tree that they use to make a new crossing. While crossing, Mal falls into the freezing water and becomes sick. After reaching the cave and building their fire, the group separate to find food and more wood. Their diet is mainly grubs, fungus and bulbs; they will not kill animals but they do chase hyenas away from the corpse of a doe and take the meat. Unbeknownst to the band, they are being observed by a group of modern humans who are encamped on an island on the other side of the river, which the Neanderthals cannot cross. While on his own Ha encounters one of the modern humans, who either lures or chases Ha over the waterfall to his death; this again perplexes the group, who have no concept of any people in the world other than them, and who search for Ha in vain. Shortly afterwards Mal dies and is buried, which the group describes as him "returning to Oa," their name for their earth mother goddess. The old woman insists that Lok is now the leader, a role for which he is ill-equipped.

While Lok and Fa are surveying the camp of the "new people" (modern humans) from across the river, a group of them cross the river in dugouts, reaching the cave. They abduct Liku and the new one and take them across the river to their camp, killing the old woman and Nil in the process. One of them shoots a poisoned arrow at Lok, another action that he does not comprehend.

After returning to the cave and saving Mal's body from hyenas, Lok and Fa put a log across the river and cross it to reach the new people's camp. They witness the new people's leader, Marlan, perform a ritual while wearing a stag skin. Lok throws meat into the middle of the camp as food for Liku, frightening the new people and causing them to scatter and chase Lok and Fa away. Lok and Fa escape back across the river. They return to the cave and chase hyenas away from Mal's corpse, reburying it. Fa urges Lok to leave with her and start a new life, where they will find new fire and have new children, but Lok refuses out of a desire to rescue Liku.

Lok and Fa climb a tree only to discover that the new people are crossing the river and setting a new camp on their side of the river. While in the tree Lok and Fa watch the new people at close quarters. A woman of the new people, Vivani, has taken the new one as her own child, breastfeeding him, while Liku is befriended by a girl called Tanakil, sharing with her her tree root in the shape of a woman, Little Oa. Marlan again dons the stag skin and performs a ritual while an artist, Tuami, draws a stag picture on the ground and cuts a finger off another man in sacrifice. Lok and Fa watch while the new people sing, fight with each other, and get drunk from a drink of fermented honey. Tuami drunkenly seduces Vivani and they have sex. Fa witnesses what becomes of Liku while Lok does not; it is implied that she is ritually killed and eaten, greatly dismaying Tanakil. Fa does not tell Lok what she has seen, saying simply that the new people are not of Oa.

After the new people pass out drunk Lok attempts to search the camp for Liku; he awakens the new people who again flee in terror. Lok and Fa discover their abandoned alcohol; they drink it and become drunk, imitating the new people in alternately lusting over and fighting each other. They pass out and awake hungover to find that the new people have struck camp and are crossing the river in fear of the Neanderthals, having abandoned Tanakil as an offering to them.