Through the Forest
Through the forest they chopped, hacked, hewed, flattened.
A day’s march away, the man sat and ate, picking apart the tender roasted deer flesh and washing it back with a mug of cider. As the last rays from the setting sun streamed through the jungle canopy, they sat and stood around him, waiting with thinning patience and heavy hearts til he’d had his fill. Finally he cleared his throat: “They’ll reach the river in five days.”
Silence.
“They know we’re here. Not exactly where — they’re sending scouts, they’re looking for us”.
“Did you try to make contact?” a woman asked, getting to her feet.
“No, I heard them speaking — a strange language, I understood nothing. I thought it best just to observe for now”.
“Good. Let everyone now hear what you observed, leave nothing out. Then you can rest, and we decide what to do. Tomorrow morning, Everyone! be ready at first light.”
“They’re hunter-gatherers, they’re not territorial… the only reason they stay around here is because they’ve got a never-ending supply of food!”
“They’re hunters so they have weapons. When they see we’ve cut their forest in half what do you think they’re going to do? What will happen when they see the stores coming through? Every damned merchant is going to want an armed escort!” We will deal with them now, and quickly!”
Shrug. “You’re the boss!”
Thanks for reading! Really, it means a lot. This story is part of a series of short stories exploring the concept of first encounters between different groups/communities/cultures/civilisations:
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