Read Online Cave Dwellers by Jonathan Randall - Free Book Online Page B

Zaac started a fire. Even using the pages sparingly, he was tearing out a good portion of what was left of the trig book.
       “You might want to help me here,” He suggested.
       “What are you going to do?”
       “We’re going to combine two pages and roll them up to make a single long one. We’ll use them as torches, lighting one after another.”
       After they rolled the pages into long cylindrical tubes, Zaac asked, “Can you hold most of them and pass them to me as I need them? I’ll hold one, using it as a torch, and light the other when it dies down. If I have too many in my hand, I’m afraid I might catch more than one on fire.”
       “Yes. I can do that.” Ramira picked up the tubes.
       Zaac lit one from the fire. He kept another in his left hand. Ramira carried the remaining ones and they started on their way. The makeshift torches only lasted thirty to forty minutes. Before the last one went out, he rolled up a page and lit it, positioning it on the floor. He realized the pages burned more slowly rolled up than they did if he just laid them on the fire or crumpled them. They both rolled up several pages and set them aside to feed the fire.
       “Now what?” Ramira asked. Her voice was tinged with despair.
       Zaac was at a loss. “I’m not sure what would be best. We can continue to roll up all the pages using them as torches but that will only last so long. Then we will be in complete darkness. You must be getting hungry because I’m starving.”
       “Me too. The Snickers and crackers yesterday morning didn’t last too long.” Ramira felt her stomach rumble at the thought of food.
       “You want to get some sleep and see how we feel after a few hours rest?” Zaac thought sleep might get their minds off hunger.
       “We might as well. But I already know that I’ll wake up hungry.” Ramira lay down, trying to get comfortable.
       They were soon fast asleep. As the fire died down, the shadows disappeared and the darkness settled around them. The only sounds were their rhythmic breathing.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    7
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
       Ramira woke first after sleeping for six hours. Hunger gnawed at her. Zaac also awoke famished. He found his fire starter kit. It took a bit longer without any light source but soon he had a fire going.
       Getting out the last bottle of Gatorade, he handed it to Ramira. Taking a few swallows, she said, “I’m starving. Are you?”
       “Yep, famished.”
       “What are we going to do? No light. Nothing to eat. We can burn the rest of our pages as torches but when they go, we will be left with nothing down here in the dark.” Ramira was getting agitated.
       Zaac glanced up from the fire looking at her steadfastly, “Can I ask you a strange question?”
       His tone of voice made Ramira stop what she was doing. “I guess so. What is it?”
       Zaac struggled to word his question appropriately. “Have you ever had a sixth sense about seeing things before you saw them? I know that sounds weird but it is the best way that I can explain it.”
       “No,” Ramira replied instantly. “Not that I can remember.”
       “Well. You have displayed that quality three times now. The last time you knew that fork was there before we reached it and you also knew which way to go. How did you know it was there?”
       “I don’t know,” Ramira replied. “It is like my mind pictured it even though I couldn’t see it.”
       Sitting there putting pages on the fire, he wondered how she would feel about his next suggestion. He knew that she’d probably balk at it but he couldn’t think of anything else.
       “Maybe you had this ability but since you never had to use it, you didn’t know it was there. These extraordinary circumstances have brought it out.”
       “You make it sound like I’m psychic or something,” Ramira said.
       “No. I